Goldfish

 

"Goldfish" is one of twenty stories that Raymond Chandler published between 1933 and 1939. I drew it from his Collected Stories. As in many of Chandler's best-known works, his detective Phillip Marlowe tells the tale. 

What do we know about Marlowe from the first sentence of "Goldfish?" First, he works. Otherwise, there would be no need to call out "I wasn't doing any work that day." He's not a student, retired, or wealthy – he needs to earn a living. Second, he is an observant, dry, wise-cracker. He paid attention to notice that he was dangling his foot, and he pushed the absurd idea that he might be behind on that activity. 

Chandler has used the comic tool of placing a surprising word at the end of a sentence here. Because this is in Marlowe's voice ("I"), the character has used that tool as well as the author using it. 

The language of the sentence is close to speech. The words are short and common – the longest and least common is foot-dangling, and "dangling" is specific without being pretentious. Marlowe comes across as an attentive but casual working guy, talking directly to us. He speaks clearly and with some humor. The appeal of spending time with someone like that is one of the lures to read on. 

Marlowe also hints that something is about to happen; he tells us that he wasn't working at that point – which implies that work is about to arrive. 

I checked all the first sentences in Chandler's Collected Stories. He most often uses his first sentence to invoke a person or a setting. Problems are more muted. He uses vivid, specific details and strong voice to draw readers in rather than immediate danger. 

It's enough. Raymond Chandler remains respected as a mystery writer and a stylist more than sixty years after his death. 

Graphic design by Ken Silbert