Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse; and with the means at hand, not hand-wrought dueling pistols, curare and tropical fish.
Raymond ChandlerI hung up. It was a good start, but it didn’t go far enough. I ought to have locked the door and hidden under the desk.
Raymond ChandlerI think a man ought to get drunk at least twice a year just on principle, so he won't let himself get snotty about it.
Raymond ChandlerWhen I left Merle was wearing a bungalow apron and rolling pie crust. She came to the door wiping her hands on the apron and kissed me on the mouth and began to cry and ran back into the house, leaving the doorway empty [...] I had a funny feeling as I saw the house disappear, as though I had written a poem and it was very good and I had lost it and would never remember it again. (p. 262)
Raymond Chandler