I chose to write hardboiled detective mysteries a couple of decades ago after reading Raymond Chandler, who I think took the sub-genre to a high literary level. My writing had been mostly short stories in the literary or magical realism categories, but an occasional mystery.

Ultimately I have written 4 Mike Angel PI detective novels in the hardboiled but Chandleresque vein, so I'd say he is my idol & mentor. My books are available on Amazon Kindle, B&N, and Smashwords as ebooks. I am now rereading The Lady in the Lake, and The Little Sister--these are always fresh and put my aim for my own writing very high. When a reader or editor writes (as some have) that they are reminded of Chandler or Spillane, I am quite flattered and know I'm on the right track.

I read "The Long Goodbye" from this anthology. My first Chandler novel. It was great, especially so if you're a fan of vintage novels. Set in LA in the early 50s, the book is filled with hard boiled characters, rich Californians, and a fair amount of un-PC dialog. I loved Chandler's literary style. It's like every John Garfield movie ever made. The Library of America editions are exceptional, beautiful books. A pleasure to hold and read. I'm looking forward to my next Chandler novel.

Collection of four novels starring the archetypal private detective Philip Marlowe, along with a few other works by Raymond Chandler. Overall, this is a great selection of "hard-boiled" fiction in the tradition that spawned film noir.
"The Lady in the Lake": This probably has the best plot of the group, with Marlowe investigating a disappearance and a lot of convoluted deception. There is a nice contrast between the urban landscape of Los Angeles and the countryside of the fictional Little Fawn Lake, but crime and corruption may occur in either setting.
"The Little Sister": Chandler seems to have had a love-hate relationship with Los Angeles and "The Little Sister" is a bitter screed on the Hollywood scene and its pretenses. Marlowe finds hypocrisy and dead bodies almost everywhere he goes.
"The Long Goodbye": This novel explores Marlowe's strict code as he investigates the death of a friend. Chandler seems to be pushing the envelope as to how far Marlowe will go for a seemingly minor personal relationship and to resolve a mystery.
"Playback": This is a novel about secrets, the lengths that people must go to hide those secrets, and the cost of doing so.
The template of the dodgy client, enticing but dangerous women, baffling clues, and moral ambiguity run through all the novels. Marlowe usually gets his ritual beating by thugs and/or cops which verge on the sadistic. Authority figures are rarely much help and sometimes hopelessly corrupt. There is also frequent stereotyping, especially of women, gay men and Mexicans, that unfortunately appears throughout Chandler's novels. In "Playback" however, there is a brief moment that hints at an awareness of racism when a mixed race character bitterly tells Marlowe, "You'd hate to be me."

The screenplay to "Double Indemnity" will have few surprises for fans of the movie but is a nice inclusion, as are the essays and letters.

The Lady in the Lake - one big twist was easy to see early-on, but still good character work and plenty of surprises woven into this one. I give this one a big thumbs up.

The Little Sister - wasn't as good. The mystery's hooks were a little too tenuous, the characters a tad too crime-noir cliche. Still, it's well written and not without charm, but personally, I don't consider it one of Chandler's better efforts.

The Long Goodbye - I liked some things about this one - the old way buddy angle, the cops (particularly Ohls) and Chandler's way around a phrase. Marlowe's relationship with the Wades rambles on too long and some of the players' motivations are too vague. The personal parallels with a writer who doubts the validity of his work and the recurring subject of alcoholism lifts the book through its slower moments. Definitely a very good, if not quite great, book.

Playback - Its brevity works for it - Chandler keeps the story concise and focused. The reveal is a little wonky and it's a little light, but it's solid.

Double Indemnity screenplay - good pacing, good dialogue. Chandler's femmes aren't usually such black widow cliches, which makes the ending fairly predictable, but he creates effective ambiance throughout.

This book took me by surprise. Chandler is an author who I like and to some degree study because of his early influence on the hardboiled genre. I was just looking for a quick and inexpensive way to read my last unread Philip Marlow story, Playback. I didn't realize there was an anthology like this. If I have a problem, its that there are so few Selected Notes and Essays.

Firstly, this Library of America book edition is beautiful. I've become accustomed to purchasing or reading books which are either disposable paper products, like Kleenex or virtual envelopes for 'content'. This book reminds me of a hymnal in its durability and heft. It has a thick pasteboard cover and a sewn binding. There is an indigo colored, thin, cloth ribbon sewn into the binding for place holding included. The pages are thin and translucent with crisp well defined print. I want to wash my hands before flipping the pages of this book. I've taken to scrupulously avoiding eating and drinking while reading it. Frankly, I had forgotten the tactile pleasure of reading a well-made book.

