The Long Goodbye (ISIS Large Print) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Raymond Chandler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1993 | Series: ISIS Large Print

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 his only friend in the world: Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator. He's willing to help a man down on his luck, but later, Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe finds himself 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 more stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph 'One of the greatest crime writers, who set the standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times 'Chandler wrote like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence' - Ross Macdonald --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Best-known as the creator of the original private eye, Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888 and died in 1959. Many of his books have been adapted for the screen, and he is widely regarded as one of the very greatest writers of detective fiction. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: ISIS Large Print Books (July 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856953017
• ISBN-13: 978-1856953016
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,543,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Relaxed pace, but interesting story, August 25, 2007

By 

J. Swagman - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Long Goodbye (Paperback)

Raymond Chandler was always one of those authors I meant to get around to reading someday, and I was familiar with his reputation as the author who turned the hard boiled dectective novel into an art form.

The first thing to know about Raymond Chandler (at least based off of my experience with this one book) is he is no hurry to get where he is going. If his character is going to walk into a house to meet another character, you can bet there will be a detailed description of the front walk in and what the house smells like.

This caught me a little bit off guard because I expected a hard boiled dectective novel to be more action based, but once I made my peace with his slower narrative style I just relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

By way of a counter example: most of the stories in the Sherlock Holmes canon are only about 20 pages, which I think is just about the right length for a mystery. Decently long to let you wonder about it for a while, but short enough so that you can read the whole thing in one sitting and don't have to go to bed wondering who the murderer is.

"The Long Good-Bye" is close to 500 pages, and I read it over the course of about a month. And yet I never really lost too much sleep wondering who the murderer was. After a while the murder didn't even seem like the main point and the story went off in other directions. Needless to say, however, it all ties together at the end.

Mixed in with the story is a fair amount of social criticism, both at the corrupt justice system and also at corrupt government and business.

A good read if you have the patience for it.

5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS and you get SURPRISED!, August 26, 2011

By 

docM "DOC" (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Good-bye (Kindle Edition)

I haven't read fictions for about 10 years!
I'm a tremendous reader, often 3-4 book parallell.
Always history, biographies, memoirs, WSC, PGW, special literature in certain areas,
among those later, watches, primary vintage and especially the oldest watchmaker, Vacheron&Constantin.
Books about outdoor living, sailing mostly, hunting etc - but no fictions.
Happened to find one of mother's, no passed away since over 20 years, it was an old 'hardboiled' detective novel by Peter Duluth,
than I stumbled on a book about Harry Bosch, by Michael Connelly, and got hooked on him.
He doesn't hide that he is influenced by RAYMOND CHANDLER, so now I read all 9 novels by Chandler and some short stories.

It's a class above Conelly, even though the later is a good author.
I have read one per day, and when I read 'The Long Good-Bye', I realised how good writer Chandler was.
It's a masterpiece, far above the best of his novels and some short stories I also have read.
Fantastic sceneries, local knowledge of the neighbourhoods and very good describing of different characters.
The intrigue is fascinating and also possible.
I am a doc who has passed 60 years of age and definitely not prudent, but I appreciate to no be free from detailed sexual activity:-)

In short it's a very good literature, fiction or not fiction, it raises above many well known literary works!

Many words but I use to graduate my books from + to +++++.
5+ is for some of Winston S. Churchill's masterpieces, and one or two of PG Wodehouse, both I collect first editions of,
the same goes for two of Robin Knox-Johnston's books.

This fiction got +++++, believe it or not!

Read it!
Enjoy it!

5.0 out of 5 stars PAN tastic, August 1, 2010

By 

Lori M. Reade "Defender of Audio Goodness" (AZ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Long Goodbye (Paperback)

was missing this particular Chandler book and thought it a good idea to just buy it online..was pleasantly surprised with an under 5-dollar purchase ending up being a BRITISH edition produced by PAN in mint condition and a nicely designed cover..great purchase!!