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talentedmisfit'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
The last Marlowe book written by Chandler is not as bad as it’s reputation suggests. It feels smaller in scope than most Marlowe novels but it’s got a good plot and crisp prose. To the bitter end, Chandler cannot write female characters so he remains consistent in that regard as well. Not the best of this series but if you’ve come this far with Marlowe, you likely won’t be disappointed.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
3.0
Found this in one of the hospitals living rooms. Not much to choose from but maybe that's an good idea to read books I wouldn't picked up otherwise. I've read Raymond Chandler before and was not a fan but I decided to read it anywho as it was a short quick read. A decent story to pass the time with but didn't get much feelings for it besides that
lgpiper's review against another edition
4.0
This is the last novel Raymond Chandler wrote, or perhaps just the last Philip Marlowe novel. Likely both given that Chandler died a year after this novel's publication. I don't think it was quite so good as the four or five other Chandler novels I've read, but it is still good (orders of magnitude better than anything Dashiell Hammett ever wrote).
In this book, Marlowe is hired to track a young woman. He has been told to pick up her trail at the train station when the "Super Chief" comes in. He has no idea why. When the young woman arrives, he sees her in an argument with a young man, who appears to be blackmailing her. Marlowe has no idea why. So, they all wander down near San Diego. Marlowe discovers a couple more people are trying to keep tabs on the young woman. And so on. The driver of the story is that Marlowe can't just go off without eventually coming to an understanding as to what it's all about. People are offering him too much money for such a seemingly simple task. So, he smells a rat. As a result, he keeps coming back to the young woman, the other people following her, a couple of bodies that show up along the way, and so on. Good classic hard-boiled, noire detective fiction.
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2023 note:
Definitely not Chandler's best (but still good enough for 3*+), but still a Good Read. Apparently, it was his last book. I wonder if he knew that. I found the ending a bit weird, like Philip Marlowe was going to retire and settle down to a lovely middle-class marriage, or something.
In this book, Marlowe is hired to track a young woman. He has been told to pick up her trail at the train station when the "Super Chief" comes in. He has no idea why. When the young woman arrives, he sees her in an argument with a young man, who appears to be blackmailing her. Marlowe has no idea why. So, they all wander down near San Diego. Marlowe discovers a couple more people are trying to keep tabs on the young woman. And so on. The driver of the story is that Marlowe can't just go off without eventually coming to an understanding as to what it's all about. People are offering him too much money for such a seemingly simple task. So, he smells a rat. As a result, he keeps coming back to the young woman, the other people following her, a couple of bodies that show up along the way, and so on. Good classic hard-boiled, noire detective fiction.
-----------------------------------
2023 note:
Definitely not Chandler's best (but still good enough for 3*+), but still a Good Read. Apparently, it was his last book. I wonder if he knew that. I found the ending a bit weird, like Philip Marlowe was going to retire and settle down to a lovely middle-class marriage, or something.
koreilly's review against another edition
4.0
This is actually my very first Marlowe book and two things came to mind by the end, 1) I see why these are so universally beloved, the writing is insanely good and has clearly made a huge mark on pop culture to this day basically defining noir style and 2) I also see why this is considered one of his lesser works as it kind of ends with a weirdly neat "and that's that" hand wringing that feels out of step with noir's usual murkiness.
The book starts incredibly strong but sadly the back half really loses focus and it feels as though Chandler finds himself about 150 pages in and tired of the whole situation so he wraps it up and calls it good. There are still enough great noir lines to make any other writer jealous so it's hard to say "skp this" especially because it's such a breezy read. I found it in the free book box at my public pool and that seems like the perfect place to read this.
The book starts incredibly strong but sadly the back half really loses focus and it feels as though Chandler finds himself about 150 pages in and tired of the whole situation so he wraps it up and calls it good. There are still enough great noir lines to make any other writer jealous so it's hard to say "skp this" especially because it's such a breezy read. I found it in the free book box at my public pool and that seems like the perfect place to read this.
sightseemc's review against another edition
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Chandler's last Marlowe is a tired, pale shadow of previous works. Read it for completion, but like most, expect to be disappointed, especially at the ending.
smilesgiggle's review against another edition
3.0
Final book in series. After The Long Goodbye, I was expecting more. Great buildup, mystery, damsel in distress. Weak ending.
batbones's review against another edition
4.0
'You in love with him?'
