Marlowe befriends a down on his luck war veteran with the scars to prove it. Then he finds out that Terry Lennox has a very wealthy nymphomaniac wi...
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Apr 08, 2008
Jason
rated it: 
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
So are you familiar already with the "One Book One Chicago" (OBOC) program? We're not the first city to do it (in fact, we stole the idea from Seattle), but are definitely now the largest city in America to do so; basically, roughly three or four times a year the Mayor's Office More...
So are you familiar already with the "One Book One Chicago" (OBOC) program? We're not the first city to do it (in fact, we stole the idea from Seattle), but are definitely now the largest city in America to do so; basically, roughly three or four times a year the Mayor's Office More...
Sep 14, 2007
Terry
rated it:
Chandler wrote tighter, tougher books, but this one was his masterpiece. I'd been pulled into loving noir by Hammett & W. R. Burnett but they didn't write like Chandler. The Long Goodbye has all the best snappy dialog and constant menace, but it had something more. It was cynical poetry, it had the brittleness and immediacy of the "existential", as we used to call it.
It had a thoroughly adult, disillusioned worldview but it also had a hero who refused to renounce his pri More...
It had a thoroughly adult, disillusioned worldview but it also had a hero who refused to renounce his pri More...
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Jan 25, 2011
Kimley
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Just reread this and need to update my old review below...
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I read all the Chandler books so long ago that frankly I don't really remember them that well. I just remember loving them! So I'm giving them all five stars even though I know I didn't like them all equally nor were they all worthy of five stars. If I can recall correctly The Long Goodbye was my favorite. For me Chandler was all about his style. The only thing I remember about the plots is that there was, y More...
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I read all the Chandler books so long ago that frankly I don't really remember them that well. I just remember loving them! So I'm giving them all five stars even though I know I didn't like them all equally nor were they all worthy of five stars. If I can recall correctly The Long Goodbye was my favorite. For me Chandler was all about his style. The only thing I remember about the plots is that there was, y More...
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Apr 18, 2007
amy
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At first The Long Goodbye seemed like a far more complex book than The Big Sleep because the character of Marlowe, heartless and invincible and infallible in the latter, in the former is fleshed out with various forms of weakness (subjectively defined). These include a tendency towards the romantic, bravado and braggadocio, insatiable curiosity (the bane of many existences, not least the young elephant's), and an inability to let well alone. A sharp contrast is drawn between his masterful and
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Dec 17, 2009
Nathan
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Chandler's unabashed masterpiece, this novel is his only work to truly transcend the pulp genre and rank as first-rate literature. All of Chandler's books have gorgeous language and bafflingly labyrinthine plots, but this one stands out because of the author's poignant willingness to stare into his own soul. His stalwart, incorruptible hero Marlowe is hired to guard a washed-up, alcoholic, self-loathing writer who derides his own work as trash, and it's hard not to see the troubled Raymond Chandler
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Jun 15, 2007
Ha·t'ej
rated it:
!!!
Reading this and nearing the very end, I was reminded of my experience with Focault's Pendulum, a long, dense, convoluted book which up until the end makes you question exactly what the hell it is the author is trying to accomplish. Then, upon reaching the end, in a sudden burst of revelation the entire story and everything the author means to say is laid bare in front of you and it all becomes crystal clear.
Long Goodbye is similar in that way, though far less dense a More...
Reading this and nearing the very end, I was reminded of my experience with Focault's Pendulum, a long, dense, convoluted book which up until the end makes you question exactly what the hell it is the author is trying to accomplish. Then, upon reaching the end, in a sudden burst of revelation the entire story and everything the author means to say is laid bare in front of you and it all becomes crystal clear.
Long Goodbye is similar in that way, though far less dense a More...
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May 31, 2009
Georg
rated it:
Though Chandler is one of my favorite authors and "The Long Goodbye" is one of my favorite books I have to admit that I have never understood Marlowe and what makes him tick. He almost always does the thing I would avoid and his lack of greed and egotism makes me always feel miserable. I certainly would have taken all the money he was offered, and I certainly would have let me been seduced by the "Golden Angel" (Eileen). But how can you not adore an author who writes a c.v.
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Jan 09, 2008
Tosh
rated it:
Raymond Chandler is the great Southern California poet of depair. The Long Goodbye is very much a sad look at relationships and how that affects one's psyche. I always felt Chandler is one of the great genius' of the sentence. You can tell how much he cares for the structure of his works - even when he sort of loses it at times. But it's part of the great car ride and he's the driver of course.
