The sarcasm throughout the book is used to great effect in Chandler’s descriptions. This probably why I read him. The book is racist and dark and twisted. It seems to me that the story is much darker then “The Big Sleep”. If you enjoy noir I think you’ll enjoy this. Personally I’d prefer something a little lighter, something like Christopher Moore’s “Noir” which I read recently and enjoyed so much I thought I’d give the real thing a try.

The house itself was not so much. It was smaller than Buckingham Palace, rather gray for California, and probably had fewer windows than the Chrysler Building.

She poured us some more Scotch. It didn't seem to affect her any more than water affects Boulder Dam.

She began to laugh---a high-pitched old woman's laugh. "April Fool's Day," she tittered. "Maybe she won't get it." I left her laughing. The sound was like a hen having hiccups.

After I take some time to recover I think I'll try the next book in the series.

I started-out months ago, just wanting to read the one or two Philip Marlowe books I hadn't read. Along the way, I realized I'd forgotten large parts of the stories in the earlier books. I'm now going back and surveying The Best of Philip Marlowe:

+ n  The High Window (Philip Marlowe#3)n (My review.)
+ The Lady in the Lake
+ n  The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6)n ) (My review.)
+ n  The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)n (My review.)
+ Farewell, My Lovely (Philip Marlowe, #2)

The original copyright or this book is 1940. Many folks regard this book to be The Best Marlowe. Having read stories spanning the author’s writing career, I find the pre-War stories, like this one, to be the best. There is considerably more energy in the writing. In addition, the pre-war period is historically more interesting to me than the post-war. I suspect that’s because its less well documented by media?

The book is modernly long at about 300 pages. As the series has progressed, the page count of the stories has increased by about 50-pages per book.

Prose is written in long sentences with frequent use of modifiers. I prefer the dialog to the descriptive prose, which is a bit too adjective-rich by modern standards.

Chandler is renowned for these turns of a phrase. This story contains the (now) famous description of a femme fatale: 'It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.'. Marlowe’s badinage is also legendary. The snappy and slangy talking PI has since become a hardboiled archetype. For example, “I like smooth shiny girls, hardboiled and loaded with sin.” Most of the best lines in the story imply sex or violence. Although, on occasion they relate to Marlowe’s solitary life.

Oddly, Marlowe sidesteps sex and romance, despite ample opportunity. In the end, he does 'get' the "good girl". Unlike previous books, there are no expletives used or implied. However, what would now be considered ethnic slurs appear in casual conversation. Several times, I had to research a long out-of-use slang term, that I couldn’t puzzle-out from context. For example, as I mentioned above, a “dinge” was a: derogatory term for a black dating from the 1920’s.

This story contained The Usual Suspects. These characters are now arch-types of the hardboiled trope. There is the: Smart Talking PI (Philip Marlowe), femme fatale (Mrs. Lewin Lockridge Grayle), "good" girl (Anne Riordan), Pretty Boys (Lindsay Marriott), Gentleman Gangster (Laird Brunette), Good Cop (Lt. Randall), Bad Cop (John Wax), Grifters (Jules Amthor), Bent Doctors (Dr. Sonderborg), etc.. The story is also littered with thug characters. Marlowe calls well behaved thugs, “torpedoes”. In this story, Moose Malloy was the most important. It should be noted that almost the same list of character types appear in every Marlowe story with a name and description change. Unlike in other stories, there are no homosexuals in this one. They usually appear in the role of the 'Pretty Boy'. Pretty Boys never fare well in Chandler stories.

Plot is a partial interleaving of three sub-plots. The sub-plots came from earlier short stories written by the author. Chandler was most productive earlier in his writing career. He had a problem later in his career, after he’d used-up all of his earlier short stories in novels. You can see where the first two stories end, from the jumps in scenes. Simply put, Marlowe inadvertently gets involved with a near superhuman ex-con (Malloy) looking for his ex-girlfriend, which ends in a murder. He escapes that. Then in a separate case, he is hired to deliver a ransom, which leads to the murder of the client (Marriott). Finally, he stamps around LA looking for the killers, and ties everything-up. Both murders were related, but that was not obvious to Marlowe until later. There is a long exposition at the end, so as not to leave the reader confused and to paper-over the plot holes.

One thing I find peculiar is the enormous quantity of alcohol consumed by the characters in the story. No scene is complete without “having a drink”. It’s also amusing to see the malevolent influence of marijuana on folks. Bad guys and gals smoked “jujus”. Good guys and gals drink large amounts of whiskey and scotch.

Chandler is still developing Marlowe's snappy badinage and the author's use of metaphors and similes have not developed to their full extent in this story. His descriptions are still a little over-done, and will become sparser in future books. That occurred with The Lady of the Lake, which I'll be reading next. However, this story is still a good read. It is certainly better than any modern written historical fiction set in the period. Its authentic.

If you liked this story, you'd also be interested in the movie  Farewell, My Lovely (1975)  . A young, Charlotte Rampling plays the femme fatale. Although, she’s not a blonde.

