The Big Sleep

Advantages: (+) outstanding read (+) excellent and creative/unique plot (+) addictive
Disadvantages: (-) extremely confusing and difficult to keep track of (and to summarise in the review!)

.... BRIEF INTRODUCTION The Big Sleep is a novel first published in 1939, followed by a couple of film versions - one in 1945 and the second in 1978. This is actually the first Chandler novel to feature Philip Marlowe, the famous detective. This particular novel is notoriously cokmplex and difficult to follow though has been named as Chandler's best works. Not solely this, it was also awarded the TIME magazine award for Best 100 novels 1923-2005. The novel begins in mid-October. Philip Marlowe is hired by the old, ailing General Sternwood to help him "take care of" Arthur Gwynn Geiger. Geiger is a homosexual (has been considered to be bisexual) pornographer who has been blackmailing the General with potentially scandalous pictures of the General's daughter, Carmen Sternwood. Marlowe agrees to help. This first task becomes...

vcarina88x 12.01.2009 (11.01.2009) · Read review
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Review of The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

I did have a Big sleep!

Advantages: Cheap, Central and very clean
Disadvantages: No restaurant.

...give an idea of price. why would you want to stay in the hotel bar when there are so many places to drink in Cardiff anyway!! The room itself was stunning. You can see it for yourself on www.thebigsleep.co.uk. The Bed was huge and around it there was a massive fluffy rug. In the bathroom was a two seater jacuzzi. I was very impressed. Ive stayed in much worse for much more than £99. The Big sleep has 81 rooms. Their newer rooms are the New on 9th rooms. They are from £69 and are slighly better than the standard rooms which start from £45 per night. You can also see these at www.thebigsleep.co.uk there is onsite parking and this is located i think on the third floor after you go up a large ramp. That is where you will find reception also. The big sleep is located centrally in cardiff. it is very close to all the pubs. It is opposite...

millie45 04.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of The Big Sleep Hotel, Cardiff

Little to sleep over

Advantages: Bogart and Bacall sizzle; the dialogue crackles; everything is nigh perfect
Disadvantages: I could lie and tell you there are any, but i won't

...First off let me say The Big Sleep looks magnificent in all its DVD glory. The picture is crisp and all those annoying crackling sounds we can remember from the VHS version have gone. So set it up on a big TV, turn off the lights, close the curtains and you?re as close as you?re ever gonna get to seeing it in the cinema without the effort of getting to one (though the effort is certainly worth it). OK, the packaging is kinda ordinary and there are no extras to speak off. But who cares? So many DVDs come with tedious (some odious) straight from US TV plugs that regurgitate all the usual nonsense and are generally nothing better than extended commercials. Anyway, a film this good doesn?t need extras to make it appealing. At a general RRP of about a tenner the price isn?t gonna put you off either. But that?s not the point is it...

No_name 22.11.2003 · Read review
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Review of The Big Sleep (DVD)

ZZZZZZZzzzz

Advantages: Style, atmosphere, and everything else
Disadvantages: None for me

...As regards my reading choices growing up, I graduated from the cutesy tomes of 'The famous Five' and 'Biggles', almost seamlessly into the gritty darkness of Raymond Chandler. Similarly, around the same time my tastes in films went from cowboys-n-injuns whoopin' and a hollerin' in glorious technicolour, to the black-n-white, oppressive darkness of film noir. One of the best of the film noir genre was...and still is, THE BIG SLEEP starring Humphrey Bogart. Adapted from Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel, it was brought to the screen by director Howard Hawks in 1946. Chandler's most famous creation was undoubtedly Philip Marlowe, the wise-cracking, world-weary, dryly cynical private detective - and many would say that, of all the actors who have portrayed this character, Bogart was the best. Personally, I think Dick Powell was closest...

proxam 16.07.2004 (01.09.2004) · Read review
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Review of The Big Sleep (DVD)

Directed by Michael Winner

Advantages: Lots of well-known actors
Disadvantages: Mitchum is not Marlowe

...Introduction As a recent convert to the work of writers like Raymond Chandler and James M Cain, when I saw this DVD was going free with last week's Mail on Sunday, I didn't hesitate to get hold of it. This is a re-make of the original film based on Raymond Chandler's work, which stars Humphrey Bogart and was made in 1946. This particular version, made in 1977, was directed by Michael Winner, who apparently took precautions to change the setting of the film, so that it wouldn't be directly compared to the original. I have a copy of the original on video, but unfortunately my video player has broken, so I cannot comment first-hand on the differences. However, I understand that this version of The Big Sleep is very faithful to the original story, although some liberties have been taken with Philip Marlowe. The director Few will not...

sunmeilan 21.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Big Sleep (DVD)

I was their sleeping beauty!

