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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
medium-paced
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Chandler is a master. He claimed Farewell, My Lovely as his favorite of his novels.
Probably 3.5 stars, but a very strong detective novel.
I enjoyed this one much more than The Big Sleep. It seemed less chaotic and the solution made more sense and better accounted for all the things that happened.
Raymond Chandler is one of those writers I felt like I knew even though I had never read anything he wrote. Humphrey Bogart's rendition of Philip Marlowe is forever etched in my brain, so Ray probably gets a little extra glow for having written that role for my biggest celebrity crush.
I listened to this one as an audiobook, narrated by Ray Porter, and it was a delight. Chandler is well known for his character descriptions and I found myself clipping several of them. Little details like hair color become fascinating when seen through Marlowe's assessing detective's lens.
And Marlowe is such a great character, in that realm of curmudgeons I love: the kind with never fully revealed histories that left them a little embittered, but still full of a sense of personal justice and a doggedness that just won't let them let something go, even when it might be wise to do so. His personal moral compass is all the stronger for being so deeply personal, and unconcerned with what the world expects.
Just right for my head, here in the fall, when the fight against apathy and bitterness is all the tougher.
I listened to this one as an audiobook, narrated by Ray Porter, and it was a delight. Chandler is well known for his character descriptions and I found myself clipping several of them. Little details like hair color become fascinating when seen through Marlowe's assessing detective's lens.
And Marlowe is such a great character, in that realm of curmudgeons I love: the kind with never fully revealed histories that left them a little embittered, but still full of a sense of personal justice and a doggedness that just won't let them let something go, even when it might be wise to do so. His personal moral compass is all the stronger for being so deeply personal, and unconcerned with what the world expects.
Just right for my head, here in the fall, when the fight against apathy and bitterness is all the tougher.
I clearly liked this book, and read it with relish, but I have to admit that I was more enamored with Chandler's writing than the actual story. Apparently, Chandler's template for writing novels is to take two short stories he's written, then adapt them into one tale with Phil Marlowe binding them together. This worked very well for The Big Sleep, a favorite of mine, but I don't feel it was as successful in this book. Perhaps it was because the fourth fifth of the book felt like a tacked on adventure. Chandler once said, “When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.” This is generally good advice for writing yourself out of a corner, but the story towards the end felt as if the story was filled with corners. Men with guns in hand were springing at Marlowe as he walked through a city suddenly filled with windows. New characters were introduced, events swung out to sea, and Marlowe became uncharacteristically afraid, timid, and nervous. I almost wondered if a third short story had been grafted in.
The elements that kept me glued to my eReader's screen were Chandler's ease with dialog, his masterful use of simile and metaphor, and his characters, who felt real because their voices were as different as their motivations. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, even if I disagreed with some of the narrative choices. The ending also lacked the tightness I've become accustomed to with Chandler's writing. However, I will read this book again. My poor digital copy is burdened with highlights and notes. There is so much to learn from Chandler's example even if I never once write about tough as jerky detectives.
The elements that kept me glued to my eReader's screen were Chandler's ease with dialog, his masterful use of simile and metaphor, and his characters, who felt real because their voices were as different as their motivations. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, even if I disagreed with some of the narrative choices. The ending also lacked the tightness I've become accustomed to with Chandler's writing. However, I will read this book again. My poor digital copy is burdened with highlights and notes. There is so much to learn from Chandler's example even if I never once write about tough as jerky detectives.
Primo libro che leggo dell'autore, me lo aveva regalato tanto tempo fa mio fratello quando ero nella fase "libri gialli" e non leggevo altro. Per cambiare un noir era, secondo mio fratello, quello che ci voleva, una giusta transizione, una via di mezzo. Non mi aveva ispirato subito quindi è rimasto sullo scaffale un bel po'. Quest'anno in quarantena ho deciso di leggerlo e nonostante avessi poche aspettative non mi è piaciuto. Finito a fatica solo per sapere la fine. Il libro di per sé non è brutto, semplicemente non ha incontrato i miei gusti, non mi è piaciuto lo stile di scrittura, né ho molto capito la storia. Per gli amanti del genere probabilmente questo libro è bellissimo e lo consiglio, per me è stato un po' una delusione. Rimango fedele ai miei amati Miss Marple e Poirot..
Narrated in a pretty deadpan style by Elliott Gould. I would have preferred a narration that did a better job of distinguishing the characters' voices, but it worked OK.
It's racist (which I found especially off-putting at the beginning of the book) and sexist (which I expect from early hard-boiled-PI novels).
And the language is so, so beautiful. And most of the characters are smart, and clearly drawn, and their motivations make sense. And Chandler requires you to draw inferences and work at figuring out what's going on. I sometimes listen to audio books while doing other things, but I wasn't able to do that with this book because it's so information-dense.
It's racist (which I found especially off-putting at the beginning of the book) and sexist (which I expect from early hard-boiled-PI novels).
And the language is so, so beautiful. And most of the characters are smart, and clearly drawn, and their motivations make sense. And Chandler requires you to draw inferences and work at figuring out what's going on. I sometimes listen to audio books while doing other things, but I wasn't able to do that with this book because it's so information-dense.
This book was a good read, but nothing really stuck out to me, although I suppose that may not have been the point. Some of the prose was quite lovely, but again, there just wasn't much in this book that I'll be remembering.