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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Eight years ago Moose Malloy and cute little redhead Velma were getting married - until someone framed Malloy for armed robbery. Now his stretch is up and he wants Velma back. PI Philip Marlow meets Malloy one hot day in Hollywood and, out of the generosity of his jaded heart, agrees to help him.
Aces from cover to cover. Even better if you read it to yourself in Bogart or Mitchum's voice.
It was ok. I enjoyed the first one more. There were some problematic racial elements, specifically the free use of the n-word and the 'indian' character. The story, I think, had a little trouble staying focused and because of that I had some trouble staying focused as well.
This is my second Chandler, after The Long Goodbye. Honestly I found this one confusing and the language a bit hackneyed in comparison. But. It was still thrilling. And Marlowe is still a fantastic protagonist. I'm still loving exploring the noir.
Weirdly, having read Pynchon's Inherent Vice I kept getting flashbacks to that book; I hadn't realised how much one was based on the other.
Weirdly, having read Pynchon's Inherent Vice I kept getting flashbacks to that book; I hadn't realised how much one was based on the other.
Chandler learned how to write by reading pulp magazines during the Depression, figuring out the formula, and deciding "this looks like a good way to make money." He was in his forties.
This makes me happy.
The book is some classic noir fiction. A loose jangly plot that consists of Marlowe wandering around LA and getting hit on the head repeatedly.
My favorite characters are the phony Psychic and a semi-crooked cop Marlowe calls Hemingway, for stylistic reasons.
There's a "good girl" who does nothing and a "bad girl" who is stereotypically evil. There are a couple good cops, a lot of bad cops, and even a noble gangster.
A good read, but it isn't going to change your life, except make you wish you were a better writer.
This makes me happy.
The book is some classic noir fiction. A loose jangly plot that consists of Marlowe wandering around LA and getting hit on the head repeatedly.
My favorite characters are the phony Psychic and a semi-crooked cop Marlowe calls Hemingway, for stylistic reasons.
There's a "good girl" who does nothing and a "bad girl" who is stereotypically evil. There are a couple good cops, a lot of bad cops, and even a noble gangster.
A good read, but it isn't going to change your life, except make you wish you were a better writer.
Compared to my previous mystery read, "The Maltese Falcon," this novel is much more fleshed out and overall a much better entry point for the modern noir reader. Marlowe, our flawed detective is an overall more interesting and fully realized character than Sam Spade, who is a shadow in comparison.
Chandler may veer towards purple prose in places, which I find strange for one of the foundational texts of the noir genre, but despite this, it is a great read and a fun mystery.
Chandler may veer towards purple prose in places, which I find strange for one of the foundational texts of the noir genre, but despite this, it is a great read and a fun mystery.
This is the first time I've read a Chandler novel and I came away quite impressed. The prose and plot seemed a little more polished than [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1306421260s/29999.jpg|980184], the last hardboiled PI noir novel I read and I think I enjoyed it more. It's still a case of following the journey rather than picking up the clues as they're sprinkled but I found Marlowe a more likeable protagonist than Sam Spade, even if it was a bit disconcerting that the first time he went into a room he would spend several paragraphs describing the soft furnishings :).
Marlowe starts a routine case and follows a really big guy into a rundown bar out of curiosity. From there, he gets involved with murder, jewel thieves, blackmail, murder, gambling and more murder.
Marlowe's quick wit and dry (and often very dark) sense of humour appealed to me and I'd certainly like to read more of Chandler's novels.
Marlowe starts a routine case and follows a really big guy into a rundown bar out of curiosity. From there, he gets involved with murder, jewel thieves, blackmail, murder, gambling and more murder.
Marlowe's quick wit and dry (and often very dark) sense of humour appealed to me and I'd certainly like to read more of Chandler's novels.
I read somewhere that Farewell, My Lovely began as three separate short stories that Chandler stitched into one plot, and boy does it show. Not that one should really be here for the plot. Some of the less faithful film adaptations actually clean up the plotline somewhat by gouging out an entire third of the book. Marlowe's wiseassery is where it's at, and this would be a fun read if not for the period racism, which so thoroughly permeates the text that I almost gave up several times.
Finishing my dive into noir detective fiction.
I didn't connect much with The Big Sleep but had heard from most people this was the superior book and was recommended to try it. The case was definitely more solid than the plot holey Big Sleep and it has some more interesting facets but I was turned off by the over reliance on stereotypes to fill out the plot.
I didn't connect much with The Big Sleep but had heard from most people this was the superior book and was recommended to try it. The case was definitely more solid than the plot holey Big Sleep and it has some more interesting facets but I was turned off by the over reliance on stereotypes to fill out the plot.