Reviews

Really nice read. As always, Chandler’s narrator uses insanely fun metaphors to describe his subjects, and keeps the story engaging. It was quick and fun.

bluestarfish's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

A novel more about the detective than detection as such (Marlowe seems to get to the answers by hanging in there rather than through amazingly brilliant detecting), but that is alright when the detective is Philip Marlowe. More than alright really as there's some wonderful prose in here.

commander's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

mikearhodes's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I read 5 of the 7 Marlowe books a decade or so ago and on a whim decided to read this, one of the ones I hadn't read.
I found it a book of two halves. The first half was poor in my opinion: it seemed to lack any of the diamond similie's and metaphors that are a trademark of Chandler, the plot was dull, and every female character seemed to exist only to throw themselves at the hero (even by the standards of the genre, it's grating). It felt like reading a poorer writers satire of Chandler.
Things picked up a lot in the back half, when the pacing picks up and the plot becomes more interesting. I ended up enjoying it a fair bit - it's weak for Chandler overall but that's still far better prose than most can manage.

I think the Big Sleep is fresher, The Long Goodbye a deeper, richer material, The Lady In the Lake a good balance of the two and is probably the tightest plot.

More...