Farewell, My Lovely (1940)

Both times I’ve tried to read this, I haven’t been able to finish. The story feels flat and monotone, and this was the case in audio as well (I listened to Elliott Gould’s narration in 2009). I can’t bring myself to care about the case Marlowe is trying to solve. Not only that, it starts off with a scene where multiple characters use the N-word, and Marlowe makes disparaging remarks later on about a Native American person. ( )

Private detective Philip Marlowe can't walk down the street without finding trouble. He meets recently released sociopath Moose Malloy while just standing on the sidewalk, with the giant ex-con dragging Marlowe into a bar to watch him bust the place up and murder the owner. Now Marlowe is a witness and tries to help the police find Malloy, but he's quickly sidetracked to a paying job, hired to escort a strange man paying a big ransom for a stolen rare jade necklace. Because nothing goes smoothly for Marlowe, no matter how much he does his research, the trade doesn't happen and he's involved in another murder. Things get more complex and dangerous from there.
This is a wild ride through L.A. and the surrounding cities. It's a true hardboiled novel. Published in 1940. ( )

Farewell, My Lovely (1940) (Marlowe #2) by Raymond Chandler. Moose Malloy, fresh out of prison, is looking for his girlfriend Veima. He is the kind of guy who blocks out the sun when he’s standing five feet away from you. You listen when he says he wants something. And he is talking to Marlowe in this second book by Mr. Chandler.
Velma has disappeared and even Moose can’t shake the details out of anyone he has “talked” with, so he is looking for a more subtle approach, although he would never be able to vocalize those intentions. So he finds Marlowe and tells him what Moose wants.
This is a pretty straightforward story of Marlowe’s search for the missing Velma. It is the characterizations, the details in scenery and the slyness found throughout the story that makes it a classic.
We find out more about Marlowe and, while he is everything that a modern might find disgusting in a person (especially his moral code which recently appears to have vanished from existence) he is still a hero trying to do the best he can with what he has.
You have probably seen one of the movie adaptations (they fail to capture the book in all but the thinnest of detail) but the source material is still the best. Marlowe is hard-edged but dedicated, and gives a full day’s worth of effort and blood for his 25 dollars a day.
The writing is full of notable dialogue and small plot twists, the details make the story pop, and the characters are unforgettable. A very god follow-up to The Big Sleep. ( )

The sarcasm throughout the book is used to great effect in Chandler’s descriptions. This probably why I read him. The book is racist and dark and twisted. It seems to me that the story is much darker then “The Big Sleep”. If you enjoy noir I think you’ll enjoy this. Personally I’d prefer something a little lighter, something like Christopher Moore’s “Noir” which I read recently and enjoyed so much I thought I’d give the real thing a try.

The house itself was not so much. It was smaller than Buckingham Palace, rather gray for California, and probably had fewer windows than the Chrysler Building.

She poured us some more Scotch. It didn't seem to affect her any more than water affects Boulder Dam.

She began to laugh---a high-pitched old woman's laugh. "April Fool's Day," she tittered. "Maybe she won't get it." I left her laughing. The sound was like a hen having hiccups.

After I take some time to recover I think I'll try the next book in the series. ( )

If you can put aside the virulent racism in this one, there’s a great twisty noir tale. But it is, admittedly, difficult to ignore or make excuses for the big bag of racism in Chandler’s second Marlowe novel. ( )