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Feb 24, 2011
Richard
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I could not set this book down.
One of the many gems of dialogue:
"Alcohol is like love," he said. "The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl's clothes off."
"Is that bad?" I asked him.
"It's excitement of a high order, but it's an impure emotion-- impure in the aesthetic sense. I'm not sneering at sex. It's necessary and it doesn't have to be ugly. But it always has to be More...
One of the many gems of dialogue:
"Alcohol is like love," he said. "The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl's clothes off."
"Is that bad?" I asked him.
"It's excitement of a high order, but it's an impure emotion-- impure in the aesthetic sense. I'm not sneering at sex. It's necessary and it doesn't have to be ugly. But it always has to be More...
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Jan 23, 2010
Nikki
rated it:
...And now I'm fresh out of Chandler.
Everyone's been telling me that The Long Goodbye is the best. I think they're right. Several people told me I should read it first. I think they're wrong. I think it's best when you know and love Philip Marlowe, and you know and love Chandler's writing, and he can come along and punch you in the gut and bowl you over all over again. Or shoot you in the head.
I loved this one the best. I loved Terry Lennox and I loved Marlowe for helping More...
Everyone's been telling me that The Long Goodbye is the best. I think they're right. Several people told me I should read it first. I think they're wrong. I think it's best when you know and love Philip Marlowe, and you know and love Chandler's writing, and he can come along and punch you in the gut and bowl you over all over again. Or shoot you in the head.
I loved this one the best. I loved Terry Lennox and I loved Marlowe for helping More...
Jul 09, 2011
Perry
rated it:
Possibly the greatest of all hard-boiled but romantic detective fiction novels, alongside a couple of others perhaps, both of which are also written by Raymond Chandler and feature the Philip Marlowe, the ideal representation of the 20th century knight.
Marlowe's honour is very much the main theme of this one as well, although it's examined in relief against the main antagonist, old friend and feckless womaniser Terry Lennox, not shoveled down your gullet through smug dialogue and the f More...
Marlowe's honour is very much the main theme of this one as well, although it's examined in relief against the main antagonist, old friend and feckless womaniser Terry Lennox, not shoveled down your gullet through smug dialogue and the f More...
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Jul 28, 2010
K.D.
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Apr 02, 2011
Elizabeth
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Chandler was born in 1888! Were there hard-boiled private investigators that attracted glamorous women before then or did Chandler dream up those characters? Chandler is credited with inventing this "Noir" genre and I have to admire him for that. While reading this book, it's hard not to picture Humphry Bogart but he came later! I also marvel that this was published when Chandler was 65 years old and probably a bit hard-boiled himself.
There is a lot more to this book th More...
There is a lot more to this book th More...
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Aug 17, 2007
Krissa
rated it:
[borrowed from the kate]
Oh, GODS, goodreads! You shouldn't let me write a 500 word review and then lose it because i clicked "edit shelves" expecting a pop-up window.
Excuse me while I mourn. So, what was I saying? Oh. The Long Goodbye, well, you will be forgiven for standing in the middle third of the book wondering if all these threads that Chandler gave you to hold, three or four of them, if he'd mind if you put them down for a few minutes? As he doesn't seem More...
Oh, GODS, goodreads! You shouldn't let me write a 500 word review and then lose it because i clicked "edit shelves" expecting a pop-up window.
Excuse me while I mourn. So, what was I saying? Oh. The Long Goodbye, well, you will be forgiven for standing in the middle third of the book wondering if all these threads that Chandler gave you to hold, three or four of them, if he'd mind if you put them down for a few minutes? As he doesn't seem More...
