“The coffee shop smell was strong enough to build a garage on.”
RAYMOND CHANDLER, Farewell My Lovely
May is “Get Caught Reading” month, and during the past few weeks we’ve posted a range of familiar faces reading a variety of books. In the photo above, Michael Caine — in the role of Jack Carter in the 1971 movie Get Carter — reads Raymond Chandler‘s 1940 novel Farewell My Lovely. And, as the excerpt at the top of his post proves, Chandler was a master of the original metaphor.
“He was a guy who talked with commas, like a heavy novel. Over the phone anyway.”
RAYMOND CHANDLER, The Long Goodbye
Photo: Heather L. Shannon, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I love this framed version of the Raymond Chandler quote from Farewell, My Lovely — the juxtaposition of Chandler’s startling written imagery with the sublime artwork is, to me, funny, ironic, and witty. (In short, some of my favorite things.)
Chandler was a master of the original metaphor — just flip open any of his brilliant novels and you’ll probably land on one as compelling as his tarantula/angel food cake comparison.
Thanks to the folks at the Quote Factory for this homage to the great Raymond Chandler.
For those who can’t read the small print, the Chandler quote is: “He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food cake.”
Silver Birch Press 