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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Wow, there are a lot of old racial slurs I was unaware of that are in this book.
The positive: This is the Chandler writing with funny one liners, snappy dialogue, and beautiful descriptions of California, cynical attitude toward the wealthy, intricate plot, hard-eyed dames and hard-drinking men... this is basically everything you'd read Chandler for. Marlowe moves through a world where justice is what you pay for, cops are corrupt and don't care about everyone equally, and a lot of people from various places are scrabbling to get by in a hard world, while the specter of war looms far away but not invisible by any means. And this is, to a great extent, a world we still inhabit.
The negative: Each chapter brings a new and cringe-worthy stereotype (from Blacks to Native Americans to Asians to gay men and, I guess, women in general, no one is left untouched--I had totally forgotten how Hollywood used to treat Native Americans, and wow is it terrible, just, wow). Chandler also creates an excellent character in Anne Riordan, but she then vanishes halfway through the novel and is unused until the very end when she turns up to drink and canoodle with Marlowe, which is disappointing. Also, the Marlowe we meet here doesn't quite feel like man who "is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid." Because he is mean, he is afraid... but he also cares a lot about the various people he sees murdered over the course of the book (and there are a lot of murders in this book), even though they're the wrong race, the wrong gender, they largely don't have any money... he would claim that he doesn't care too much, but if he didn't care, he wouldn't be putting himself in harm's way and getting blackjacks bounced off his head as much. And that's typical Marlowe. (Also, he has a calendar with Rembrandt pictures on it and quotes Shakespeare a couple of times.)
If you're a Chandler completist, this is worth looking into, but I wouldn't start with this one if you've never read him before.
The positive: This is the Chandler writing with funny one liners, snappy dialogue, and beautiful descriptions of California, cynical attitude toward the wealthy, intricate plot, hard-eyed dames and hard-drinking men... this is basically everything you'd read Chandler for. Marlowe moves through a world where justice is what you pay for, cops are corrupt and don't care about everyone equally, and a lot of people from various places are scrabbling to get by in a hard world, while the specter of war looms far away but not invisible by any means. And this is, to a great extent, a world we still inhabit.
The negative: Each chapter brings a new and cringe-worthy stereotype (from Blacks to Native Americans to Asians to gay men and, I guess, women in general, no one is left untouched--I had totally forgotten how Hollywood used to treat Native Americans, and wow is it terrible, just, wow). Chandler also creates an excellent character in Anne Riordan, but she then vanishes halfway through the novel and is unused until the very end when she turns up to drink and canoodle with Marlowe, which is disappointing. Also, the Marlowe we meet here doesn't quite feel like man who "is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid." Because he is mean, he is afraid... but he also cares a lot about the various people he sees murdered over the course of the book (and there are a lot of murders in this book), even though they're the wrong race, the wrong gender, they largely don't have any money... he would claim that he doesn't care too much, but if he didn't care, he wouldn't be putting himself in harm's way and getting blackjacks bounced off his head as much. And that's typical Marlowe. (Also, he has a calendar with Rembrandt pictures on it and quotes Shakespeare a couple of times.)
If you're a Chandler completist, this is worth looking into, but I wouldn't start with this one if you've never read him before.
Another Chandler classic. Marlowe gets involve into a web of intrigue that ends up almost costing him his life. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Marlowe has develop that ability into an art form. It's noir at his best, written by one of its master. The one every other writers tried and some are still trying to copy or emulate. The plot is like the proverbial Ariadne's thread, you need to find one end and to follow the thread down to the bitter end in order to solve the puzzle. Of course, this being Marlowe, you find a few corpses along the way, stop for a drink a few times and meet one or two femme fatale to spice things up. Loved it.
Moose Malloy lumbers through life, striking down whatever gets in his way. He nonchalantly kills the owner of a low-life nighclub called Florian's. The object of Moose's affection, a torch singer named Velma Valento, disappears. Marlow is also asked to investigate the disappearance of a valuable jade necklace from the home of an upper crust client. While investigating both Velma's disappearance and the mystery of the jade necklace, he runs into a cast of sleazy characters from all tiers of Los Angeles society: Florian's shifty widow tries to mislead Marlow - maybe; a psychic to upper class patrons raises suspicions; one very rich woman may have a backstory; crooked policemen and an erstwhile hitman round out the pack.
This book is packed with fine writing and a story line that simply will not stop. It is virtually impossible to put down. Moose Malloy is one of my favorite Chandler characters, although all of the people who populate the pages of this book are vividly drawn. Very highly recommended.
