If my books had been any worse, I should not have been invited to Hollywood, and if they had been any better, I should not have come.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the paradox of creative success and the compromises that come with it.
Raymond Chandler's quote humorously highlights the delicate balance between mediocrity and excellence in creative work. He suggests that if his books were less appealing, he wouldn't have achieved the recognition that led him to Hollywood; conversely, if they were of higher quality, he might have remained true to his art rather than adapting to commercial demands. This irony illustrates the often contradictory nature of success in the arts, where recognition can come from a blend of talent and marketability.
In practice
Use this quote during a speech about the challenges of being a writer in the film industry.
Undoubtedly the stories about them [hard-boiled detectives] had a fantastic element. Such things happened, but not so rapidly, nor to so close-knit a group of people, nor within so narrow a frame of logic. This was inevitable because the demand was for constant action; if you stopped to think you were lost. When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.
There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.
Organized crime is the dirty side of the sharp dollar.
When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.
The flood of print has turned reading into a process of gulping rather than savoring.
We have the whitest kitchens and the most shining bathrooms in the world. But in the lovely white kitchen the average [person] canβt produce a meal fit to eat, and the lovely shining bathroom is mostly a receptacle for deodorants, laxatives, sleeping pills, and the products of that confidence racket called the cosmetic industry. We make the finest packages in the world, Mr Marlowe. The stuff inside is mostly junk." β
There is this aura that the three-act play is the important one: it's the one that you do to win the Pulitzer. Some part of you falls for that, and then after a while, you don't fall for that.
the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat
I feel as though I've gotten to a point where I don't really want to set a book in any real place ever again.
As one old gentleman put it, " Son, I don't care if you're stark nekkid and wear a bone in your nose. If you kin fiddle, you're all right with me. It's the music we make that counts.
To a true artist only that face is beautiful which, quite apart from its exterior, shines with the truth within the soul.
Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. _x000D_ On the best days, all three.
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