Month: March 2023

Seems like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel with this MotU entry. The book is roughly divided into three parts. The first is a anthropological survey of how various cultures across history view the beginnings of time. I found this pretty boring. The second part is the strongest and it is a general overview of various scientific notions of time and space. A solid piece of history of science. The last section introduces us to the kooks. There are people who think they momentarily shifted into the past and others who can sense the tragic past of a certain location. None of it is even remotely plausible but is a good groundwork for a sci-fi time travel mechanism should you want one.

Phillip Marlowe has been hired to track down a stolen gold coin and, of course, it leads to murder. Like most mystery novels, ultimately the plot and characters are forgettable, but Chandler has a way of immersing the reader in a time, place, and mood that sticks with you.