Included in this book are:

+ The Lady in the Lake
+ n  The Little Sistern (my review)
+ The Long Goodbye
+ Playback   (my review)
+ Screen play for Double Indemnity (1944).

I did not read all the books included, having read some of them previously.

In addition to the stories, the Selected Notes and Essays provide a lot of insight into and information on the author. For example, he had a checkered career, was a philanderer, an alcoholic and died from alcoholism. The Essays are helpful in separating Chandler's true voice from the books. These were written when he was very cynical about his craft and success later in his life. Of the Letters, I found those written to Hamish Hamilton his British publisher to be the most entertaining. 'The Facts of Philip Marlowe's Life' to J. D. Ibberson is helpful in seeing how the author pictured Marlowe. Finally, the Chronology describes the author's life events, including publishing history and scant information on the roots of some stories. For example, he only met Dashell Hammett, one of the few authors he admired once in person.

If you have an extraordinary interest in Raymond Chandler, this is a book to read. In a single, physically impressive volume it puts in one place the later half of the Marlowe series and enough biographical information and non-fiction pieces to satisfy curiosity about the author. I'm pleased I found it.

Having read this, which is volume 2 of 2, I'm curious about the first volume Chandler: Stories and Early Novels.

I have been obsessed with Chandler and his protagonist, Philip Marlowe, for most of my life. Now, I wonder if the character and the works he traipses through are best taken in dramatic form, where actors can breath life into what would now be called a Mary Sue--Chandler's Marlowe is just too good and too perfect to be believable or frankly interesting. In the correspondence in this volume Chandler lays out his fiction-writing philosophy, and for him dialogue and set pieces are more important than the overarching plot. I think the elements are too out of balance, and for most of the novels I just found myself not caring about Marlowe or the byzantine mystery he is unfolding. The best of the novels is Long Goodbye, where characterization and narrative are more in-synch, Chandler does not go into contortions trying to fit the narrative around what he wants to do with the characters. The Long Goodbye is also interesting because Chandler is starting to register the massive social changes of the 20th century USA, such as the rise of television and fast food, and the human wreckage left by military service during WWII. Although its probably less than 15 years since The Big Sleep, it seems like we are a long way from that novel.

In his correspondence Chandler does not come off very well; he is thin-skinned, full of false modesty and clearly thinks he is the best mystery writer (and maybe just best writer) of all time. He gives zero fucks about social issues, despite his novels' vague indictment of societal corruption.

"If I wasn't hard, I wouldn't be alive. If I couldn't ever be gentle, I wouldn't deserve to be alive." -Philip Marlowe, "Playback" by Raymond Chandler

That quote to me quantifies the character of Philip Marlowe, the hard-boiled detective who is the protagonist in the thread of Raymond Chandler’s noir novels contained in this collection. “The Lady in the Lake”, “The Little Sister”, “The Long Goodbye”, “Playback”, the script for “Double Indemnity”, and selected letters and essays that Chandler wrote in his life, are all exemplary stories on their own, but wonderful as read as a collection. Each story is interesting and different, but with the realism and cynical wit of Marlowe to hold them together.
Chandler paints a dark picture during the golden age of Hollywood, filled with dirty cops, drug-dealing doctors, and of course, beautiful yet manipulative (and sometimes murderous) women. But despite the darkness of the characters, and the trouble that Marlowe finds himself in, he is a character that always finds a reason to help, although sometimes reluctantly. Marlowe has an inexhaustible curiosity for finding the truth, despite personal detriment. And so many times he puts himself in harm’s way, for loyalty, a bit of honor, and a very little paycheck.
I particularly enjoyed Chandler’s personal insight into his craft of writing in Hollywood, and his personal letters. It shows a penchant for brutal honesty and realism, although with a bit of that Marlowe cynicism that seeing the darker side of life can bring. It was interesting to see how Chandler’s personal outlook influenced the character of Philip Marlowe, and however interpreted onto screen, comics, or other books throughout the years, that character remains the foundation of a good detective story.

Utterly fantastic. Phillip Marlowe is a fascinating character. Chandler has a gift for dialogue.

The Long Goodbye – *** Like all the great mysteries, this is an exciting read. I had a hard time setting it down (though it is a pretty long novel for a mystery). The praise for it is much deserved. It is a twisting and rambling story full of oddball characters and strange situations.