This book is packed with fine writing and a story line that simply will not stop. It is virtually impossible to put down. Moose Malloy is one of my favorite Chandler characters, although all of the people who populate the pages of this book are vividly drawn. Very highly recommended.
This book has some of the most amazing metaphors and similes, if you can get past the blatant racism at the beginning of the book, it is worth it for this alone!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Synopsis: It all starts with Moose Malloy who is looking for Velma a redhead, he has just been released from prison where he did 8 years for a bank job and Velma was his girl. Philip Marlowe, a P.I. has the misfortune to meet him, which leads to a whole heap of trouble.
Review: I thought that I would like this more than I did I found the story a struggle to maintain interest in. It has bags of atmosphere but for me it lacks an interesting storyline and although it is very clever and it does all wind up where you understand how the pieces all fit together I just didn’t like the journey.
Also be forewarned the language and stereotypes are by today’s standards very out of date and to many offensive.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence
I am not sure whether this was just my kindle edition or if this was authorial intent, but okay was written okey throughout the whole book. I assume this must have been on purpose? but the question distracted me for the entire time. Also MRA stands for Moral Re-Armament not Men's Rights Activist in this context.
“I looked at the gun and the gun looked at me.”
Previously, I reviewed Raymond Chandler’s first detective novel, The Big Sleep. You might be familiar with that story because of the Bogey/Bacall movie. I enjoyed that first book because “I loved the clinking drinks and the rainy stakeouts and the enigmatic women and the lyricism.”
Chandler’s second detective novel, Farewell, My Lovely, was published in 1940, right on the heels of The Big Sleep. It is nearly as fun as the original. Like The Big Sleep, this story centers around a private eye working out of Los Angeles in the 1940s. Philip Marlowe is a hard-boiled former cop with a nose for danger. He is caught in the middle of a statewide conflict between a silver tongued con-man, a saucy enigma of a trophy wife, and some coppers who toe the line between effective and corrupt. The plot is jazzy in nature. Don’t worry about that. It’s not about the plot – it’s about the mood and the language. That’s what Raymond Chandler is best at. His writing is so good that I missed my bus stop in 30 degree weather.
Chandler’s little asides often made me smile or laugh out loud (“I filled a pipe and reached for the packet of paper matches. I lit the pipe carefully. She watched that with approval. Pipe smokers were solid men. She was going to be disappointed in me.”). As in Chandler’s first book, I loved the mood he sets of a sweaty, whiskey-soaked, seedy Los Angeles. In my opinion. the author’s descriptions of settings improved in his second novel. I could see the seedy places he was talking about instead of just feeling them. However, that could be just because I’m more used to his writing.
One note – this book was written in 1940 and contains some terms referring to people from all over the world that aren’t acceptable today. Those can be a bit shocking to a reader in our time.
Previously, I reviewed Raymond Chandler’s first detective novel, The Big Sleep. You might be familiar with that story because of the Bogey/Bacall movie. I enjoyed that first book because “I loved the clinking drinks and the rainy stakeouts and the enigmatic women and the lyricism.”
Chandler’s second detective novel, Farewell, My Lovely, was published in 1940, right on the heels of The Big Sleep. It is nearly as fun as the original. Like The Big Sleep, this story centers around a private eye working out of Los Angeles in the 1940s. Philip Marlowe is a hard-boiled former cop with a nose for danger. He is caught in the middle of a statewide conflict between a silver tongued con-man, a saucy enigma of a trophy wife, and some coppers who toe the line between effective and corrupt. The plot is jazzy in nature. Don’t worry about that. It’s not about the plot – it’s about the mood and the language. That’s what Raymond Chandler is best at. His writing is so good that I missed my bus stop in 30 degree weather.
Chandler’s little asides often made me smile or laugh out loud (“I filled a pipe and reached for the packet of paper matches. I lit the pipe carefully. She watched that with approval. Pipe smokers were solid men. She was going to be disappointed in me.”). As in Chandler’s first book, I loved the mood he sets of a sweaty, whiskey-soaked, seedy Los Angeles. In my opinion. the author’s descriptions of settings improved in his second novel. I could see the seedy places he was talking about instead of just feeling them. However, that could be just because I’m more used to his writing.
One note – this book was written in 1940 and contains some terms referring to people from all over the world that aren’t acceptable today. Those can be a bit shocking to a reader in our time.
"He [the bouncer] had a battered face that looked as if it had been hit by everything but the bucket of a dragline. It was scarred, flattened, thickened, checkered, and welted. It was a face that had nothing to fear. Everything had been done to it that anybody could think of."
Entertaining and memorable writing, particularly at the beginning. But, when you get down to it, no more or less than a crime thriller written with superb style.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced