For quite some time now, my husband had been urging me to read "hard-boiled" detective fiction. And I chose this particular book because it won an Edgar Award, and is on the list of "1001 Books you Must Read Before you Die." Well, I have to say the only reason I made it all the way to the end was because I love my husband, and wanted to give this book a fair shake. But it really wasn't my cup of tea.

Philip Marlowe is a private eye in 1940s Hollywood, California. The Long Goodbye opens with Marlowe encountering a couple outside a bar. The man is quite drunk; the woman drives off in their car, leaving the man in a pretty sad state. Marlowe takes him home, gets him sober, and is drawn into friendship with this mysterious man, Terry Lennox. They meet for drinks several times. Then one night, Lennox visits Marlowe and asks to be taken to Tijuana. His wife has just been killed and although Terry didn't commit the murder, he knows he will be implicated. Marlowe helps him get away, but Terry's story is far from over. Meanwhile, Marlowe takes up another case involving an alcoholic writer. The two cases turn out to have a connection, which is gradually revealed.

But I didn't really care, and that was my problem with this book. If there's one thing I've learned about my reading, it's that I enjoy character-driven novels. In The Long Goodbye, every single character was a stereotype. The central characters were fabulously wealthy (except for Marlowe, who still managed to move within their society with relative ease). There were a few seedy characters who acted suspiciously, just to keep the reader interested. The local police were violent, ineffetive, or both. Most characters had some level of dependency on alcohol or drugs, and associated behavioral issues. There were few women in this book, but all of them were blonde bombshells with only one real function in life.

It's a shame -- Raymond Chandler is quite famous for this type of novel, and some of the film adaptations make for interesting viewing. But I think I'll take a pass on his other books. ( )

Pretty near perfect. Certainly worthy of being reprinted so many times, in so many languages, with so many interesting covers. And as far as the murderer of Terry Lennox ... he had me until the end.

Of course, there's the dialogue, especially Marlowe with these ice cool blondes. I could only imagine Bogart in the role (Elliot Gould? God help us). And I'm not sure that in a blind reading test I could pick Hammett from Chandler. But maybe: despite the ping pong dialogue, Chandler does have a habit of throwing in superfluous adverbs. How else can someone read a newspaper alone in a restaurant booth but "quietly." And these women speaking "gravely" and so on.

My biggest reservation, though, concerns the initial meeting with Lennox and why Marlowe carted the guy home. I mean, why? It may well work in the movie, but Lennox isn't particularly charming. Well, Lennox must remind Marlowe of something or someone from his past. I kept thinking we were going to get a few more hints of that, but it never came.

The 1950s. Or 1950s LA noir: so much drinking! And the discreet sex scene. ( )

Great, fun, fun, and great!

I can't say anything about that hasn't already been said better by someone else. His style is brilliant, his plots are tight, and he's a joy to read.That being said, I can't help but think he's got some serious pent-up hostility toward blondes. ( )

Immediately after finishing the Big Sleep, I went straight on to listen to this. I was disappointed in the story actually. Yes, there was Marlowe and, as before, he was hard and cynical and cool. But this novel(la?) just didn’t catch me up in its world as much as Sleep had done. Perhaps I was used to it by then.

The plot’s not as convoluted as Sleep but it does have its own twists with the, now, inevitable secrets coming to light. I won’t spoil it for anyone planning to read it. There are still great lines from Marlowe. Not as many as in Sleep but still some amazing similes in particular (see quotes below).

Reading the first Marlowe novel and then the last immediately after it, I was struck with the contrast in his attitudes and relationship across the books which made me reflect again on Chandler’s genius. There’s much more of a contempt for so-called law enforcement, much more a hatred of everything that makes California society what it is known for. And I wonder if this is what Chandler experienced in real life.

Whatever its inspiration, the progress of character development in Marlowe from Sleep to Goodbye is excellent and I’m glad I read it to at least see that. ( )