IV Chapter 17 Thoughts

[Robin Landseadel]

On Dec 10, 2009, at 7:38 AM, Carvill, John wrote:

> I really really wish you would cease acting as if you are the  
> world's greatest authority on Chandler. It is immensely annoying.

Sorry if you find this annoying. I find the relation between  
Chandler's writing and "Inherent Vice" crucial and I'm not going to  
stop writing about it. Would you feel the same way if I constantly  
mentioned I.G. Farben when writing about Gravity's Rainbow, would you  
accuse me of acting like I was the world's greatest authority on I. G.  
Farben if I kept delving into that subject? If you really find my  
remarks that annoying you can simply delete my posts before reading. I  
do not claim to be the world's greatest authority on Chandler but I  
find Chandler all over Inherent Vice. I was reading Chandler long  
before I read Pynchon and see his fingerprints all over Inherent Vice.  
Right now I'm watching "Chinatown" and Chandler's hand is all over  
that one as well. If you cannot see these connections, fine, ignore  
what I'm writing here and get on with your business.

> To call Chandler an 'alcoholic' is somewhat contentious, for one  
> thing.

Type in "Raymond Chandler Alcoholism" into Google, this is the very  
first thing to come up:

	. . . Raymond is said to have taken his first drink as a soldier in
	World War I after he enlisted in the Canadian army in 1917. He
	had a variety of jobs and has an erratic employment history
	which was caused by his drinking problems. By 1924, Chandler
	had married Pearl Cecily “Cissy” Hulbert however over the next
	seven years his drinking problem began to manifest itself in
	extended episodes of heavy drinking and erratic behavior. It
	was the reason he was fired from his job as a vice president of
	an oil syndicate in 1932 after which he temporarily stopped his
	excessive drinking. . .

	. . . Raymond Chandler’s creation of hard drinking and smart
	Philip Marlow character in his first novel would begin a writing
	career that has resonated into the twenty-first century. Much of
	Chandler---the penchant for excessive drinking and his
	attraction to women, were distilled into Marlowe. However,
	although his writing brought him success with seven novels, 17
	short stories and screenplays such as Double Indemnity
	brought him success, his personal life remained a series of
	disasters because of his alcoholism.

	Raymond Chandler died of pneumonia on March 26, 1959 at
	Scripps Clinic in California after years of numerous
	hospitalizations because of the health problems from his heavy
	drinking. His work continues to influence writers of American
	fiction especially those with the characterization of literary
	private detectives.

http://biographiesmemoirs.suite101.com/article.cfm/alcoholic_authors_raymond_chandler

This is not contentious, these are the facts of Chandler's life, this  
is what "The Long Goodbye" is all about.