In addition to the later novels, this volume contains some very interesting letters, and a few reflections on the art of writing the murder mystery. There are, however, quite a few typos - which is astonishing when one considers that this is supposed to be a 'corrected edition' and that it contains in the back of the volume (1066f.) a list of "typographical errors" that were fixed from the original printings. In fact, and for this reason, it took me quite some time to realize that these WERE, in fact, just typos, and not quirks of style. Plus - the physical book itself, though a hardbound, started to fall apart: the glue was old, and the cloth place keeper frayed and fell apart.

So dock a star for the edition --

This edition must come into your possession; whether you know it or not, you love Raymond Chandler.

This review pertains to the novel: "The Lady in the Lake".
This is my first Raymond Chandler novel but I intend to become thoroughly well acquainted with Philip Marlowe this year.
I like Chandler's writing technique and I appreciate the Marlowe character. The plot structure in this novel is fairly straight forward (a friend has warned me that Chandler's plots can be quite convoluted) although there is a surprise I never saw coming.
BTW, I have to give a big shout out to the Library of America. This truly is the definitive publisher of American literature in nicely bound books on acid free paper which will last a lifetime. Check out their website for interesting articles about authors, playwrights, and poets. There are also sales and promotional offers and, should you chose to open an account, stories from featured authors sent to your email.
I will be checking out "The Big Sleep" next.

I just reread all of Raymond Chandler’s novels and here is a quick summary:
What stays the SAME
-Smoking everywhere, homes, clubs, bars, restaurants, cars
-Rich women always are the killers
-The coffee is always good
-Alcohol all the time. Marlowe imbibes continuously, but only passes out when he wants/needs to
-Men must be tough: muscles must develop from work-boxing etc, not from rich-man gym exercise or tennis
-Writing is tight;
-Murders are not messy, conversations are.
-There is no middle class: only the rich and the lowlifes. In two books Marlowe speaks of how he could have ended up succeeding in small time business, and as a husband and father in the mid-west, but with a brain and life of cement.

What DIMINISHES:
-LA cops get less thuggish
-Racist slurs
-The descriptions of the settings get less elaborate
-The descriptions of the characters are more concise

What INCREASES:
-Plots get more convoluted
-Phil Marlowe gets more women
-Chandler’s drinking

I was never into pulp novels until I read this collection. This edition is a great introduction to Raymond Chandler and especially the Marlowe character. I expected straight ahead genre fiction when I started reading, but by the end of The Long Goodbye I was amazed that not only were all the detective genre elements really well done, but Phillip Marlowe had become one of my favorite characters in literature. It's easy to view him as a sad sack, but his insistence on honesty and loyalty to friends never came off as two dimensional, and over the course of several mystery novels I began to understand the character more and more. Finally, Chandler's depiction of LA and its rural and suburban surroundings is incredibly well done. It opened me up more to David Lynch's depiction of the city as well, and I began to see how alike the director is to Raymond Chandler. If you're looking to only selectively read, I think you can get away with just The Lady in the Lake and The Long Goodybe - but the more you read of the other novels the more poignant the decisions Marlowe makes in The Long Goodbye become.

The novels in this collection have all the strengths of the earlier, but add a greater level of character and emotional impact. I had previously read The Long Goodbye, which I love, but of the others The Lady in the Lake seemed almost as good.

The Long Goodbye seems to be generally regarded as Chandler's best, and it lives up to that reputation for me. It illustrates the argument of several of the essays included at the end of the volume, that a story dependent on a labyrinthine plot, in which the author tries to trick the reader, is the most boring form of mystery. The "mystery" of The Long Goodbye is fairly straightforward, and the final revelation is satisfying because of what it means for the characters rather than for the plot. Most of the pleasure comes from the quiet moments that have little to do with the bustle of the plot, like a enjoying a gimlet in a bar before it fills up for the evening.

Update August 2023
This time I re-read each of the novels except The Long Goodbye

The Lady in the Lake
As mentioned above, this was good. One thing that makes it stand out is the wartime setting. It's not a big deal for plot purposes, but it marks this as the only Chandler novel that has a really distinct chronological setting. I also like that all the characters, even the murderer, are fairly sympathetic despite their flaws.

The Little Sister
I've never like this one as much. I think it's because it leans into Hollywood business a little too much. It might all be perfectly accurate, but they feel like stereotypes or things that (at this point) have been overdone). To be fair, I have no idea how it would have seemed in 1949 when the book was first published.

Playback
I can't remember if I read this before, but it's not great. The plot is pretty unsatisfying, in that it sets up one mystery that turns out to be nothing while the real action has been almost entirely behind the scenes. I don't fully understand the Betty Mayfield character. I don't get why she's so afraid, given that it's basically a little fish a small pond who's after her, and that pond is now halfway across the country. I also don't get why Marlowe believes her account of her husband's death, given that she had been previously established as an inveterate liar. The social critique seems less sharp, especially given that the one extended description of the power dynamic in the town of Esmeralda centers on a character/family we never meet. I also really didn't care for the more explicit sexuality, which felt out of character for Marlowe.

The Long Goodbye should be read by everyone, even people who don't like crime novels. I think it's one of the great books. I haven't read 'Double Indemnity,' Chandler's screenplay on the Cain novel. (To be perfectly honest, I wasn't that impressed with the novel, more heresy). The essays and letters at the end are also interesing.

The Philip Marlowe stories hide an incredible emotional intelligence in the guise of the hardboiled detective mystery. Marlowe wrestles with the issues of what it means to be a man in the post industrial landscape of the west like no other character in fiction. When I finished reading them all I was so strung out I actually wrote one just to stay in that world. Hey, it's not too bad! It's called The Black Lotus. Ask me and I'll send it to you.

He's a master of the crime novel and one of the best writers at succinct, lively description I've ever seen. I'd love to be half as good.

Did not see that ending coming at all. The finale with Terry Lennox as Senor Maioranos. "Nobody can change the color of a man's eyes."

loved it

I've read and reread all the stories, now with this book I will have some essays too. That's how I can give it a 5 star rating without having read every page. And now I have. Chandler is like fine music. You listen to it, you think you know it. Later you listen again [in this case read again] and it is like listening to it for the first time.

That's a real gift