Customer Reviews

Farewell, My Lovely

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

farewell my lovely is a superb example of Chandlers works showing that his use of dialogue coupled with his use of first person narrative creates an atmosphere that draws you in and won't let you go . The story itself is enough to keep the reader interested and so it is not surprising that this tail of a missing girl who has disapeared without a trace and one mans search for her can compell you to just keep on reading, I myself was late for work because of it. I think that the main appeal of this book is that it was written some sixty years ago and yet is still capturing peoples imaginations and still has an apeal that can't quite be fully explained, the style is serious dealing with race issues displaying the American polices indifference towards Blacks at the time (late 1930s) and humorous at the same purely because the mian character in this, and many other Chandler stories, Phillip Marlowe, has some superb lines that will make you smile if not laugh out loud. The dialogue is just perfect the banter the narrative and the serious investigative side of it all seeming to show that Chandler has thought alot about what the actual content of the book would be, rather than relying entirely on the story to sell itelf. This book covers alot of ground including many plot twists but still doesn't seem far fetched or ridiculous in fact it is a better book because of the plot complications . All in all one of the best books i have ever read.

This is my first Marlow novel. I cherish its rememberance. I read it when I was about 15 and came like a blow in the stomach. Then I read all Marlow novels in a row.

Marlow is hired to protect a man while he perfoms some business. The man is killed and Marlow begins to investigate. It contains all the good topics of the black series: a honest, tough detective, beautiful gals, tough policemen, dirty politics, runaway gangsters...

This is a detection novel, but also - like good detective novels like Maigret, Waallander, Hammet - a social satire, a raw criticism of USA society and particularly of the affluent, rich, care-for-nothing upper class. The power of money can deform everybody, and little hope is there for the innocent or honest. Morality is nowhere to be found but in some obscure detective, some bitter police officers who cannot do anything about it.

But what I liked best was the clever dialoges, the witty conversation, the inteligent twists in the plot, which takes a new turn in every chapter. In the end, it was not so complicated. It was only a woman and a lot of money. But brother, it was worth the trouble.

In the end, love will take a rush at saving if only poetically those who are foolish enough to belive in love.

Worth the time.

I don't read a lot of thrillers and this is the first Chandler I've read. As many have said before, this is a step and a half above your average good thriller, the reason being the wit and intelligence of the prose, the elegance of the descriptions and the understanding of character which is compassionate, passionate and cynical all at the same time.

His flip one-liners aren't just clever, but oil the wheels of the plot. Some of the references I couldn't understand, they belong to the period or the locality, but the plot moves along because the characters find common ground by means of their expressions in the shifting sands of what is acceptable and what is not in the way of behaviour.

Another thing is that reading this is a bit like watching a film, Los Angeles comes to life before your eyes.

On the downside there's a slight sense of not looking very far beneath the surface, it would slow the book down.

And you think 'The Big Sleep' is complicated? I dont know what is happening in the plot of this novel but, after a while, who cares anyway? Marlowe wisecracks his way around late 1930's Los Angeles taking a succession of sappings, druggings, pistol-whippings whilst consuming gallons of hard liqour.

There are five expositions of the plot before a befuddled Anne Riordan accuses Marlowe of 'guesswork'. Some of the one-liners and dialogue are just priceless. Of the gorgeous Mrs Grayle he says, 'she gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket' before topping it with, 'Whatever you needed, wherever you happened to be - she had it'.

Other reviewers rate this as Chandler's finest but I have reservations. Occasionally, the wisecracking is almost intrusive, 'I know I talk too smart' and even Grayle admonishes with, '..this isn't a bunch of gag lines , Mr Marlowe'. I feel guilty saying it, but at times 'Dead Men Dont Wear Plaid' flashed before me!Such reservations are akin to a speck of dust on the Crown Jewels.

Be aware that the novel has some unpleasant baggage, as various nasty prejudices are stridently espoused. Chandler cannot resist some nods to the detective novel genre (Sherlock, Philo Vance and Dr. Fell) as well as giving Ernest Hemingway a right kicking.

It's dark, corrupt and hard-boiled, yet it sparkles with wit and is beautifully paced.

Raymond Chandler has written one of the greatest noir novels ever. A dark mystery story with so many intriguing characters.

Phillip Marlowe is the penultimate Private Investigator. His take-no-prisoners attitude along with his witty humour make him an instanty likeable character. Written in first person narrative, we follow Marlowe's investigation through a dark Los Angeles. Chandler's detail to the character Phillip Marlowe and The City Of Angels is very impressive. Full of wild characters such as a violent ex-con, a deadly femme fatale, tough cops, a violent Indian and relaxed gangsters, this isn't a story for everyone. Containing plenty of swearing and detailed violence, it is an intense read and some racist language that was pretty much the norm back in the 40's

Believe me, it will be a fast 250 pages as this is an intricate and outstanding detective story with plenty of twists and turns. Awesome stuff.

