The Long Goodbye(1953) by Raymond Chandler is a hardboiled crime fiction written in a first-person narrative through the eyes of a detective. Although a specific date is not mentioned the story sets in post-war Los Angeles in the late 40’s/early 50’s where the protagonist, Philip Marlowe, becomes friendly with a drunk, Terry Lennox, who Marlowe later helps flee to Mexico as he is accused of the murder of his wife, bring Marlowe trouble and unwanted attention. When the news calms down, he goes on with his lonely day-to-day life of a detective, but is still in doubt of the whole incident, despite the fact that Lennox admits to Marlowe that he killed his wife and even writes so in a suicide letter for the public to see. The majority of the novel is occurring after Lennox’s death and is about what Phillip Marlowe does as a detective hired by different groups of people for seemingly unrelated events. This novel deals with the theme of death and loyalty, where both are in some cases intertwined. Loyalty is not a theme that I come across often so it was interesting seeing that take place throughout the novel, especially in relation to death.  

This noir fiction was elevated to the status of art by Chandler’s observatory descriptions, witty dialogue between characters, sharp one-liners, and his trademark similes. In addition to that, he also deals with taboos such as the corrupt mass media industry and the justice and political system which added another dimension of literary depth and made the story more relatable and enjoyable. However, although I do enjoy his observatory descriptions, I think he over done it in some parts as it was not even foreshadowing or necessary to the plot. 

Another element of the book I liked is the character of Phillip Marlowe. I loved his personality – calm, morally upright, bold, and sharp –  and his tone of dialogue as mentioned earlier. If I were to choose one word to summarize his personality, it would be phlegmatic. I guess others like Marlowe as he is now an iconic character. I can follow different personality traits of his that make up characters in recent films/stories; it is interesting to see how Chandler set a trope in that field of story-telling. 

My impression was that the author was in no rush to start the story. The storyline is loosely constructed with many layers of thoughts, back stories, scenes, and characters, spread across 52 short chapters. The length of the chapters worked for the pace of the book and the one-line cliff hangers that come at the end were always brilliant. The story did wander off in different directions with many plot twists making the book 450 pages long; nevertheless, his writing was very focused and clear, and the story coming together at the end was satisfying. This style worked with me, in fact, I like the story’s pace, but most of the Chandler fan’s complaints were about construction and length. 

 I was expecting this book to be action based and more crime-oriented, as if were a detective film like Sherlock Holmes(2009), but it seemed more of a philosophical and dramatic novel with some murder mystery elements to it. This again worked with me, but not so much with others. 

I read this book because this was recommended to me by my teacher, who is always recommending me great classics to read. This was my first experience with Chandler and even in this genre, and overall, I enjoyed it. I give this book an 8/10. I recommend this to anyone who  enjoys a good story based around a crime scene, likes witty dialogue, and appreciates poetic prose. The lexical barrier is not high and is written in standard register, so a broader range of people would find it accessible in the field of classic literature. However, there are some sexual content, profanity, abuse in alcohol, so it might not be for everyone, in that regard.