'It has to be distilled'

 

“A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.” – Raymond Chandler

 

Born in Chicago on this date in 1888, Chandler started his writing career out of desperation after losing his oil company job during the Great Depression.  He soon found he had a great knack for crafting crime stories, writing for magazines for several years before his creating his first novel, The Big Sleep, in 1939.  The book, continuously in print ever since, was an instant hit.    

 

Chandler wrote many dozens of short stories and 7 novels including Farewell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye – named one of the top 100 novels of the 20^th Century.  His hard-boiled detective protagonist Philip Marlowe was made even more famous through the acting of Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep.  A dozen movies have now been made from Chandler’s books.

 

Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond books, said Chandler offered “some of the finest dialogue written in any prose,” and mystery writer Paul Levine described Chandler's style as the "literary equivalent of a quick punch to the gut."

 

Chandler said his advice to would-be crime writers was simple: “Write ‘actively’.   And when in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.”