Monday, April 30, 2012

Two lines from Raymond Chandler

Two lines from Raymond Chandler's novels:


"There's nothing as empty as an empty swimming pool."


A description of an old man's thinning hair, clinging to his scalp "like wild flowers fighting for life on a bare rock."


--from Richard Schickel's Double Indemnity, a study of the film (for which Chandler co-wrote the screenplay)


(J)
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3 comments:

  1. J or HMay 2, 2012 at 12:51 AM

    I can't shake the "emptiness" of an empty swimming pool. The image shimmers on the brink of revulsion and acceptance. I picture a full pool and see nothing but a vessel holding water. There is something sweetly divine about this thought....

    (H)

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  2. J or HMay 2, 2012 at 12:52 AM

    What description of hair. It paints not just the head, but the face, the body, the mind of a man as well.

    (H)

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  3. J or HMay 3, 2012 at 2:51 PM

    Yeah man, I'd never read anything of his before seeing the movie and reading that book.

    Here's a good clip from the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r69dQZHjkmY

    ("I wanted to see her again, close, without that silly staircase between us.")

    (J)

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