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May 18, 2008
Daniel
rated it:
A phenomenal piece of writing, a veritable tour-de-force of Crime. This is something that no one has the guts to do, usually in genre fiction: Write the definitive, last story of a popular, iconic character and live with the results. I won't spoil anything for newbies, but let's just say that Chandler both advanced the age and status of his alter-ego, Philip Marlowe - and also radically matured the entire Crime genre in general and Detective Fiction in particular with this stunning, poignant and
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Jun 05, 2007
Eric
rated it:
I can't say enough good things about Raymond Chandler. He took one of the lowest, scummiest, quick cash-in forms of writing, the private eye novel, and turned it into legitimate literature. Every paragraph boils over with some kind of allusion, metaphor, or analogy that you'd never imagine in your life, yet afterwards you don't know how you looked at the world in any other way. His cynicism is note-perfect- bitter and sad, but with plenty of humor and just the slightest hint of hope for human de
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Feb 20, 2008
Dan
rated it:
One autumn in my early 20s, I read all of Chandler in two months. His first four novels -- The Big Sleep, Lady in the Lake, Farewell My Lovely, and The High Window -- were my favorites: they were shot out of a gun, bristling with energy and wisecracks. The later ones seemed lethargic by comparison. Now that I'm older and a little wiser, the early novels seem a bit cartoonish, but this later one seems better than ever: full of observations of people, life, and Los Angeles that are alternately
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Dec 27, 2011
Matthew
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I've been reading a lot of crime fiction in the last year or so. As a film genre noir has always been a favorite of mine.I've recently started exploring it's literary origins by tackling Chandler, Hammet, even more recent writers like Richard Stark and Elmore Leonard. "The Long Goodbye" has always been one of the BIG ONES and has remained, along with "The Big Sleep", one of Raymond Chandler's most well-known works.
One of the most surprising earmarks of this genre, for More...
One of the most surprising earmarks of this genre, for More...
Oct 07, 2011
Tobinsfavorite
rated it:
I hate to admit it, but there's a lot in this book that I don't get. Sometimes, Marlowe and another character have these entertaining back-and-forth exchanges that result in some agreement or understanding, and I have no idea how they got there. I don't know if this is because I am the wrong gender or the wrong age, living in the wrong decade or on the the wrong coast, or in the wrong profession. I'm pretty sure it's my failing, though.
The plot here is complex and unfolds at a good More...
The plot here is complex and unfolds at a good More...
Jun 14, 2011
Spiros
rated it:
Exhibit A,1 "Why I'll Never Join a Book Group".
The fact that I couldn't find my pocket edition of Playback, which, now that I think about it, was a Penguin edition with Bogey and Bacall somewhat inappositely on the cover, led me to read the final chapters of this great, great book as a lead-in to that book. Of course, you can see where this is going: immediately after finishing Playback, I just had to go and start reading The Long Goodbye from the beginning.
How to explain t More...
The fact that I couldn't find my pocket edition of Playback, which, now that I think about it, was a Penguin edition with Bogey and Bacall somewhat inappositely on the cover, led me to read the final chapters of this great, great book as a lead-in to that book. Of course, you can see where this is going: immediately after finishing Playback, I just had to go and start reading The Long Goodbye from the beginning.
How to explain t More...
Oct 01, 2010
The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler, A. produced for the blind by the National Library Service for the Blind.
This is a Philip Marlowe book, the last Marlowe that Chandler wrote before his death, and reviewers consider his best. Wonderful literary descriptions that remind me of James Lee Burke in another kind of writing altogether. This is hard-boiled detective fiction. But while Philip Marlowe appears to be hard-boiled and without feelings, we find he is loyal to those he con More...
This is a Philip Marlowe book, the last Marlowe that Chandler wrote before his death, and reviewers consider his best. Wonderful literary descriptions that remind me of James Lee Burke in another kind of writing altogether. This is hard-boiled detective fiction. But while Philip Marlowe appears to be hard-boiled and without feelings, we find he is loyal to those he con More...
Dec 08, 2009
Mferg912
rated it: 
I've rarely read a book with a style as distinctive as Raymond Chandler's, but the fact that that style is not distinctive in noir films and modern films that greatly borrow from the genre, it's kind of difficult for me to appreciate. Actually, that's not entirely true. Any author with balls enough to write something like the following is a genuine bad-ass of the first degree:
"What's the matter, Jack? Don't they make the aisles wide enough for your personality?"
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"What's the matter, Jack? Don't they make the aisles wide enough for your personality?"
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May 12, 2009
Susan
rated it:
Maybe it’s a shame that Chandler has been somewhat sidelined to a genre (hard-boiled fiction, detective fiction, pulp, etc.), but probably it just adds to the pleasure of discovery when you realize what a great and intense writer he is. Every line by itself is a clever haiku (my current favorite: “He had a face like a collapsed lung.“) but that implies choppy one-liners instead of the briskly flowing and unexpectedly romantic build-up of character.
