Farewell, My Lovely

By: Raymond Chandler

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Crime fiction master Raymond Chandler's second novel featuring Philip Marlowe, the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times).

Philip Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.

©1940 Raymond Chandler (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Chandler] wrote as if pain hurt and life mattered.” (The New Yorker)

"Raymond Chandler is a master." (The New York Times)

“[T]he prose rises to heights of unselfconscious eloquence, and we realize with a jolt of excitement that we are in the presence of not a mere action tale teller, but a stylist, a writer with a vision.” (Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Review of Books)

Hard to beat the e original noir

It’s all about the language and the metaphors with Chandler. The cadence of his narrative makes it worth reading.

Pure..

Art..
Deservedly honored book author. Wonderful production. Just right music at the right pauses. I wondered ahead of time if hearing an additional Scott Brick narration (he does a number of detective audio books) would interfere, no. Like I'd never heard it before. He is Marlowe.

If you know Los Angeles, it's even better.

narration needs work.

good Chandler story but narration is off. needs to watch some Bogart for right attitude

Bay City dreams

The iconic writing style is 5 stars, the characters can be wild and interesting, but the actual story is not that brilliant. In fact it is not that interesting of a story. That's too bad. 3.5 stars. 4 if I am in a generous mood. Quality narration.

A classic, but not best narration

One of Chandler's best, but a narrator more world-weary than Scott Brick would've worked better

Crime Noir At It's Best

Who has not heard of Phillip Marlowe, a book and film PI played on the screen by a myriad of actors. When searching for something a little different than my standard fare, I came across Farewell, My Lovely with the narration being performed by Scott Brick. That sold it for me as I am a big time Scott Brick fan.

This novel did not disappoint in any respect. I went into the story with my eyes wide open realizing this was written over 80 years ago. There is dated dialogue, racial reference that would not be accepted in 2023, and none of today's technological convenieces to be had. Nevertheless, with Scott Brick's great skills as a narrator telling a well written novel, just pulled me into the story from start to finish.

PI Marlowe is pulled into a search for an ex-con's girlfriend, Before he can get his wits about him, he is witness to a murder and sucked into a con scheme involving stolen jewelry. The plot moves along at a solid pace and has a bit of a twist at the end. Really good stuff and I will be looking for more Chandler/Marlowe novels narrated by Mr. Brick.

Update: Just watched the 1975 movie version starring Robert Mitchum as Marlowe. It was an okay flick and contained the general plotline of the novel, but was just not as satisfying as the novel itself. I have said this before, but it amazes me how movie and tv script writers deviate from the written page creating a less satisfying product.

Couldn’t “Put It Down”

Witty. Gritty. So LA! Spot on narration and just the right amount of cheesy detective music. Just plain fun.

Worthy

The occasional noir sound effect, the truly great metaphors, the sleaze, the whole 1940’s(?) vibe. I loved it. Great narration. Great storyline. Do yourself a favour

Chandler and Brick

Raymond Chandler writes hard-boiled literature. He is the best at his craft. Scott Brick is the best at understanding and performing Chandler’s art.

A classic in many ways. Beware.

I picked up the Big Sleep on a summer special and enjoyed some of the campiness of that Black Mask classic. Chandler was a great storyteller. This book is much of the same however I was surprised by the easy use of racial slurs. Seemed unnecessary and an attempt to appeal to teenage pulp readers. The Marlowe character is complex view of era and would be interesting to hear the backstory develop on how he became a PI. A great listen otherwise, but I’ll probably pass.