The Long Good-bye (Phillip Marlowe)

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The questions, discussion topics, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your reading of this outstanding selection from the "hard-boiled" school of crime writing: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. We hope that it will provide you with new ways of looking at–and talking about–the nature of detective fiction, as well as give you insight into how the hard-boiled style of writing emerged in the genre; how the style was shaped by twentieth-century American culture and by the lives of the men who created it; and how this form of writing has subsequently affected the way we view ourselves as Americans. Introduction Marlowe receives a call from Spencer regarding Wade's death and bullies Spencer into taking him to see Mrs. Wade. Once there, Marlowe grills her on the death of Sylvia Lennox. Eileen first tries to blame it all on Roger but Marlowe pokes holes in her story, arguing that she killed both Mrs. Lennox and Roger Wade and that Lennox was her first husband, presumed killed while serving with the British Commandos in Norway during the war. Eileen Wade leaves with no response. The next morning, Marlowe learns that she has killed herself by overdosing on painkillers, leaving a note describing the affair Mrs. Lennox was having with her husband and confessing to killing them both in a jealous rage. An adaptation of the novel was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 16 January 1978, with Ed Bishop as Marlowe, and again on 1 October 2011, with Toby Stephens as Marlowe as part of its Classic Chandler series. Japanese broadcaster NHK aired five episodes of a Japanese adaptation of the novel in 2014. Però indossa sempre lo stesso abito scuro, con camicia bianca e cravatta: anche se invitato a togliersela, evita, rimane vestito perfino quando si tuffa nell’oceano per salvare lo scrittore ubriaco (un immenso iconico Sterling Hayden, che improvvisò tutti i suoi dialoghi perché sul set era perennemente ubriaco e fatto d’erba). The Long Goodbye starts as two unrelated cases that naturally converge. First, a rich drinking buddy of Marlowe's shows up in trouble — his wife has been beaten to death, and naturally he's the prime suspect. Marlowe doesn't believe his friend did it, and helps him get to Mexico (without actually breaking the law, since technically he does not know for a fact that his friend is currently wanted). This lands him in all kinds of trouble, with everyone from the cops to hoodlums to the dead woman's super-rich father trying to intimidate him. They want to pin it on her husband, and they want to pin Marlowe as an accessory, and they certainly don't want him poking around and questioning the official story.

When the film screened on TV in 1977, ABC cut Marlowe's shooting of Lennox. [37] Reception [ edit ] The Long Goodbye was previewed at the Tarrytown Conference Center in Tarrytown, New York. Judith Crist, then the film critic for New York magazine, hosted the gala. [25] The film was not well received by the audience, except for Nina van Pallandt's performance. Altman attended a question-and-answer session afterward, where the mood was "vaguely hostile", reportedly leaving the director "depressed". [25] The Long Goodbye was not well received by critics during its limited release in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Miami. [1] [25] The New York opening was canceled at the last minute after several advance screenings had already been held for the press. The film was abruptly withdrawn from release with rumors that it would be reedited. [25] The tragedy of life, Howard, is not that the beautiful die young, but that they grow old and mean. It will not happen to me.” A man who drinks too much on occasion is still the same man as he was sober. An alcoholic, a real alcoholic, is not the same man at all. You can’t predict anything about him for sure except that he will be someone you never met before.”CHA: Philip Marlowe is this idealist, you know? That, I think, is what makes him an interesting character to me. He works in this world that's really awful and corrupt, and yet, he's always looking for something redeeming in it. But in this book, he really kind of opens himself up in a way that he doesn't in the others, only to be betrayed and yanked around. And it's depressing. It's juicy. It gives us a really great view onto both his tarnished heart and the rot in LA in the...

At the book opens, Marlowe meets a man named Terry Lennox outside of a nightclub. Lennox is very drunk and his date drives off and leaves him. Marlowe, being a good samaritan, takes Lennox to his own home, sobers him up and then drives him home to the mansion that Lennox shares with his very promiscuous and extremely wealthy wife. On the basis of this incident, Marlowe and Lennox strike up a friendship of sorts and occasionally get together for drinks. Then one night, Lennox turns up and asks Marlow to give him a ride to Mexico, no questions asked.To label this novel perfection would be to bastardize any opinions on the literature more widely accepted by the academy that I’ve previously championed and praised, but few novels have felt like a better friend in hard times than The Long Goodbye. Or perhaps it’s just that I like occupying Marlowe’s headspace. I even named my new cat after him upon completion of The Big Sleep. Marlowe is the type of man you wish you were, but not one you’d want to spend time with. He is fearless and devoted nearly to a fault, unafraid to play the asshole to get what he wants. He swims upon his moods and cherishes those moments of getting right up in someones face just to drown out a bad feeling or ascertain the truth. He calls everyone out on their bullshit and possesses a moral compass so strong that nobody besides himself seems to be worth a damn. Pushy and thorny, Marlowe is the hero for me. Reading a Chandler novel is much like geeking out on the old John Wayne films I’d watch with my father as a child, particularly True Grit. There are the pitfalls of blatant misogyny, racism (particularly towards Latin Americans in this one, which with my love of Latin American literature was particularly not cool) and cornball dated humor, but it is honestly very easy to overlook when the plot is that engaging, the writing that ‘cool’ and the novel so entertaining. How can you not love a novel with a passage like this: Alcohol is like love...The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl’s clothes off.¹ Ebert, Roger (April 23, 2006). "Great Movies: The Long Goodbye". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved 2010-01-03. I can’t explain quite how much her memoir meant to me. It was like reading my own grief. She put words to so many of my feelings and I completely agree with both her and Iris Murdoch, who once said, “The bereaved cannot communicate with the unbereaved.” To me, this book was one bereaved woman speaking to another.