Quote of the Week: Raymond Chandler
Sometimes it seems to me you could base a whole blog on Chandler quotes, he just had so many interest
ing things to say about writing and he said it all so very well. Every now and again I stumble across yet another one and say, “Ah.” It can even be something I've read before, but on this particular encounter it resonates. So it was for me today.
Clearly, what he says here is an arguable point. Though, on consideration, were that not the case, why would he have bothered saying it?
So this is this blog’s third Chandler quote. I doubt it will be the last.
ing things to say about writing and he said it all so very well. Every now and again I stumble across yet another one and say, “Ah.” It can even be something I've read before, but on this particular encounter it resonates. So it was for me today.Clearly, what he says here is an arguable point. Though, on consideration, were that not the case, why would he have bothered saying it?
“When a book, any sort of book, reaches a certain intensity of artistic performance it becomes literature. That intensity may be a matter of style, situation, character, emotional tone, or idea, or half a dozen other things. It may also be a perfection of control over the movement of a story similar to the control a great pitcher has over the ball.”
So this is this blog’s third Chandler quote. I doubt it will be the last.
Comments
"Intensity of artistic performance."
“It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.” Raymond Chandler Farewell, My Lovely
“Would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patios which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split.” Raymond Chandler