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Reading the 20th Century discussion
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The Long Goodbye
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The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe #6) by Raymond Chandler (March 2023)
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I'll probably read it again when March 2023 rolls around
I'm going in
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"I'm not keen on any of the Chandler film adaptations, although Elliot Gould in The Long Goodbye wasn't bad at all...just not Marlowe. I don't think anyone has ever really got him right"
I adore that adaptation and have watched it many times over the decades since first encountering it on TV as a kid in the 1970s. Locating it in the 1970s works brilliantly. Elliot Gould made a memorable Marlowe if one that is a long way from the book version.
I don't collect DVDs but have held onto a few favourites including this one, the Robert Altman 1973 classic
Here's the trailer...
https://youtu.be/fAYheZweypk
Finished this today, and loved it from start to finish. The ending was superb. I had, had my doubts about Lennox, but then there were doubts most of the way through.
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No . I haven't seen a film but will now be on the lookout for it. Think I will wait until I have read the rest of the books first before I watch it.
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I Farewell, My Lovely and The Big Sleep. I enjoyed but was not enamored with both books. I preferred "Farewell" because, while it may not be as 'gripping' a plot as "Sleep" (per RC) to use the term of another RTTC Chandler critic, its "plot is far more satisfying." That distinction makes sense to me.Not being enamored with his work though, I wasn't going to join in on this Chandler read. Too many other new and interesting books to try. However, I remembered that many Chandler readers refer to The Long Goodbye as their favorite so I thought it 'behooved' me to give his allegedly best novel a go. I had seen the Altman/Gould version years ago but have little recall except that it was the typical Altman interesting but slightly odd take on things.
So far, so good. Right off the bat, this selection caught my attention:
"she had a blue coat that almost made the Rolls-Royce look like another automobile. It didn't quite. Nothing can."
I knew I was now in the world of cool, crisp and insightfully direct sentences.
And it felt right.
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Nigeyb wrote: "Exciting. Looking forward to your reaction"Well, here it is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Thinking more about the book, the striking thing to me in what an enigmatic character Marlowe is. Why did he choose to be so friendly with Terry Lennox and not want his money? Why did he continue coming to the rescue with the Wades and again not accepting money? Marlowe doesn't seem to have any friends or family he regularly associates with. That may explain why he becomes a regular associate of Terry Lennox, a person dissimilar from him and not a natural choice to be his friend. Same could be said of Wade. He doesn't want their money because you don't take money when you do favors or take care of friends or family.
Also "they" say that Chandler put some of himself into both the characters of Lennox and Wade. That makes me wonder if Chandler having Marlowe "befriend" both Lennox and Wade reflected his own wish he had a friend or protector like Marlowe around.
Hey, I wouldn't mind having a guy like Marlowe hanging around me either. He'd make a good drinking buddy (though I don't know how his his golf game or jump shot are) I presume my last comment partially explains an attraction of the Philip Marlowe stories.
Another point. Throughout the novel, my mind pictured Marlowe as Robert Mitchum. Yet, rather than the 60ish Mitchum who actually played Marlowe in the mid-70s, I pictured the younger Mitchum from Out of the Past, Night of the Hunter, and Home From the Hill. (1948 to 1960)I never pictured Marlowe as Dick Powell, Humphrey Bogart or Elliot Gould. They don't fit my image of him. Mitchum seems to fit the role to a T, but definitely a younger version of him.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000053/m...
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Interesting questions about Marlowe’s social life. I content myself with accepting he’s an enigma. That said, Lennox seems like the kind of inscrutable person that Marlowe would make time for.
I never pictured any of those you mentioned, but now you have said a young Robert Mitchum, I will probably picture him in the last two books
Nigeyb wrote: "Bogart for me 🤠.."The Marlowe I picture from Chandler’s depiction and the other characters reactions is a man big and strong enough to act and look tough and good-looking enough to be physically attractive to women. While Bogart has a magnetism to him, Bogart is too small and not good-looking enough to be the initially physically intimidating and attractive figure that Chandler depicts in his descriptions and the character’s reactions. Bogart may fit in the movie version but not when reading Chandler’s words.
For instance, in the book for The Big Sleep, when Marlowe meets Carmen Sherwood, she looks at Marlowe and remarks how tall he is. In the movie version, since Bogart isn’t very tall, the dialogue is changed to reflect this fact:
(Carmen) "You're not very tall, are you?"
(Marlowe) "Well, I, uh, I try to be."
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Me too! I didn't realise he wasn't very tall? But he's definitely good-looking enough to have all the girls fall for him on first sight - even if it isn't a conventional handsomeness.
I'd be his drinking buddy any day ;)
James Garner also played Marlowe in https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064638/.... I think this one was based on The Little Sister.
Thanks! i don't think I knew about Garner playing Marlowe. (meaning that I may have known about it but my brain is getting more "flexible" in its data retention policy.)
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I have a real soft spot for Elliot Gould's portrayal, and love that adaptation
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
The Little Sister (other topics)Farewell, My Lovely (other topics)
The Big Sleep (other topics)
The Long Goodbye (other topics)
The Long Goodbye (other topics)
The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe #6)
by
Raymond Chandler
Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to the only friend he can trust: private investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is willing to help a man down on his luck, but later Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe is drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA's Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn't kill his wife, but how many stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth?