Poodle Springs

"I told you, you looked happy together. I'm a sucker for happy together." (pg. 232)

I wrote, after reading Playback, Raymond Chandler's final novel, that I was going to miss Marlowe's voice on the page. He was an excellent character, both interacting in the world he inhabited and in confiding to the reader through the prose. He had layers and principles and he knew in some corner of his mind that he had them, and that they bound him in certain ways, and when they did he would not fight them but would take his lumps. He was shopworn but stoically so, the sort of cross-bearing, masculine hero that every down-on-his-luck guy imagines himself to be but few are willing to really commit to. So I was reluctant to see him go, having finished all show more seven of Chandler's novels about the detective. Little did I know that Robert B. Parker would be able to resurrect the dead, and provide Marlowe with the ending he deserved.

I was curious about Poodle Springs, which is based on four chapters Chandler had completed before his death and spun into a full novel by Parker (commissioned by Chandler's estate). I was confident that Parker would do well (although I haven't yet read any of his crime fiction, his Western Appaloosa is one of my favourites), but projects of this sort rarely match up to what came before. I was sceptical about an ersatz Marlowe.

But Parker nails it. Not long after Chandler's four short chapters end and Parker's thirty-seven begin, I stopped looking for the joins. Though he does recycle a few motifs over again, Parker gets it all right. The plot is coherent and, on his stage, Marlowe in his detective work behaves just as Chandler wrote him. The characters and dialogue are excellent (though Parker can't drop a simile like Chandler could). He's got Marlowe's voice and inner monologue in all its cadences, and it is unexpected and engrossing. Soon, I wasn't reading a Chandler book or a Parker book. I was reading a Philip Marlowe book.

And it is not just an effective imitation. Parker takes the bold opportunity to really dig into the character. Whilst still being Marlowe, Parker peels back some of those layers. Marlowe here – as Chandler begins to write in the first four chapters – is chafing at his new married life in a posh area of California. He is sensitive about his legitimacy, reluctant to trade on the connections of his new father-in-law. It initially appears a little insecure for him to reject this new life but, as I mentioned before, he has his principles and he will take his lumps. "The way I keep from being a failure is to be free. To be my absolute own man… I'll decide what I'll do. I won't be bought, or pushed, not even by love. You're a success if you have money, but you give up too much." (pg. 197). Marlowe is brittle and yet secure; his is a vulnerable and yet indomitable masculinity. He is a piece of meat that can get tenderized by the punches, as if he knows the only way to keep it all strong is to lay it all out there and risk it. With his new marriage, he is finally having to stick or twist. Parker is bringing the Marlowe stage performance to a fitting coda.

Some purists won't like it, will feel that you should not mess with the dead. But what is Marlowe if not the sort of guy who will turn up a dead body and, with a sigh, ring up the police even though they'll finger him for the murder? "I could just have someone come in…" his rich wife says on page 31, casting her eye over his shabby PI office. "This is what I can afford," he replies, and it does just fine. Marlowe is back – making do, with some small pride. Chandler and Parker go happy together, and I'm a sucker for happy together. show less

In The Life of Raymond Chandler, Frank MacShane wrote that Chandler "had begun to regret marrying Marlowe off and wanted to convert the 'Poodle Springs' piece into a short story and then start a new Marlowe novel." The fact that Chandler preferred, near the end of his life, to write "The Pencil" (the first Marlowe short story in two decades) while leaving Poodle Springs unfinished is a clear indication that he had little confidence in the piece. The notoriously bland four chapters he did manage to write confirm his lack of enthusiasm for the premise. So, right off the bat, Spenser author Robert B. Parker was not working with top-notch material when the Chandler estate enlisted him to complete the novel. Given its meager beginnings, show more Poodle Springs could never have been a great book...but for what it is, it's not bad.

Marlowe is indeed out of his element in Palm ("Poodle") Springs, still attracted to Linda Loring but intensely uncomfortable with her gaudy displays of wealth, and with the notion (cherished by Linda) that he should stop being a PI and just settle down. A racketeer hires him to locate a man who hasn't paid off a gambling debt; as usual, Marlowe finds himself caught in an unpleasant and occasionally violent crossfire between criminals and resentful cops. The villain's identity becomes fairly obvious early on, so you won't fall out of your chair when it's finally revealed. Still, Parker takes you for an enjoyable ride, convincingly emulating Chandler's prose and ensuring that Marlowe remains the not-so-secretly sentimental figure created by Chandler. The only wrong note is struck in the dialogue: too often, characters omit subject pronouns (e.g., "Saw him yesterday" instead of "I saw him yesterday"), which doesn't sound like Chandler at all. Realistically, though, it's not the sort of thing that will even faintly disturb most readers.