'I thought I was in love with you.'
'It was a cry in the night. Let's not try to make it more than it was. There's more coffee out in the kitchen.'
'No, thanks. Not until breakfast. Haven't you been in love? I mean enough to want to be with a woman every day, every month, every year?'
'Let's go.'
'How can such a hard man be so gentle?'
'If I wasn't hard, I wouldn't be alive. If I couldn't ever be gentle, I wouldn't deserve to be alive.'
As Marlowe as could be. 'Could be' being the dark bitter cruel privileged (it usually all goes together) underbelly of seemingly-pleasant locales, conversations so smooth and independently weighty that they fit perfectly as film dialogue, morally-ambiguous beautiful women, people who throw their weight around, get careless, get apathetic, get dead, and a P.I. who refuses to let the truth go despite being told to leave it where it lay. It seemed more laboured this time around, but I can't decide if this observation was true. Was it a trick of the light, or just the way things had become by this stage, this being Chandler's last novel about possibly my favourite P.I.? Marlowe, too, is different. He seems more tired, more desperate, more human, and so do several of the other characters (people often stereotyped even in noir fiction whom Marlowe/Chandler concedes are 'just human', Jewish businessmen, police officers, curt hotel managers...). Despite the novel's stylistic and plotting flaws and inconsistencies (the mystery is oddly less complex than what Chandler used to do), it injects poignancy to the constant thread of hardness and pessimism that is startlingly moving. For once, finally, the emotive romanticism surpasses wearied fatalism.
'I thought I was in love with you.'
'It was a cry in the night. Let's not try to make it more than it was. There's more coffee out in the kitchen.'
'No, thanks. Not until breakfast. Haven't you been in love? I mean enough to want to be with a woman every day, every month, every year?'
'Let's go.'
'How can such a hard man be so gentle?'
'If I wasn't hard, I wouldn't be alive. If I couldn't ever be gentle, I wouldn't deserve to be alive.'
As Marlowe as could be. 'Could be' being the dark bitter cruel privileged (it usually all goes together) underbelly of seemingly-pleasant locales, conversations so smooth and independently weighty that they fit perfectly as film dialogue, morally-ambiguous beautiful women, people who throw their weight around, get careless, get apathetic, get dead, and a P.I. who refuses to let the truth go despite being told to leave it where it lay. It seemed more laboured this time around, but I can't decide if this observation was true. Was it a trick of the light, or just the way things had become by this stage, this being Chandler's last novel about possibly my favourite P.I.? Marlowe, too, is different. He seems more tired, more desperate, more human, and so do several of the other characters (people often stereotyped even in noir fiction whom Marlowe/Chandler concedes are 'just human', Jewish businessmen, police officers, curt hotel managers...). Despite the novel's stylistic and plotting flaws and inconsistencies (the mystery is oddly less complex than what Chandler used to do), it injects poignancy to the constant thread of hardness and pessimism that is startlingly moving. For once, finally, the emotive romanticism surpasses wearied fatalism.
dorinlazar's review against another edition
2.0
Nu îmi dau seama de ce suferă mai tare cartea asta - din cauza traducerii, care nu reușește să-și găsească o voce consecventă, sau din cauza autorului, care nu a reușit să facă o poveste cu cap și coadă. E o poveste neconvingătoare.
jakekilroy's review against another edition
4.0
This doesn't quite pack the punch and wily sense of adventure as other Marlowe outings, but it's a treat all the same. Perhaps it has to do with such a focused place, smaller plot, and tight cast of characters, as I believe this was written as a screenplay first. But it's fun seeing Marlowe skip town, especially onto San Diego's turf Plus, there's a noticeable weariness and slight severity to Marlowe's demeanor here. The world's roughed him and he's getting tired of roughing back. Still, he continues to just sort of riff off everyone in his life, whether they're in it for seconds or years. It's a good life if you don't quiet up. The ending is almost surreal.