The wonderfully gritty language and menacing atmosphere of any Chandler novel is ever-present in this deep-noir adventure, to immediately grip the reader and dazzle her on every page. Characters come with a sizzling edge of hyper-reality - dames, dicks, shysters and poodles in a litany of love for the reeking underworld of Los Angeles in its heyday.

On a nothing of a job, Marlowe gets caught up with a brute in love - Moose Molloy is out of the slammer and looking for his lady, Velma. But Velma doesn't want to be found and the trail Marlowe is accidentally forced to follow runs cold before taking a distinctly dangerous angle.

As always the plot is labyrinthine and unguessable until well-over halfway through, but it's the wisecracks that make it all worth while as Chandler takes us on a thrill-packed roller-coaster ride, complete with enough twists, tunnels, and turns to satisfy any reader. But it is in the quieter moments of meditation that come with a high literary value that Chandler reveals a poetic sensibility and intelligence that might suggest he is wasted on crime. I would argue, however, (and many critics would agree with me) that it is also here that we find the crossover abilities that put his merit too high for any banal classification. Chandler is always more than just a crime writer. Reading his work is always pure, unalloyed pleasure.

The slick and hard hitting style employed in this book belies its deeper social satire, metaphor and significance as a great character study. The character study is of both Marlowe and the glitzy, dirty world he inhabits. Themes include the effects of success on a personality, honour in places where people don't play by the rules, misplaced love and corruption in the heart of not only a judiciary system, but also the infrastructure of a whole area. It works well as a piece of literature filled with allusion and metaphor. It also works well as a thrilling detective novel - the distinctive and influential prose doesn't miss a beat, nor does the plot, which is lubricated with a pulled gun whenever things start to stick.

I've said all that without really touching on the main draw (in my opinion) of the book - Marlowe. I'll let Chandler say it like it is:

"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor. He talks as the man of his age talks, that is, with rude wit, a lively sense of the grotesque, a disgust for sham, and a contempt for pettiness."

-- The Simple Art of Murder; the words mean streets were an inspiration for the title of Martin Scorsese's film Mean Streets.

Now buy this book and dangle before I start pumpin' lead!

More Raymond Chandler and his PI Philip Marlowe - and they get better. I've read four of them now. With this book I think Chandler really gets into his stride, his lead character becomes more defined. I loved the Big Sleep, but this book moves Marlowe on further and into darker territory. There's quite a chilling passage where he gets drunk with an old lush to get information out of her, which shows Marlowe can be very ruthless. But he also champions the underdog, Moose Malloy, in helping him find his ex-wife Velma. It's a longer book than the Big Sleep, and the plot is more convoluted - but in a good way, like a good puzzle. Chandler also sends Marlowe on more of a journey with this story, he really puts him through it, and what happenes to him is pretty harrowing. Another classic!

Always like this authors novels and can recommend them if you like crime with L A based detective.Will be buying more of them.

I often wonder if Chandler ever structured the plot before he started. He wrote a lot of short stories for the pulps before he moved on to novels. I read somewhere that this story was two shorter stories into one so he was happy to reuse material that he had previously produced. This is maybe why his novels get weaker as he is trying to make up new material. The High Window his third novel is reputedly the first one he had to make up from scratch.

If you want to know what the plot is look elsewhere as it is hardly matters. The book is in the first person so you only see the world through Marlowe's eyes. He gives you what description he wants to give you and only occasionally lets you know his feelings.

All the dialogue is sharp and witty. You would like to believe that people really did talk like that but it must have been produced after hours of honing at his typewriter.

Philip Marlowe gets involved after meeting Moose Malloy in a bar. Some of the language when talking about blacks is shocking to us now but was a product of the time. The police were not really interested when Moose Malloy killed a black barman.

A second story kicks in and Marlowe is out looking for people as murders take place and he gets kidnapped. You don't have to worry if you have forgotten the plot as at the end Chandler will wrap it all up for you by way of an explanation by Marlowe to one of the other characters. It is handy for the reader as by that time unless you read the book at one sitting you will have forgotten.

I like reading Chandler books slowly as that language is so clever and you don't want to rush over the descriptions and dialogue just with a view to getting on with the plot. the plot doesn't matter.

I am now going to spoil myself and read The Big sleep is first and most well known book as it was so successfully filmed with Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe

Chandler created a whole world that was his own and he is the master of it.

Another great read.