The Long Goodbye

Rating:
Summary: Complex noir book by genre master
Review: "The Long Goodbye" is unlike most of Chandler's other novels. It's longer. It's loaded with more description, internal life, and character investigation. Its plot -- though seeming more random -- is actually tighter and more pointed than his earlier work. In some ways it's more ambituous and revealing than his other work. In other ways, it contradicts his earlier writing style. But no matter how you look at it...it's awesome.

There are a couple of things I've always admired in Chandler.

First, he conveys everything in scene. After an obligatory physical description, everybody is characterized through dialog or action. As a result, the plot flies by, and we are treated to a very concrete, participatory read.

Second, Philip Marlowe tells us almost nothing about himself or his background or even what he's thinking, but we know him better than we know ourselves, thanks to the gritty voice, the nature of his observations, and the conclusions he makes about his world.

"Goodbye" does these things, but slides more towards self-introspection. There are lengthy passages where Marlowe spends time by himself. These passages could seem awkward to the die-hard hardboiled detective fan, but they work. They also show Chandler's writing ability.

In "Goodbye," a writer of popular novels plays a prominent role. Roger Wade writes romance best-sellers; he despises his own genre novels and aspires to write more literary fiction. As a reader of "Goodbye," it's easy to see the paralells between Wade and Chandler, and "Goodbye" seems to be an attempt to write something "literary."

But based on the success of "Goodbye" on its literary merits, it's evident that Chandler wrote the hardboiled dectective novels because he wanted to; not because he couldn't do anything else.

Rating:
Summary: One of Chandler's longest, darkest and best novels.
Review: "The Long Goodbye" can best be described as two seemingly separate Phillip Marlowe mysteries that are linked together at the very end in one ingenious jolt. The first half of the book has Marlowe thrown in jail for protecting a drunken war vet who may or may not have killed his philandering wife. After his friend meets a bad end in Mexico, Marlowe is hired by a publishing company to keep their star writer away from the bottle long enough to finish his latest, greatest novel. But can Marlowe keep himself away from the writer's beautiful wife? Chandler skillfully weaves together memorable characters, dark musings on our inner demons, mysterious hints as to the story's underlying connections, and plenty of his trademark twists and turns, all with a growing undercurrent of hopeless dread. "The Long Goodbye" is in my opinion Chandler's most mature and intelligent novel, less a two-fisted pulp mystery than a brilliant exploration of the duality of human nature.

Rating:
Summary: Farewell, My Lovely
Review: As detective fiction goes, Chandler's novel is as good as it gets. His protagonist is the charmingly frank Philip Marlowe ("It wasn't any of my business. So I ...looked in.") whose wit and matter-of-fact personality makes it fun to go along with him on his adventure. He starts off an innocent bystander, but gets pulled into a massive web of murder and deception, which takes him all over the seedy underbelly of LA in the 1930s.

The novel exhibits technical perfection, is well written with keen description and believable dialogue. The plot is interesting and entertaining, but at times seems a bit implausible. Marlowe's pursuit of truth leads him to bogus psychics and a bogus psychiatric ward, to cops who are at worst scandalous and at best stupid, to the token con artists. At the center of the web are the staples of detective fiction - the fatally attractive women. The novel's two initial plot lines converge into a chaos of dishonesty, and Marlowe finds himself in absurd situations with absurd ways out, and though it requires at least a little bit of an imaginative stretch to continue on the journey unblinkingly, the mishaps are nevertheless entertaining. The novel is well-written and fun, and this makes up for the implausibility several times over.

Even better than the impeccable style and captivating prose is the overreaching theme, constructed well enough even to stay coherent despite the whirlwind of events and characters. Corruption and deceit are at the heart of the novel, and it is up to the incorruptible Philip Marlowe to find the truth as he travels the seamy side of Los Angeles. Nothing is what it seems, including the memorable character, Moose Malloy, a fantastically complex character (like the majority of the novel's dramatis personae).

