The Big Sleep (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by Raymond Chandler, the first in his acclaimed series about detective Philip Marlowe. The work has been adapted twice into film, once in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angeles, California.
The story is noted for its complexity, with many characters double-crossing one another and many secrets being exposed throughout the narrative. The title is a euphemism for death; it refers to a rumination in the book about "sleeping the big sleep".
In 1999, the book was voted ninety-sixth of Le Monde's "100 Books of the Century." In 2005, it was included in "TIME's List of the 100 Best Novels."
Read more about The Big Sleep: Plot Summary, Background, Adaptations
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“I’ve tried to open the door. My knock isn’t that big a sound. But it is like the knock in “The Wizard of Oz.” It set up this echo through the halls until it was heard by everyone.”
—Shannon Faulkner (b. c. 1975)