Together, his characters create an e More...
Together, his characters create an e More...
Aug 16, 2011
Richard
rated it:
My first experience with Chandler and I absolutely loved this book. Marlowe, the protagonist, has a style all his own: a no-nonsense don't-take-shit-from-anyone brutally honest cowboy loner sort of attitude that's endearing and absorptive as he stands up to anyone who dares attempt to impede his mission, regardless of their strength, stature, and/or wealth.
In this book, Marlowe shows little regard for the law when he helps a friend in need (Terry Lennox) and then searches for and More...
In this book, Marlowe shows little regard for the law when he helps a friend in need (Terry Lennox) and then searches for and More...
Dec 07, 2010
When I bought this I thought it was the second of the Marlowe novels coming after The Big Sleep that I'd already read. It turns out it's actually the sixth and last of them. Ho hum.
I enjoyed this more than the first book, partly because I had no clue as to the plot whereas I already had a fair idea of the plot of The Big Sleep from other sources and partly because I was just in more of a reading mood for this book. Sometimes with Chandler you feel like you're reading something so cliched tha
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Jun 10, 2010
Ben
rated it:
(I am reading the Library of America edition but reviewing Chandler's novels individually)
Review: The Long Goodbye
Both meticulously rewritten and painfully autobiographical, The Long Goodbye is arguably the most inventive of the early crime novels. Without revealing too much of the plot, the narrative arc functions as an elaborate stress test, pulling a complex red herring to the limits of its endurance, piling dead end on dead end until it is the hardened hero of the st More...
Review: The Long Goodbye
Both meticulously rewritten and painfully autobiographical, The Long Goodbye is arguably the most inventive of the early crime novels. Without revealing too much of the plot, the narrative arc functions as an elaborate stress test, pulling a complex red herring to the limits of its endurance, piling dead end on dead end until it is the hardened hero of the st More...
Apr 05, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
Figures, I pick up a random book by Raymond Chandler for my first, and discover after finishing it that it's his last book. As a result I appear to have stumbled onto the least-hard-boiled and most melancholy of his Marlowe books, so I probably shouldn't take this as too typical of Chandler.
That said, I really liked it. The plot is inexorable--Marlowe befriends a rather pathetic, lonely man married to a promiscuous shrew. When the shrew turns up brutally murdered, the friend flees More...
That said, I really liked it. The plot is inexorable--Marlowe befriends a rather pathetic, lonely man married to a promiscuous shrew. When the shrew turns up brutally murdered, the friend flees More...
Jun 19, 2010
Patrick
rated it:
The Long Goodbye is Raymond Chandler at his best. Beautifully bleak, blatantly noir, a sense of impermanence, with an underlining need to create justice is an unjust society. Chandler's not so subtle exposé of class and social status compose the backdrop for his twisted tale of love and revenge. He creates loser underdogs as heroes, and then turns then into villains, or leaves them where they are to stay. His uber rich are above the law, but not above fear, self-hatred, deceit, and revenge. Ther
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May 20, 2010
Rauf
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I was pretty psyched when I began reading THE LONG GOODBYE. The last two Philip Marlowe books that I had read, The Lady in The Lake and The Little Sister, they weren't terrible or nothing--Chandler never disappointed me so far--they just lacked flair. After hearing so many praises about The Long Goodbye, I thought it would be in league with The Big Sleep or Farewell, My Lovely.
Sadly, it wasn't.
Without giving anything away here's what to be expected in The Long Goodbye--
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Sadly, it wasn't.
Without giving anything away here's what to be expected in The Long Goodbye--
More...
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Jul 04, 2009
Shelbi
rated it:
When you need a good nostalgic trip into the land of private detectives, there is no one better to curl up with than the boorish, but likeable Philip Marlowe. How have I not discovered Chandler before?
First of all, I thought I had the plot all figured out, but then Chandler fooled me - okay, which isn't hard to do, I'll admit. But it's nice to be surprised by the endings of books every once in awhile. And while some of the stuff is a tad overdone here in the twenty-first century, I h More...
First of all, I thought I had the plot all figured out, but then Chandler fooled me - okay, which isn't hard to do, I'll admit. But it's nice to be surprised by the endings of books every once in awhile. And while some of the stuff is a tad overdone here in the twenty-first century, I h More...