Readers interested in early Chandler might be interested in reading Chandler: Stories and Early Novels.

I find "Farewell My Lovely" to be a difficult book, darkly poetic but vague. It feels somehow symbolic, where "The Big Sleep" is more real (BS is the first Philip Marlowe novel, FML the second). I've read this before, I think about eight years ago, but my recollections of it were surprisingly spotty.

[Random Read. 10, Mystery.]

In this sequel to the incomparable The Big Sleep, Philip Marlowe gets wrapped up in the mostly accidental murder of a black bar owner by a huge man looking for his girlfriend. While looking for the missing woman for not much reason other than he has a lot free time, he's approached by a man who needs a bodyguard for the recovery of some stolen jewelry. There's another murder; a perspicacious, bold, and helpful girl; a fake mystic who may or may not be masterminding a jewelry heist ring; a brace of corrupt cops; the young gorgeous nymphomaniac wife of an "elderly, liverish" wealthy man; and much more.

I'm less impressed with this book than its predecessor. To say that the plot is meandering is something of an understatement. Marlowe doesn't have any idea what's going on during a good five sixths of the novel, and I suspect that Chandler might not have known either. Marlowe doesn't follow clues so much as throw himself at them to see what sticks, and often gets nothing but a knocked head for his pains. I would not have been surprised if I were told that this was written as a serial. Still, though, there's no cooler, more interesting protagonist in genre fiction. That world-weary noir narration is untouchable. "I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a hat, a coat, and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room." Marlowe befriends the guys that beat him up and pushes away the tough-talking girl who helps him out of a jam. And then there's the descriptive prose. "On the porch stood one lonely wooden rocker, and the afternoon breeze made the unpruned shoots of last year's poinsettias tap-tap against the cracked stucco wall. A line of stiff yellowish half-washed clothes jittered away on a rusty wire in the side yard." Who needs the movies? That right there is as crystal as any picture. (It's probably worth noting given our modern sensitivities: this book is a product of its time and some racist terms are tossed around with alacrity. However, it's worth noting that as sad it is to read that the police won't bother investigating the murder of a "shine," it's much worse to realize that ain't a damn thing changed since 1940 and this type of thing goes on an awful lot in the real world.)

The plot isn't quite as gripping as that of The Big Sleep but this is another stylish piece from Chandler as he erases the boundary between narrative voice and character - Marlowe is how he speaks: laconic, mordant, acidic, yet with a softer, vulnerable side as he is bludgeoned, shot at, captured and doped. And that scene where he picks up a stray pink bug in a police office, wraps it in his handkerchief and releases it outside speaks volumes. As does his sympathy for huge Moose Malloy on the search for his pre-prison sweetheart, Velma.

The writing is sharp and extravagant, utterly distinctive, and the observations on LA create an atmosphere that permeates the text. Anne Riordan, a 'nice' girl-next-door, gets to do some flirty bickering with Marlowe but does he think he's too much in the gutter for her fragrant self?

Looking forward to Marlowe #3.

(Original review below)
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More tough-talking noir from the world-weary Marlowe as he untangles another convoluted case involving jewel heists, blackmail, corruption, a beautiful woman on the make and a feisty girl-next-door. The casual racism is jarring to modern ears with use of the N word alongside descriptions of an 'Indian' (Native American) who is 'greasy' and 'smelly' and racially-inflected slang for passing Japanese and Italian characters... But the prose is characterful and the plot flows easily - and me, I love Moose Malloy!

So far I have enjoyed Chandler the most from the classic hard-boiled detective genre. He does not detects so much as does the legwork then stumbles onto the bad guys and tries to talk them into giving him some info. He tries to tough it out in the tough (mostly) macho world of criminals with his gun, his punch, and his tough-guy attitude. Very fourties, very suave.

The fourties and fifties was also an era with built-in racism and sexism, which tends to make much of noir difficult to read for me, as they tend to pile especially on women, treating them with violence, patronising and derision. Chandler, however, seems to stay at the baseline of the era’s worst tendencies, especially with women (he is quite bad with racism). While women certainly have their assigned roles, Chandler treats them as worthy partners and/or adversaries. He respects their intelligence, and sees women earning a living as natural. His tough-guy attitude also comes across more as a survival trait in a hard world, rather than macho posturing stemming from insecurities (like Dashiel Hammet’s or Ian Fleming’s detectives).

The racism is quite bad, especially at the beginning in a black bar, and later on about a native American character. He does criticize, however, the cops not investigating crimes committed against black people.

The story is well done, however, and Chandler has a dry sense of humor which is fun to read. I am glad I can enjoy Chandler as I did not have much luck with some of his contemporaries.

Devious and double crossing.

Marlowe can sure take a licking and keep on ticking. Honestly, you’d think with some of these altercations he’d be dead or severely brain damaged. Thick skull, I guess. The violence level is pretty high in this one as are the twists.