As a social statement, Chandler's novel deals with gender issues and the nature of success. 1930s America has its own economic myth - as America still does - and stands as a land of opportunity. In this novel, the cost of success for a woman is high, and in this novel, the sacrifice costs everyone. Important to think about what it is Chandler bids "farewell" - worth reading for the punchline; taken with the rest of the novel, the last sentence really sends it home.

Rating:
Summary: The price of kindness
Review: At the beginning of this book, Marlowe's still got a heart left in him and he helps a drunk dumped by a beautiful woman get home. That act of kindness leads him into a kind of friendship which eventually takes him to Tijuana Airport and finally jail.

This is the most complex, and ultimately (I think) the most bitter of Chandler's novels. Although Marlowe goes through the motions of solving the murder mystery, the real villain in the end is the whole stinking human race and the price that it extracts from a person for moments of softness and concern. It's beautifully written-- incisive, clear, and with a caustic bite that stays with you long after the book is over.

Rating:
Summary: Philip Marlowe . . and 'all my children.'
Review: Certainly The Long Goodbye is one of the top ten mysteries written, maybe even the top three. It has that tremendous yet subtle notion of pathos, loyalty, the purity of truth, (perhaps uniqely American) 'stick-to-it-iveness' or relentlessness, and a gritty, scarred, hero.

And certainly Marlowe is the father of a whole bunch of bastard children. Spenser, the oldest, his brother Dave Robicheaux, the darker cousins Lucas (Davenport) and no, not Elvis but Joe Pike.

Juxtapose that against the beauty and insight of Chandler's writing, his voice resonating with the truth about, say relationships. He writes about the war-hero, shattered after the trauma of death, through the words of his wife: "I love my husband. Not as a young girl. That's passed. That man I loved then died in the war. But I love him."

The names and notions intertwine. Marlowe's loyalty to Terry Lennox is the stuff of The Knights of the Realm. The women are tough and knowledgeable. The time is past. Or is it?

Top shelf writing from a man who wrote little but said a lot.

Rating:
Summary: Marlowe is far beyond being cool...
Review: Chandler is the ultimate dialogue writer and he has a truly impressive grasp of human behaviour.

Through Marlowe's cynical but honest look, he creates the most lovable misantrope in fiction history who has something distinctive to say about anything he sees. "She had an iron smile and eyes that could count the money in your hip wallet" or "He was listening with a plastic smile people wear when they are trying not to scream"
I sometimes wish that he was in every book I read...

Rating:
Summary: The Long Goodbye
Review: Compulsively readable.

With the grim inevitability of Robert Bloch's Psycho (ie. a chain of death that looks as if it may not stop), and the wry social commentary of a newer gem like Ed McBain's Ice, this book has it all for the fans of hardboiled murder and mayhem. Toughguys stare each other down, or go for the sucker-punch when that doesn't work. Beautiful women flirt or play hard to get, making our hero Philip Marlowe get personally involved when it ain't the smart thing. Hoodlums wait in doorways with tips to lay off or else. High-society parades itself around in all its vapidness. And it all seems to be producing a string of suicides that just have to be murder, don't they? Although, that first corpse, the poor lady with the bludgeoned kisser that gets the whole thing rolling...now that just had to murder.

The only thing to look out for: Chandler spills revelations where he feels like it, usually in the midst of cynical speeches, or wry repartee; he doesn't collect all the aspects of the puzzle in one big "drawing-room" scene at the end. So, to understand every detail of why all the people got dead, you have to pay attention, and even read between the lines at a few curt bits of explanation, especially when it comes to motivation. But it all seems to tie itself in a neat little bundle of malice and regret.

A classic worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Raymond Chandler's masterpiece, despite the Big Sleep.
Review: Don't get me wrong from that summary up there. I liked The Big Sleep, it was one of the great novels of any type, mystery or otherwise. But there is something about The Long Goodbye that really gets you. Something about it that's beautiful and dark and all around wonderful.