Advantages: Clean and tidy and very friendly.
Disadvantages: No restaurant.

...Around four months ago I travelled to London to do a photo shoot, I was very excited as I had been out of modelling for a while but I was also very nervous as I had not worked with the photographer before and was staying in a hotel I had never used before also. The shoot went very well and the hotel I stayed in was beautiful so all was good in the end. The hotel in question was the Sleeping Beauty Hotel; Ciao has called it the sleeping beauty motel but it was definitely hotel on the brochure, anyway never mind. The hotel is situated in Leyton which is in the East of London, so not a hotel you would be likely to use for a typical sightseeing holiday to London as you are well away from the attractions. Nearby the hotel is a KFC, a Wetherspoon`s bar, a Tesco store and a closed down Woolworths, so nothing too exciting but this was...

candy-pink 29.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sleeping Beauty Motel, London

A Good Nights Sleep

Advantages: Moulds easily to body shape, comfortable
Disadvantages: Bit bulky

...Although pregnancy is a wonderful experience, it?s not always the most comfortable. Finding a comfortable position to sleep can be difficult, especially in the final months, even if you don?t have any additional problems. And if you do suffer from a problem such as Symphis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) then it?s almost impossible to sleep without suffering from severe pain. This is where the Mothercare Sleep Body Pillow comes into it?s own. The size of the box the Sleep Pillow is vacuum packed in totally belies the actual size of the pillow. I was a little shocked when my partner brought it home, it was hard to believe that such a large product could be so easily carried back from the shop. On opening the box it was easy enough to open up the plastic packaging (using a pair of scissors) and the pillow ?re-inflated? almost immediately...

sandemp 16.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Mothercare Sleep Body Pillow

Sleeping with ghosts...

Advantages: if you like the old Placebo, get this too
Disadvantages: none really.

...Placebo - 'Sleeping With Ghosts' This has been hiding in my collection for sometime and to be honest before now I'd never given it a proper listen to. Well apart from skipping to 'The Bitter end' and a couple of others. Well...WOW ! 'Bulletproof Cupid' first on the play starts slow like your more classic placebo stuff then with a drum beat that kicks in the rest, music. Guitar drums sounds - an amazing track that has no words - unless I missed them?- just a rocking good tune showing off the talent of the music behind Moloko. English Summer Rain' by contrast begins sounding like a dance remix track to me - does improve though. When the guitar jumps in. If listening through headphones sounds way better as it skips from ear to ear right through your head.. "...I'm in the basement baby, your in the sky...I'm in the basement baby...

The-ex-Raven 12.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Sleeping With Ghosts - Placebo

Grobag baby sleeping bags are fantastic!

Advantages: easy to use, helpful, fantastic ranges
Disadvantages: may look a little like a dress on boys!

...The grobag is a fantastic invention which stops the constant getting up and down in the night to put the blankets back over your baby when they manage to kick them off in the night. Grobags are baby sleeping bags which fasten at the shoulders and are worn almost like a dress/dungarees. They come in different thickness- Tog rating- like a quilt. So you are able to decide which tog rating is needed, for example, in the summer when it's warm you will only need a 1tog or if it's colder you may need a 3tog. They come in different patterns and designs so you may chose whether you want a girlie pink one or a boy blue one etc. The main purpose of these grobags is to stop the baby from getting cold during the night as they may do with a blanket. Babies do not sleep soundly constantly, they do toss and turn and are able to shift themselves...

lorriellah 10.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Grobag Sleeping Bag

I SLEPT IN JOHN MALKOVICH'S BED

Advantages: Well priced, innovative decor
Disadvantages: Relatively basic - no restaurant

...I first came across this hotel in a travel magazine that advertised the hotel as “The UK’s first design hotel for budget travellers”. The Big Sleep, in Cardiff City centre is a former British Gas office building that has been converted into hotel rooms, with an emphasis on retrospective styling. As you first enter the hotel stairwell, you are greeted by an enormous framed photograph of the actor John Malkovich – I later discovered that The Big Sleep is actually owned by the Hollywood star. LOCATION The Big Sleep can be found on Bute Terrace, a fairly busy road in the centre of Cardiff, which is shared with a number of other large hotels including the Marriott and Jury’s. From Cardiff Central train station, the hotel is a short walk, or an even shorter taxi ride. For travellers arriving by car, Cardiff...

LostWitness 12.03.2002 · Read review
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Review of The Big Sleep Hotel, Cardiff