Jeeves and Wooster and Philip Marlowe

I finished Very Good, Jeeves, the second book of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster short stories I've read.  They're great, absolutely the perfect tone for light, pleasant reading, and are the perfect length to read one a night in bed before falling asleep.  I may order another one on inter-library loan soon.

I've started The Little Sister, a Raymond Chandler book about Philip Marlowe, his famous detective in The Big Sleep and a million other books.  It's interesting so far, but it's not anything I'm used to.  Marlowe acts tough - is tough, apparently - and has lots of clever, contemptuous things to say to those who oppose him.  I feel sure that Philip Marlowe and I wouldn't be buddies if we met, but I'm still curious about the mystery. So far there's just an innocent young woman trying to find her brother, who was living in L.A. and has now disappeared.  But Marlowe thinks she's hiding something, so I assume she must be, and I'm waiting to find out what.

It's interesting - the Jeeves stories and The Little Sister were written about 20 years apart (the former in 1926, the latter in 1949) and although the plots are completely dissimilar, I still notice things they have in common just from being in nearby eras.  These things stand out because they're no longer used today.  One example off the top of my head: calling people "birds."  Not just women, in a swinging sixties Austin Powers sort of way, just anyone.  Sort of the way one might say "dudes" or "guys" today.