Usual entertainingly precise physical descriptions for everyone; they definitely let you know if you’ve met this type before. Red heads and blonds, and honestly, a female sidekick for a bit. But, Marlowe being the kind of man that realizes he isn’t a keeper leaves things at arms length emotionally—physically, he’s all in.

Onwards Chandler!

The 2nd published novel by Raymond Chandler and as great as should be expected.
I've read this novel a few times - 2 or 3 at least.
Last time must have been not quite 30 years ago.

I have seen the 1944 Dick Powell RKO film version a half dozen times since then.
I've seen the 1975 Robert Mitchum Avco/Embassy film version 8 or 9 times since I last read this novel.
It's my favorite film version.

As great as both fims are they fail to capture the plot intricacies even if they both pretty much nail the characters.

I won't say this is Chandler's best novel but it's very, very close to being his best.

“She sighed. “All men are the same.” “So are all women—after the first nine.”
― Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely

Detective Marlowe returns. In this tale he stumbled into a missing person case handed over to him by a disinterested detective.

As usual, Marlowe meets colorful characters and suffers for it.

This was an audio version by Elliot Gould. I doubt I can listen to any other audio narrator as he does it so well and you can tell he loves the novel series.

MY GRADE: B plus to A minus.

The main story was this: Moose Malloy was looking for the girl he loved, Velma. In the penultimate chapter he found her. But things didn't go well at the reunion. In between? Oh there was a fake psychic. Dirty cops. A crooked shrink. And a few murders being done.

If you were not a fan of those type of stories, this book is worth a try because it had these lines:

The voice of the hot dog merchant split the dusk like an axe.

I like smooth shiny girls, hardboiled and loaded with sin.

I thought his pearl was a little too large, but that might have been jealousy.

I used my knee on his face. It hurt my knee. He didn't tell me whether it hurt his face.

The eighty-five cent dinner tasted like a discarded mail bag and was served to me by a waiter who looked as if he would slug me for a quarter, cut my throat for six bits, and bury me at sea in a barrel of concrete for a dollar and a half, plus sales tax.

Would you like to know more? Give a hoot. Read the book.


PS: Oh yeah. I owns a copy. You better believe it.

“Time passed again. I don't know how long. I had no watch. They don't make that kind of time in watches anyway.”

I love several things about Chandler.

I love the mood Chandler created with the series - and he did it so well. You are automatically transported to the 30-40s Hollywood movie. It's a black and white movie. And of course Bogart would be our hero. Don't tell me if I am right or wrong. I don't remember if I checked the actors, and it's good that I am with my own imagination with this one.

I love Chandler's writing - brutal, straight, and strong. He is a man of few, but powerful words!

The story was less attractive than the one in The Big Sleep, and I was less intrigued.
Also, I guessed the outcome long before Marlowe started to explain, it was more predictable. And I was a little lost in the plot from the middle of the book.

Anyway, Marlowe is becoming my favorite detective. Well, it's Bogart in my mind (again, don't spoil this for me, please) - and nobody is as cool as him as a detective!

After reading two of his novels now, I'm beginning to like Raymond Chandler much more for his writing than for his plots. For anyone who thinks crime fiction has no place in the literary world, the Marlowe novels might make you change your mind. Chandler's an amazing writer when it comes to social commentary, the similes, metaphors and the sharp, electric prose he's famous for, and of course, his superb depiction of the city of angels of the 1940s that is so lifelike you almost feel that you're along with him for the ride. The novels are also a way for Chandler to examine American society of the time.

While I am not much of an analyst when it comes to reading -- a) there are a huge number of analyses of Chandler and his writing all over the place and b)I'm just not good at it so don't pretend to be -- one thing I particularly noticed in my reading was Chandler's use of the color red. To me, where ever Chandler focused on mentioning red, some kind of danger -- emotional or physical -- was nearby. Velma, Malloy's old sweetheart, was a redhead. Anne Riordan, daughter of an ex-police chief and an ally of Marlowe's in this book, is also a redhead. He likes her enough to keep some of the worst details from her and finds himself thinking about how her apartment would be a "nice room to wear slippers in." He watches a red neon light flashing in the hotel room where he stays just before getting on the water taxi to go out to the gambling boat. He meets ex-cop and boat driver Red Noorgan, with "hair the shade of red that glints with gold," who has "Violet eyes. Almost purple. Eyes like a girl, a lovely girl," with skin Marlowe describes as "soft as silk" and a voice that was "soft, dreamy, so delicate for a big man that it was startling. It made me think of another soft-voiced big man I had strangely liked." There are likely more instances, but I found the use of red quite interesting here.

The mystery plots that eventually tie together are a little clunky, but I loved this novel and I wish I had read these books long before now. The writing alone is worth working through the convoluted plotlines, but most of all I love the character of Marlowe. As I found in The Big Sleep, he's a knight of sorts in a city where knights don't really have a place -- and I really like that about him. FYI -- this book was written in the 1940s so you're going to encounter some pretty ugly racial slurs and racist attitudes as you read. That sort of stuff is a bit shocking, but considering the times, not so unusual for back then.

definitely recommended -- now on to the third Marlowe novel.