I have to admit, though, I have a hard time understanding anything Marlowe does. You want characters – and action – to be unpredictable, but to some extent you want to know the character and understand his or her motives and actions. From Marlowe’s time in jail, to his publishing of the suicide note, I couldn’t understand him, let alone predict anything he might do.

** SPOILER ALERT **

For example, he published the suicide note to …? Smoke out Lennox? Really? Embarrass a bunch of people? He risked life and limb for these reasons? Strange. And Lennox himself is a complete mystery I couldn’t understand. Why did he run off? And what was Eileen’s motive for her husband’s murder? I’m not sure.

Maybe it’s best not to think too carefully about these novels. It’s an entertaining ride. It doesn’t have to be anything more. (12/15)

In this novel, Chandler's protagonist, private detective Philip Marlowe, is hired by Derace Kingsley to discover the whereabouts of Crystal, his reckless wife (who was said to have run off with her boyfriend). Marlowe's search takes him to Kingsley's lake house at Little Fawn Lake, where Crystal was last seen. It is the discovery of another missing woman's body in the lake that sends this story catapulting towards confusion.

The Lady in the Lake was written by Raymond Chandler, well-known as a successful mystery writer. It was because of his notable mystery writer status (and my love of a good mystery) that I wanted to read a book written by him, and I chose The Lady in the Lake after a fellow blogger (not one I know personally) read and recommended it.

Turns out, the book could have been better. The complicated plot criss-crossed the characters paths and the story's events so often that I frequently found myself bewildered and annoyed. I couldn't keep the characters straight (especially the females), and if you ever read the book yourself, you'll understand why. I found my mind wandering constantly and, as a result, the short novel took me quite a while to finish.

I'm not sure that I have given up on Raymond Chandler altogether. I may try reading another of his mysteries sometime in the future. For now, I am off to rent The Lady in the Lake, hoping to clear up some of the novel's "mysteries" that I am still a bit confused about. However, I will give Chandler a break for a while, and move on to something a little more straightforward.

"Murder, which is a frustration of the individual and hence a frustration of the race, may have, and in fact has, a good deal of sociological implication. But it has been going on too long for it to be news. If the mystery novel is at all realistic (which it very seldom is) it is written in a certain spirit of detachment; otherwise nobody but a psychopath would want to write it or read it." - "The Simple Art of Murder"

More like an averaged out "4.5 out of 5" rating, but hey, who's counting.

Let's just rank this:

5 stars:
1) The Long Goodbye (also, arguable, Chandler's masterpiece)
2) Double Indemnity (co-writer, Billy Wilder)
3) The Lady in the Lake (just a sensational murder mystery with a bevvy of awesome supporting characters)

4 stars:
4) The Little Sister (certainly one of the three great openings to any book ever)
5) Playback (slight, but also includes many great insights; a significant and thoughtful-minor work if that makes sense)

The other selected writings are good too, especially the one about writing in Hollywood. I might not have read every single of the letters, but no matter. Chandler's non-fiction writing gives a good sense of the man: intellectual, thoughtful, and not someone to suffer fools lightly.

Chandler is one of my favorite writers. Like top 3. But upon reading the essays and letters that ended this volume I've come to realize he was bitter old bastard. The world is a cesspool and it's peopled with utter morons. He was as arrogant as he was mean. While his famed PI, Marlowe, sees the world as cynically as he does, Marlowe has a saving grace: he's better than the world. In one of the letters, Chandler says something along the lines of, even though the world has lost its integrity that doesn't mean Marlowe has. That's one of the reasons I love Chandler's writings, he helped create a genre filled with violence and corruption but his protagonist sticks to his morals. And not some twisted perversion of morals either.

The other thing I love about his writing, is his way with words. So, I'll end this review with some of my favorite quotes from this volume:

"She concentrated. That gave her something to do with her eyebrows." p.211

"She smelled the way the Taj Majah looks by moonlight." p.260

"There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself." p.488

"...the subject was as easy to spot as a kangaroo in a dinner jacket." p.740

"Guns never settle anything...They are just a fast curtain to a bad second act." p. 756

"On the dance floor half a dozen couples were throwing themselves around with the reckless abandon of a night watchman with arthritis." p. 771

"[He] smiled - very slightly. Call it a down payment on a smile." p. 825

"Some are able and humane men and some are low-grade individuals with the morals of a goat, the artistic integrity of a slot machine, and the manners of a floorwalker with delusions of grandeur." (talking about Hollywood producers) p. 997