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janelizabethp's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Racism, and Violence
bluestarfish's review against another edition
4.0
The stars are bumped up by the dazzling use of language and metaphors in Farewell, My Lovely. I'm not quite sure how Philip Marlowe survives everything that happens to him, or keeps track of the plot for that matter. And yes, there is significant racism and sexism in this book, and yes I did momentarily get a bit bored with the plot - but my goodness that use of language is amazing...
danielsell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
stevem0214's review against another edition
4.0
Classic crime/detective novel and the inspiration for a lot of detectives characters even to this day. This was created using Chandler's "cannibalizing short stories" method of writing where he creates a novel length book by combining characters and plots lines from previous short stories. Seems to work in this second novel featuring Philip Marlowe. Just a good, old fashioned detective story that has been made into movies at least three times.
dee9401's review against another edition
3.0
Farewell five stars? Chandler's second novel, my third of his I read and my first non-5-star rating. I really liked his first novel, The Big Sleep and then found The Long Goodbye, published 14 years later, to be an excellent read and hardboiled social commentary. I was looking forward to Farewell, My Lovely and left not upset but not happy.
The hardboiled lingo he used so well in The Big Sleep was fleshed out with too many descriptive words in this book. It reminded me of advice I received in a writing class about how much description to use and how you should hit so many senses with each sentence. The crisp, rapid-fire pace of his other books, and the genre in general, is slowed down so much that it was a chore to read some sections. When Chandler dropped into dialogue mode, his touch returned, but the narrative never matched the pace of his characters talking to each other. While that was my bigger beef, I wasn't as interested in the plot line in this novel. It seemed forced, less believable and with too many two-dimensional characters.
If you want to read Chandler, start with The Long Goodbye. So far, that's been my favorite book of his and it earned a spot on my favorites bookshelf.
The hardboiled lingo he used so well in The Big Sleep was fleshed out with too many descriptive words in this book. It reminded me of advice I received in a writing class about how much description to use and how you should hit so many senses with each sentence. The crisp, rapid-fire pace of his other books, and the genre in general, is slowed down so much that it was a chore to read some sections. When Chandler dropped into dialogue mode, his touch returned, but the narrative never matched the pace of his characters talking to each other. While that was my bigger beef, I wasn't as interested in the plot line in this novel. It seemed forced, less believable and with too many two-dimensional characters.
If you want to read Chandler, start with The Long Goodbye. So far, that's been my favorite book of his and it earned a spot on my favorites bookshelf.
mr_dobalina's review against another edition
4.0
What a book. The casual racism and sexism is tough though not unexpected given when it was written. But the descriptions and phrases and dialog… wow.
stephenmeansme's review against another edition
4.0
A shade better than "The Big Sleep," and roughly 10x more quippy. Chandler certainly has a gift for oblique but perfect descriptive phrases.
bikes_books_yarn's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those books that I would not have read had I not been assigned it in a college course. I am glad I read it but it wasn't an enjoyable read. It's one of those books for me that I read and felt like I was a more knowledgable person for reading it - but it was not a read of pleasure.
That being said I would like to read more Chandler.
That being said I would like to read more Chandler.