Meaning of Chandlerism | Babel Free

Definitions

A passage of writing or dialogue that uses vivid and lyrical metaphors or similes, characteristic of the work of writer Raymond Chandler.

Examples

“As Rigby Reardon, Steve Martin easily mimics the patented Hollywood tough guy of the period, dangling a cigarette from one side of his mouth while distorting a Chandlerism from the other.”

“I'm especially struck with the way you turn the Chandlerism, the colorful unlikely metaphor or simile, into legitimate novelistic indication of character, rather than trick writing for its own sake.”

“The funny thing is, Chandler would come up with a good image, pictorial, and like I said I would come up with a Chandlerism, as it were.”

CEFR level