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koganbotLater in "Spanish Blood," the story I quoted from in my last post, the detective returns to the house described in the passage I'd embedded. I actually jotted down these sentences for the words "past" and "passed," two words that I often screw up, putting one where I need the other (Chandler uses "past," correctly, but I don't know if I'd get it right if I were trying to write a similar sentence), but in any event, once again there's the immediate experience of time as it's being lived:
Chandler had already described the pool and lily pads and bullfrog on the detective's way to the backyard. Now, as the detective leaves, Chandler mentions them again to suggest the time taken by the return walk, and the pace (if the detective were in a hurry you wouldn't have those details). Also, this gives the reader time for the emotions of the just-ended conversation to hang in the brain and then begin to settle, before the detective gets around to the front of the house and into his partner's car, and the two start talking.
I've been reading Chandler stories chronologically from his start at Black Mask, seeing how he develops; this one is the earliest where he's now full-force Chandler from beginning to end; still more bullets than necessary, and a family of victims is dispatched perfunctorily, but the psychology and mood are there as they will be for the next fifteen years.
He looked at her white shattered face once more, very quickly. Then he swung around, walked away over the lawn, past the pool with the lily pads and the stone bullfrog along the side of the house and out to the car.
Chandler had already described the pool and lily pads and bullfrog on the detective's way to the backyard. Now, as the detective leaves, Chandler mentions them again to suggest the time taken by the return walk, and the pace (if the detective were in a hurry you wouldn't have those details). Also, this gives the reader time for the emotions of the just-ended conversation to hang in the brain and then begin to settle, before the detective gets around to the front of the house and into his partner's car, and the two start talking.
I've been reading Chandler stories chronologically from his start at Black Mask, seeing how he develops; this one is the earliest where he's now full-force Chandler from beginning to end; still more bullets than necessary, and a family of victims is dispatched perfunctorily, but the psychology and mood are there as they will be for the next fifteen years.
House and grounds
Date: 2018-04-26 12:32 pm (UTC)In writing stories you can describe a person by describing her home. It can just be where she happens to live, but it could also be what she's come to, for better or worse. In Chandler there's a dislocation between the people and their décor. It's not their skin, and it's never settled, either how they present themselves or where they'll be next. This is normal enough, and doesn't have to be unhappy: people have choices. Nothing is fixed. Hurrah. But in Chandler, it's always at least uneasy, and sometimes it's pulverizingly sad.
Tierless Tia Returns (David Frazer reports)
Date: 2018-05-26 11:14 am (UTC)Re: Tierless Tia Returns (David Frazer reports)
Date: 2018-05-26 11:23 am (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKugpAl2Q0U
(I was going to ask if she's still with the same agency, but a look at Instagram reveals this is self-released.)