Take a photo of a barcode or cover
christinecc 's review for:
Farewell, My Lovely
by Raymond Chandler
To be honest, this is a difficult story to write about with immediately spoiling things.
(There were also some uses of the N word, which... yeah, not appreciated, to say the least. I can never tell if Chandler's writing Marlowe in the 40s or the 70s, I'm sure it says it somewhere but either way, I wasn't a fan.)
Story-wise, Chandler does a very strange, engaging thing with his Marlowe plots by somehow making it seem as if he's making the story up as he goes. Which he may well have been doing. The reader's along for the ride with Marlowe, who is equally confused and keeps getting roped into bigger and bigger problems, one after the next. By the time the "mystery" is solved (and there are six mysteries happening at once), you'll be exhausted. Like Marlowe!
The characters were honestly fairly fun, larger than life but also grounded. Chandler didn't just describe a bunch of good-looking body parts and call it a female character. Instead, he bothered to write multiple female characters with their own lives and motives separate from Marlowe's own. It's a low bar, I know, but I was pleasantly surprised that Chandler cleared it. Marlow himself is still a world-weary man who carried a small, shy torch for finding out the truth wherever he can. He tries to stay in his league, but it's more out of recognition of his own limitations than out of resignation. He can't do everything. And he's saddened by the fact that no one can.
Recommended if you want to read Chandler's noir books, although I think I'd recommend starting with his short story collection "Trouble Is My Business" before this one, or even the earlier book, "The Big Sleep." "Farewell My Lovely" probably works better once previous installments have done the heavy lifting for the protagonist's characterization.
(There were also some uses of the N word, which... yeah, not appreciated, to say the least. I can never tell if Chandler's writing Marlowe in the 40s or the 70s, I'm sure it says it somewhere but either way, I wasn't a fan.)
Story-wise, Chandler does a very strange, engaging thing with his Marlowe plots by somehow making it seem as if he's making the story up as he goes. Which he may well have been doing. The reader's along for the ride with Marlowe, who is equally confused and keeps getting roped into bigger and bigger problems, one after the next. By the time the "mystery" is solved (and there are six mysteries happening at once), you'll be exhausted. Like Marlowe!
The characters were honestly fairly fun, larger than life but also grounded. Chandler didn't just describe a bunch of good-looking body parts and call it a female character. Instead, he bothered to write multiple female characters with their own lives and motives separate from Marlowe's own. It's a low bar, I know, but I was pleasantly surprised that Chandler cleared it. Marlow himself is still a world-weary man who carried a small, shy torch for finding out the truth wherever he can. He tries to stay in his league, but it's more out of recognition of his own limitations than out of resignation. He can't do everything. And he's saddened by the fact that no one can.
Recommended if you want to read Chandler's noir books, although I think I'd recommend starting with his short story collection "Trouble Is My Business" before this one, or even the earlier book, "The Big Sleep." "Farewell My Lovely" probably works better once previous installments have done the heavy lifting for the protagonist's characterization.