Raymond Chandler's "Red Wind" p. 1541

What a big difference it is to be able to read something that you could understand. Raymond Chandler is a great murder mystery writer, especially for his time. I really enjoyed reading “Red Wind.” I have read many murder mystery stories, but none that placed me in a murder scene in the 1930s. I was actually able to visualize the way they dressed, the cars, and even the way they smoked their cigarettes. Chandler’s story is so detailed, it actually comes alive. I loved all the twists and turns he sets up for you. Once I picked up the book, I could not put it down.

One thing that I noticed about this piece is how Dalmas, who is a character, is also the narrator. I have read plenty of novels and never really paid attention to this very important detail. I think that reading and analyzing poetry has really paid off. The first thing I do when I read is automatically try to analyze what the author is trying to say, how he is saying it, and what it is he means by it. Another thing that I can attribute to reading poetry is the way that my mind wants to recreate what I read, giving it my own twist.

One of my favorite scenes is in the beginning when Dalmas is talking to the young bartender. They are speaking about the drunk over in the corner and the kid says: “I don’t like drunks in the first place and in the second place I don’t like them getting drunk in here (meaning his bar), and in the third place I don’t like them in the first place.” I could not stop laughing after reading this piece. What a way to start off a story!

Another thing that I like about what Chandler does with his character Dalmas, is that he lets Copernik (one of the dicks) take the credit for the capture of the murderer. Then towards the end of the story, when the dick is beating up Dalmas, Dalmas confesses everything and blackmails the dick into giving him what he wants (the pearls, papers, and names kept out of the newspaper). If the dick fails to comply, and the truth is revealed about the capture and the other solved murders the dick took credit for, he is going to look like a cheat and a liar. That was a very smooth move on his part.

The part that really confused me was when Dalmas had the fake pearls replaced with other fake pearls. After rereading and analyzing, I realized that he did it so that Lola would never find out that the pearls which were given to her by her lover were actually fake.