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PaperclipPerfector  10d ago (text post)   2325 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 29, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm reattempting Burnham's The Machiavellians. Feeling a need to revisit the roots of neoconservative thought.

Re-read the Philip Marlowe novels by Raymond Chandler, and then started working through some Elmore Leonard novels and a number of the Lew Archer novels by Ross MacDonald.

The Lew Archer novels started to be published just as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels were winding down. Upon re-reading, the plotting in the Marlowe novels is quite threadbare (although they do improve over time, and Lady in the Lake and Long Goodbye are leaps and bounds better than the first ones). However, as a glimpse of 1930s-1940s California + really sharp commentary, they're excellent.

The Lew Archer novels are much, much better plotted, and a good snapshot of California as it exploded in the 1950s-60s. The writing isn't quite as sharp or witty as Chandler's, but it's close. I don't think I'll read them all, but I've read 7 so far and will probably read another 3. I'm curious to read his take on the 70s in the last two novels (published '73 and '76).

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