'When you are dead, you have peace,' I thought, 'not before. When you are sleeping the big sleep, you don't care if you are in the oily sump or great church. Life's horrors don't worry you any more. And the General doesn't have to know. He can lie quietly in his bed, waiting. And in a little while he too, like Rusty Regan, will sleep the big sleep.' (p. 71)
Do you know this book, "The Big sleep" ? This is very famous around the world. This story was written by Raymond Chandler who is an american. However, many Japanese know this one, because Haruki Murakami, who is so famous writer in Japan, translated it into Japanese. It is called "Oinaru Nemuri" in Japanese.This book is about crime, mystery and detective story. This story is divided into two stories, but they are connected strongly. One day, the main character Marowe meets General Sternwoods. Sternwoods has two daughters and he is being blackmailed because of his daughter's debt. Then, he asks Marlowe to get the blackmailer off his back. While Marlowe is looking for the blackmailer, some murder cases happen. All these incidents are connected, but Marlowe and Sternwoods don't know about that. Also, you can understand why this title is "The big sleep" if you can connect all these incidents.
I think this story is a little bit complicated and difficult to understand. However, when you keep reading while confirming who is who, you can enjoy reading it. I've read a lot of detective story before, but I think this one is the most interesting for me. If you want to try complicated detective stories, why don't you read this one?
Chandler, Raymond. (2000). THE BIG SLEEP. New York: Oxford University Press.
