The Little Sister: A Philip Marlowe Novel, Book 5

This is a solid novel, and decent Chandler, but not his best.At his best, Chandler puts down more great lines in a chapter than most Hollywood movies can fit in a feature.On top of that, he layers deeply drawn character, descriptive prose that puts most contemporary poetry to shame, and discourses on society, manners, and life-as-lived that run......as deep as the hole a dame can put in your heart. A hole so deep it gets to your liver, and you start to think you can fill it with gin. But you can't, the way you can't drown a fish.Though, men drown in gin every day....Listen, if you want *good* prose, read Chandler! Not reviews!

Leaving aside the overly complicated plot, this was a fun read that I would recommend unhesitatingly. It’s especially recommended for those who love Chandler but have read only his most well-known books.

Raymond Chandler mysteries are invariably a reward for the reader.

The Little Sister is the fifth entry in Chandler's Philip Marlowe series. This is a good read and recommended for fans of the genre, I will warn you that it is no Farewell, My Lovely or The Big Sleep. There is an overall tone of loneliness in The Little Sister as Marlowe crosses paths with gangsters, blackmailers, hop heads, and starlets all for an eccentric young girl looking for her brother. The dialogue and stream of consciousness style are well done and as usual very witty. Chandler also delivers a scathing critique on the film industry which is not to be missed. Yet, there is something missing when one compares this to his other works. The level of suspense does not seem to be quite there as it was in previous entries. Marlowe seems a bit tired. However, this is worth a read, especially if you have read previous entries. If you enjoy this I would recommend the illustrated edition, and the film adaptation from 1969 (called "Marlowe) starring James Garner.

Raymond Chandler is one of the best mystery writers and Philip Marlowe is one of the best hard boiled detectives. Unfortunately this is not one of Chandler's best. As the book winds down, the scenes in the bad guy's house seem strained and not believable. Marlowe's engagement by Marvis Weld's agent also seems hardly believable (as does the agent himself). The Gonzales is just a hoot. The little sister is an interesting character, her motivations are sinister but we'd like to see more of her brother. He could have been developed into something very interesting and as has been observed in another work by another author, together they would make a fascinating personality.

If you like Philip Marlowe, you'll love this. It has all the usual stuff: Confusing identities, colorful characters, scheming miscreants, unforeseen plot twists, colorful settings, and the usual plethora of fun asides and clever wisecracks.It's just plain fun to read, and, as usual, it requires effort to keep all the players and events straight. Chandler's method is to tell Dear Reader only the same things Marlowe knows, so if a character lies to him, he's lying to Dear Reader, too. A helpful literary device is, Marlowe occasionally encounters a new character, and he relates all he knows up to that point. It's a clever way of reminding Dear Reader what's going on.It's great fun! If you're familiar with Raymond Chandler, get this! If you're new to the genre or the author, this is a good place to start!

This is a good solid story, although I have to admit at times I had to re-read sections because I missed some key element of the passage that got me lost in the story, and then the explanation at the end rambles a bit and becomes hard to keep up, next to impossible to follow. That is, at least until you re-read it. Women seem to want to throw themselves at Phillip Marlowe throughout the book, and to his credit, he stays focused on solving his mystery.Orfamay Quest hires him to find her brother, irritating him at one moment by judging him, throwing herself at him the next, then being judgmental again. Two actresses introduce him to the seedy side of Hollywood. With an opportunity to walk away from this one, to his credit Marlowe stays with this one until he finds his answers and solves the case.

The L.A. in this book is a hollow and soulless place with empty, despairing people. Chandler writes noir, with whiskey breakfasts and corpses and nyphomaniacs, where the quest for justice is always dangerous, hard work. But he describes a washed out functionary he has to pass by as 'what happens when people trade life for existence and ambition for security.' Many of the inhabitants of his city have sold out for meaningless things, while others lurk in the shadows, taking savage shortcuts to nowhere. Authority toadies corruptly to money. Marlowe reels off a scathing indictment of the place to Dolores, who replies that it's like that in most big cities, making him describe what makes this city less than any other. Marlowe has the moral standing to point this out. His difficulties often stem from his own sense of obligation to his client, which makes him unwilling to do the easy thing if it would mean betrayal. Read this book, in other words!

Exzellenter Service.

Perfect, excellent as described

何か重要な部分を誤読してる気にさせる作品か。

A classic crime and detective novel from the 1940's, but it's still hugely readable and entertaining even now. Some things never change - and the criminals, bad guys, gamblers, corrupt policemen and beautiful women Marlow encounters seem timeless. I read this in 2 sittings and immediately ordered more. Chandlers Philip Marlow is a great character, always just about managing to be a good guy, but only just sometimes, a hard boiled detective who's comfortable in Los Angeles seedy underworld, but who's got his own kind of moral code. A strength of character and integrity greater than those around him. Chandlers one of these authors that can develop a character in a sentence, and the one liners and dialogue are immense, there's hardly a passage that isn't quotable and the characters jump off the page.Nevertheless, its not just the great characters and snappy one liners, the plot is pacey and exciting and there's a nice twist at the end. Buy one of Chandler's books and it's a cert you'll read them all. I actually quite envy anyone who'll be reading Raymond Chandler for the first time, he's head and shoulders above the rest.

Tout à fait conforme aux autres polars du célèbre auteur. On pourrait presque dire sans surprise (on passe un bon moment comme prévu) si l'intrique ne réservait bien plus de rebondissements que d'ordinaire.... On se croit vraiment au cinéma (ambiance Hollywood oblige) et on imagine avec bonheur ce qui aurait pu être Humphrey Bogart, entouré d' une ribambelle de charmantes créatures délurées...résistant avec une extraordinaire patience à leurs avances répétées tout au long de l' intrigue, comme il se doit... Charme et conventions littéraires de l'époque.....Bref une agréable détente, dont on ne sort guère plus savant, sauf sur le plan de la langue anglaise, qui malgré quelques inévitable mots d'argot fort choisis, est de très bonne tenue...comme dans les récits des aventures de James Bond dans un autre style de polar.....