"Beautiful" is not a term often applied to hardboiled novels like this, but this book is. The story of Philip Marlowe finally confronting his age, finally finding someone he might spend the second half of his life with, The Long Goodbye takes you into Marlowe's mind and soul the way no other of Chandler's seven Marlowe novels does.

This novel, the sixth in the series, is so good that most people overlook the fact that there was a seventh (many people, when they mention Chandler, leave out "Playback"). Although "Playback" was a good novel, The Long Goodbye is, in a sense, Chandler's long goodbye to his readers, giving them one very memorable classic before he died.

I can't possibly gush about this novel anymore. All I can say is that you should read it.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Chandler... his longest, and one of his best...
Review: Every time I finish reading one of Chandler's Marlowe novels, I end up feeling depressed, because it's one less Chandler novel that I can read for the first time. In my mind, he's that good -- he is one of the only writers that I am consistenly incapable of setting down to go to sleep... I finished the last half of "The Long Goodbye" at about 5:00 am -- I was so wrapped up in it, that I failed to notice the time. Alas. Now, as for that review...

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ANY CHANDLER, you should stop reading this and go take a look at his first Marlowe novel, The Big Sleep. It's worthwhile to read them in order, or at the least, to read that one first... you'll get a good feeling for whether or not you like Marlowe, and you'll learn a bit more about him. Then, if you like that, come back and take another look at this review.

IF YOU HAVE READ OTHER CHANDLER, then you already know, to some degree, what you're in for. You know Chandler's style, and I can promise you that this book offers up more of it, in abundance. I was a little thrown off for the first 50-some pages, because Marlowe has moved out of his trademark apartment and into a small house in a quiet residential neighborhood, and that didn't jive with me... but it works. Marlowe is, in his way, maturing. (If you've read his unfinished final work, Poodle Springs, then you know Marlowe will eventually get married. Perhaps this evolution says as much about Chandler as about his beloved P.I.)

Once the plot starts moving, of course, you're just along for the ride. Like all Marlowe novels, you have that perfect feeling of riding shotgun in the mind and conscience of a fascinating and well-developed character, and it's enough to sustain you through WHATEVER Chandler cares to write about. But, as I said, this is Vintage (no pun intended) Chandler -- some of his best work. Like several other books of his, I would give it more than 5 stars if I could, because nothing he wrote deserves less. The plot develops in three acts, which seem unrelated until he begins to pull them together, and when he does so, it is nothing less than amazing to behold. (I thought I was outguessing him, and knew what was going to happen. Stupid me -- he was still three steps ahead of me, and I had egg all over my face when I was done with the last page. I love him for that.)

If you're a mystery fan, or even a fan of good stylistic writing, this is some of the best stuff you could hope for. Call it pulp if you like, and say that Hammett outsold him if you must, but for my money, Chandler had more style than anyone else who's ever tackled the genre. Marlowe remains one of the best, most complete, and most enjoyable creations of literature that I have ever found, and I only wish that Chandler had left us more of him. *sigh*

BOTTOM LINE: If you haven't read this one yet, I envy you. It's a hell of a ride, and it's got plenty of re-read value. Worth owning, and a must for Chandler fans.

Rating:
Summary: One of Chandler's Best
Review: I enjoy Chandler's prose as much as the next person but the colorful descriptives and tough-guy dialog can sometimes start to wear after a few hundred pages. "The Long Goodbye" is both longer and less prone to overdoing the similies and metaphors than other of his novels. Here we have more conventional pacing and exposition in place of neck-snapping plot reversals, and the usual terse and blunt style gives way to more depth and detail. The story never suffers from this dose of subtlety. In fact, it moves along as well as ever. And while at times the characters seem a little less colorful than in other work they also have more depth and internal contradictions that add some substance to what are sometimes stock characters in Chandler's work. A first-time Chandler reader might be more interested in something more typical of the author such as "Farewell My Lovely," but this one is all Raymond Chandler and a winner despite having more subtlety and fewer classic Chandler-isms in the writing style.