Rating: 
Summary: Chandler's very best!
Review: This epic Raymond Chandler novel is his most finely crafted and perhaps the best ever of its genre. Featuring Chandler's world-weary private detective, it mixes an intriguing plot with fascinating social comment. The plot concerns Marlowe's dealings with a drunk named Terry Lennox and his role in an escape from a murder charge to Mexico. Most of the novel, however is taken up in the rich suburbs of L.A. It has everything that all the best Chandler/Marlowe books have, clever, poetic, often humourous dialogue, cynicism, characters who seem tired of life and yet so full of it, and the sun-drenched L.A. setting. Those used to the more pacy narrative writings such as 'The Big Sleep' and 'The Lady in the Lake' may be a tad cool on this book as it spends as much time dissecting the lives of its downtrodden characters as it does unfold the plot. The later film version, brilliant though it is, does not even do this book justice. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!!
Rating:
Summary: Chandler at his peak
Review: This is Chandler's best. It is mean and hard boiled. It set the standard for those that followed ( the James Ellroy books and Matt Scudder series ). I NEVER read books more that once. This book is the exception. This book is about honor and integrity. I loved it!!
Rating:
Summary: my second favorite Chandler book
Review: This is my second favorite Chandler book, after "Farewell My Lovely". For those who have read many of the other Chandler books, there is a special dimension of sadness and nostalgia in seeing how tired and worn out Marlowe seems to be here.
The movie with Elliot Gould is also hightly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD MYSTERY, GREAT CHARACTER STUDY!
Review: This is the third Marlowe book I've read and I've yet to be disappointed. However, I don't think I can quite echo the responses before this one. For one thing, while very well written and hard-boiled, this book wasn't much of a mystery.The other thing that got me is that this book explores the personalities of several characters, and we get to know them well through their words and actions. All seem believable. Except Phillip. Although he's alway been chilvarous, this was almost carrying it too far. That man went through a whole lot for a couple of likable losers. More than I would have gone through. Maybe Marlowe is a better man than I. Maybe that's the point Chandler was trying to make. Maybe Chandler was saddened that the world was full of people who didn't fight for the underdog and he decided to create Phillip Marlowe to be that brave knight. This is a good mystery, a fine character study, and a great book.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece in its genre
Review: This must be one of the best crime novels I've ever read, even though I must say I'm not a big fan of the genre. The Long Goodbye was my second journey into Chandler (The Big Sleep being the first), and whereas I liked The Big Sleep quite much, it isn't a match for this. The story is brilliant, and Chandler allows it to develop slowly - not too many men with smoking guns this time. The characters are very rich. A suspense novel probably can't get much better than this.
Rating:
Summary: The most under-rated novel in American literature!
Review: This novel would be my selection for Most Ignored American Classic. It is a novel that totally transcends the mystery genre. Few serious students of American literature are familiar with Chandler; that's a shame. In England, he is often mentioned with Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, or Fitzgerald as a great American writer of the 20th century. Americans seem to dismiss him because his genre is not respected. That's the real crime!
Rating:
Summary: This book is fabulous. LA vintage crime at its best.
Review: This was the first Chandler book that
I read, and I loved it. I am now plowing through his other books and recommend
this one to anyone who likes "vintage or pulp crime"
Rating:
Summary: Terrific
Review: Twenty years after I read it the first time, I still hold the same conclusion: The Long Goodbye really might be THE Great American Novel. Period. The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely are great crime novels. But The Long Goodbye goes beyond the genre and is right up there with The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises as an essential American novel.
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