March 2018 reread: 4.5* this time around (rather than the 5* I gave it before)

The story makes a lot more sense in the book than the 1945 Dick Powell film adaptation (called "Murder, My Sweet") (the surprise of which I think is the reason I rated it higher last time). ( )

Having been written in 1940, you might expect this to be outdated. Apart from some terms that are used (and the attitudes of some characters), it instead feels almost contemporary.
The female characters are written wonderfully. They are so much more than weak chattels or "romantic interests", instead being the complex, important characters they deserve to be.
The pages are peppered with the most wonderful and creative descriptive phrases, but sparingly enough to constantly surprise. I really love the author's style.
The plot is complicated enough it made my head tangled trying to keep track of the threads at times, but it all comes together, and is certainly not boring. ( )

What a great read! Love this guy and the way he writes- fantastic stuff. ( )

Eight years ago, Moose Malloy and cute little redhead Velma were getting married-until someone fingered Malloy for an armed robbery. Now he is out of prison, and he wants Velma back. Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is in a bit of a dry patch and has no other work on so decides to help Malloy. But soon what started as a missing person search becomes something much more sinister.

This is the second book in the series and once again we get the 'mean' streets of Los Angeles ranging from the seedy joints lining Central Avenue to the estates in Beverly Hills and Brentwood Heights before heading to the fictional Bay City, loosely based on a crooked Santa Monica.

Marlowe is a world-weary, 'hardboiled' PI who is always quick with a witty quip and is the antipathy of the phrase dogged, no matter what is done to him physically he just keeps ploughing on as if to prove the adage that 'you can't keep a good man down'.

Moose Malloy is also an interesting character. We first meet him literally throwing a guy bodily out of his way, he is a single-minded maniac but one that tends to hurt people without really intending to, he simply doesn't realise his own strength.

But what makes this an interesting read is the prose. The book is dotted with wonderful metaphors that just bring the people and places to life, often with a sardonic humor.

On the downside the book is also littered with examples of casual racism and misogyny which simply wouldn't be accepted today. I'm not a fan of censorship and want to read books just as they were written but that doesn't mean that I don't feel uncomfortable whilst I'm doing so, hence why I've marked it down. ( )

Better than The Big Sleep. ( )