2007 Reading List - The Long Goodbye
Book Twenty-eight
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
I want to be Philip Marlowe when I grow up.
Seriously, he's one of my favorite literary characters. Tough, dogged, unafraid to get his hands dirty and completely ethical. He's always got a good line at the right time, and he knows well enough not to get involved with crazy ladies.
This is one of his later books, published in 1954, and it presents Marlowe as we know him best - just about to get involved in a mess he never wanted. It all started with a drunk, as so many things do. The drunk was a man named Terry Lennox, the off-again on-again husband of a rich heiress, Sylvia. Philip and Terry hit it off well, and it's obvious right from the start that Terry's hiding a big secret. But Marlowe doesn't press because it's not his business. He figures it Terry wants to tell, then he will.
Or he would have, except that Sylvia ended up dead, with Terry taking the blame. Marlowe helped him get to Mexico, but all he knew after that was that Terry killed himself in a dusty Mexican town. And that should have been the end of the story, but for Marlowe's new case - Roger Wade.
Wade was a big-time writer, the kind of guy who made millions selling swashbuckling romance to lonely housewives. But he was plagued by demons, and only drink would make them go away. His wife hired Marlowe to bring her husband back to her, which he did, and then tried to hire him as a full-time minder, which Marlowe refused to do. Nonetheless, he found himself part of the Wades' drama, one that was inextricably linked to the fates of Sylvia and Terry Lennox.
It's hard to believe that Chandler's work was derided as "pulp" back when he was writing. He was one of the pioneers of the "hard-boiled" mysteries - the best of them, in my opinion - but like so many visionaries, he was unappreciated in his own time. If I still smoked, I would light one in his honor. As it is, a stiff cup of bad coffee will have to do.
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
I want to be Philip Marlowe when I grow up.
Seriously, he's one of my favorite literary characters. Tough, dogged, unafraid to get his hands dirty and completely ethical. He's always got a good line at the right time, and he knows well enough not to get involved with crazy ladies.
This is one of his later books, published in 1954, and it presents Marlowe as we know him best - just about to get involved in a mess he never wanted. It all started with a drunk, as so many things do. The drunk was a man named Terry Lennox, the off-again on-again husband of a rich heiress, Sylvia. Philip and Terry hit it off well, and it's obvious right from the start that Terry's hiding a big secret. But Marlowe doesn't press because it's not his business. He figures it Terry wants to tell, then he will.
Or he would have, except that Sylvia ended up dead, with Terry taking the blame. Marlowe helped him get to Mexico, but all he knew after that was that Terry killed himself in a dusty Mexican town. And that should have been the end of the story, but for Marlowe's new case - Roger Wade.
Wade was a big-time writer, the kind of guy who made millions selling swashbuckling romance to lonely housewives. But he was plagued by demons, and only drink would make them go away. His wife hired Marlowe to bring her husband back to her, which he did, and then tried to hire him as a full-time minder, which Marlowe refused to do. Nonetheless, he found himself part of the Wades' drama, one that was inextricably linked to the fates of Sylvia and Terry Lennox.
It's hard to believe that Chandler's work was derided as "pulp" back when he was writing. He was one of the pioneers of the "hard-boiled" mysteries - the best of them, in my opinion - but like so many visionaries, he was unappreciated in his own time. If I still smoked, I would light one in his honor. As it is, a stiff cup of bad coffee will have to do.