On the whole, I was pleasantly surprised. Worth a look for Chandler fans. show less

Having read and loved all of Chandler's Marlowe novels, I came to this one timidly, thinking no one would be able to capture Marlowe and his time. I know of Parker's reputation with his Spenser novels, but I haven't read them. That will change after reading "Poodle Springs". The story was good, and Parker came fairly close with most of the dialogue. The only thing that really got on my nerves was the way Marlowe talked to his wife. I could understand what Parker was trying to do, but I just thought it stupid. It may have not been so disrupting if it had been once or twice, but it just went on and on. Drove me nuts. Other than that, it was nice to have another Marlowe story. There were a few quotes that tickled me as well.

"He rummaged show more the cheap Scotch out of the drawer and poured some into a couple of paper cups. I had a swallow. It tasted like something you'd take for mange."

"Hollywood Boulevard looked like it always did in the morning, like a hooker with her make-up off."

Chapter 11 was probably the best dialogue of the novel, with Marlowe interacting with the guests at his wife's party.

Marlowe being married just didn't work, and was totally unnecessary and distracting. show less

Arguably, Chandler's Philip Marlowe stories were about masculine wish fulfillment, but at least the earlier novels had some literary flourish and Chandler evoked a decaying, corrupt society. That dissipated as the novels progressed, and Parker just reverts to pure male wish fulfillment--the hero is cool, solves the mystery, maintains his stoic demeanor in the face of all of those naked lady pictures. Parker lifts quite a bit from Big Sleep (in terms of the mystery's resolution) and the Long Goodbye (in terms of the hero's weird devotion to a man accused of murder).

I am a big fan of Raymond Chandler and have read most of his work. Poodle Springs was left unfinished with about four chapters finished at the time of Mr. Chandler’s death in 1959. Approximately 40 years after his death, Robert Parker was chosen to finish Poodle Springs as a tribute to Mr. Chandler in honor of what would have been his 100th birthday. Although I am not at all familiar with Mr. Parker’s work, I think he did a great job completing Poodle Springs and I think it is a fitting honor to Mr. Chandler’s creation. I have learned that Mr. Parker has also written a sequel to the Big Sleep titled Perchance to Dream, which I may also read.

Poodle Springs begins with Philip Marlowe living in Poodle Springs California married to a show more wealthy heiress and living in luxury. The conflict begins early on as Marlowe’s wife Linda wants him to stay at home with her, lunch at the club, and attend numerous social functions. Of course this is not Marlowe’s style; he has to be his own man and remain true to himself and sets out to open up an office in Poodle Springs, where of course no one expects anything criminal to take place. In short order, Marlowe lands his first case in Poodle Springs; he is hired by Manny Lipschultz to track down Les Valentine who left a $100,000 marker and left Manny in big trouble with his boss, Mr. Blackstone. What seems like a simple case soon evolves into a confusing case of double identity with a charming rogue, and undying love.

I found Mr. Chandler’s other novels perhaps contained a few more plot twists and character development, this book was pretty straight forward, and not to difficult to figure out who the murderer was. However, I think it would be impossible for one person to write exactly like another and no one should be expected to. Mr. Parker captured the essence of Philip Marlow using his own style and did a first-rate job. The snappy dialogue, tough guy demeanor, humor and Marlowe’s propensity in being the first on the scene of finding dead bodies are still present and very entertaining. It’s Philip Marlowe with a new romantic side to him and it works.

I absolutely love this part near the end (Possible Spoiler)

“It had been a long time since I’d sat in this bar and had a gimlet with Terry Lennox, a long time since I’d first met Linda Loring, Harlan Potter’s daughter, gold and diamond and silk, and perfume that cost more than my weekly wage. A long time and I was still ………… drinking alone” Perfect, I can just picture Bogie saying these words. show less

Ugh. This book is absolutely terrible. It was unfinished at the time of Chandler's death and his estate should have left it alone. Instead, they gave it to neo-noir writer Robert B. Parker to finish, and the student was no match for the master. Parker is an awful writer - trite, tacky, and employs every hackneyed noir phrase and cliche he can get his hands on. The characters are shallow, the storyline predictable.

Do yourself a favor. Stick to the novels Chandler finished. They are classics. Poodle Springs is one dead pup.

An unfinished work by Raymond Chandler is filled out by Parker. This is just ok and reads blandly compared to Chandler's other works. Parker seems to go for extended descriptions rather than Marlowe's apt quips. Nothing about the narrative seems sincere and the home town locations of LA offer nothing remarkable or romantic. I'm glad I read this but only for the fact of the history of Los Angeles being shaped by Chandler's writing. Poodle Springs is actually Palm Springs, a city between Rancho Cucamonga and the Salton Sea on the way toward Las Vegas. In this work, Marlowe intends to leave P.I. work and escape the lure of Los Angeles. Originally, Marlowe was an LAPD cop/maybe detective who left the police force due to some corruption show more case. He tried to make the city of Los Angeles safe as a one man operation. show less