Gave up on a classic mystery novel 50 pages in, then a friend explained the pacing trick and I went back

Picked up The Maltese Falcon last month because everyone says it's a must read. Hated it. The descriptions were so slow and I couldn't figure out why anyone cared about a stupid bird statue. Put it down after 3 days. Then my buddy at work said you gotta read old noir like it's a movie playing in your head, not a modern thriller. He said 'the plot doesn't move fast, the mood does.' So I tried again reading Sam Spade's lines out loud like I was hearing Humphrey Bogart. Finished it in two nights and actually liked it. Anyone else have a book they only got through after someone told them how to read it differently?

2 comments

2 Comments

river_adams2523d ago

The first time I tried The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler I quit at page 47 because I couldn't keep the characters straight. My dad told me to stop trying to follow every little clue and just let the atmosphere wash over me like a rainy night. He said treat each chapter like a jazz riff where the melody doesn't matter, just the feeling. Once I stopped caring about the plot I actually got into it and read the whole thing.

jennifer_west23d ago

Your dad is a genius (seriously, that's such a perfect way to put it). I had the exact same struggle with The Long Goodbye actually, got maybe 30 pages in and felt like I was drowning in names and weird double-crosses. Then a friend told me to just let the mood take over, like putting on a noir soundtrack in my head. Once I stopped trying to untangle every who-did-what and just soaked up the descriptions of the city and the way people talked, it all clicked. It's like Chandler's plots are just an excuse to give you those rainy street vibes and that sharp, snappy dialogue.