Rating: 
Summary: IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
Review: I feel this book could have been better if the basic themes presented in the content were not as predictable. On the other hand if that is what Raymond Chandler was looking for, a path in which the reader can easily recognize his work, than he has accomplished that. The book does have its good points, its story line is held together throughout the novel and the dialouge is good. Yet on the other hand it seems to be the same old hard-boiled story of mistaken identity and corupt cops and therefore in my eyes very unoriginal. "You're from the big town," he said. "You think you're tough and you're wise. Don't worry we can handle you. We're a small place, but we're very compact. We don't have any political tug-of-war down here. We work on a straight line and we work fast. Don't worry about us Mister." Said Webber to Marlowe.
Rating: 
Summary: Even though I like the movie better... Chandler is THE MAN
Review: I have read all the Chandler novels since about 1970, a few of them multiple times, but it had been at least a decade since giving him a full reading."Lady in the Lake" is not as interesting to me as the movie version - which altered significant portions of the plot and which was shot entirely POV - but when the book is re-read, the brilliance of Chandler's prose stands out. His Marlowe is funny and morose and heroic (in context)... and approaches a difficult case in a way which seems very true to the man and the times. The man could write!!
Rating:
Summary: A great book with many twists
Review: I personally thought this book wonderful. It's one of my all time favs. Just when you thought you had the whole story worked out, something else would happen to make you start thinking. It wasn't until the end that I discovered what really had happened. A great read for those who love this type of genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard-Boiled Classic
Review: I really enjoyed this book because of its fast pace and very involved plot. Philip Marlowe is really at his best here. By the end he has been beaten, manipulated, and framed for murder but manages to solve the mystery and come out as clean as a fat man's plate. One major element of the plot was a bit obvious however, namley the identity of the lady in the lake. There was still much to be revealed and discovered. This may be my favorite of the Marlowe series thus far. They are all great, so that is saying something.
Rating:
Summary: Hard-Boiled Classic
Review: I really enjoyed this book because of its fast pace and very involved plot. Philip Marlowe is really at his best here. By the end he has been beaten, manipulated, and framed for murder but manages to solve the mystery and come out as clean as a fat man's plate. One major element of the plot was a bit obvious however, namley the identity of the lady in the lake. There was still much to be revealed and discovered. This may be my favorite of the Marlowe series thus far. They are all great, so that is saying something.
Rating:
Summary: I like Raymond Chandler
Review: If Earnest Hemmingway wrote detective novels, this would be the result. Straight, to the point, in your face narrative by Phillip Marlowe makes these books hard to put down. The Lady in the Lake has more "gotchas" then the normal Marlowe story, but the main thing is still not some wild whodunnit but rather a simple crime explained in a simple plausible way. The fun is in letting Marlowe describe the action sort of like John Madden describing football without all the grunts.
Rating:
Summary: I like Raymond Chandler
Review: If Earnest Hemmingway wrote detective novels, this would be the result. Straight, to the point, in your face narrative by Phillip Marlowe makes these books hard to put down. The Lady in the Lake has more "gotchas" then the normal Marlowe story, but the main thing is still not some wild whodunnit but rather a simple crime explained in a simple plausible way. The fun is in letting Marlowe describe the action sort of like John Madden describing football without all the grunts.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a Read
Review: In my estimation, the weakest of the Marlowe series. But hey, middling Chandler is still a whole lot better than the best of most other writers. If you like Chandler, and Marlowe, you'll enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a Read
Review: In my estimation, the weakest of the Marlowe series. But hey, middling Chandler is still a whole lot better than the best of most other writers. If you like Chandler, and Marlowe, you'll enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: The book has x-ray eyes
Review: In this absolute literary classic, Philip Marlowe has been asked to look into the disappearance of the straying wife of a local businessman. His search to find her leads him through dead bodies, corrupt police, and wicked women. The amazing thing is that the book doesn't preach, it just sees-- Marlowe witnesses the world with a kind of fatalistic and dispassionate affection-- the things people do to each other; the things people do to themselves. The kind of writing style of which most writers can only dream.
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