Scan barcode
bernardino's review against another edition
5.0
Mi crónica negra, musical y médica de La rubia de ojos negros
http://calvincliffordbaxter.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/la-rubia-de-ojos-negros-philip-marlowe/
http://calvincliffordbaxter.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/la-rubia-de-ojos-negros-philip-marlowe/
batbones's review against another edition
3.0
Capturing the temper of Raymond Chandler (and his famous detective Philip Marlowe) is one of the hardest things to do: his style is beautifully weary, wonderfully distinct and yet it maintains an elusive quality that makes one wonder where and how to begin in order to be him. I tried very hard to make myself like this (out of affection for Marlowe) but in the end I liked it somewhat.
Benjamin Black does a veritable impersonation. The first lines caught me hook, line and sinker: 'It was one of those Tuesday afternoons in summer when you wonder if the earth has stopped revolving. The telephone on my desk had the air of something that knows it's being watched.' Black also does Chandler credit by using familiar expressions ('shamus', etc), and sculpts those time-wasting pauses in which the dusty, bad world of Marlowe turns into wistful poetry. These moments and more are perfectly balanced and the reader can almost believe that this is Marlowe come to life again.
Writing Marlowe/Chandler, comes with a certain reputation and high expectations, and the reader cannot help unconsciously weighing every line against every line Chandler ever wrote, and the spirit of the thing isn't channelled as well in other places. The story is at times too self-conscious, too eager to describe and explain, which gives the impression that the text is trying too hard (or not trying at all), which implicitly suggests a failure to meet that which it aspires to. These deviations catch like a sweater on a wire fence and the illusion threatens to unravel. There are times where the story pauses to give a summary of certain events that have occurred in older stories in order to bring readers to the same page, which spoils the story's rhythm. Chandler may have hinted at sex and sensuality, but never did he go into such detail; these are better left in the darkness with the other things of darkness. I cannot remember ever a time Marlowe said 'please' or 'thanks' that did not come with a tinge of irony, or with such affection/sincerity.
I prefer the rough, nostalgic Marlowe, the one that explained himself and did not, who sprung surprises on the reader. There was very little trash-talking, which was a shame.
The reader's impressions come down to two things: 'this is good because Chandler would have done this', and 'this is bad because Chandler would never have done this'.
Plotwise, it was a decent mystery, well-paced, exciting, able to stand on its own. What I liked less was the recurrence of past characters. (Who they are, I will not mention since it will spoil things.) I expected a fresh Marlowe mystery, a foggy tribute to Chandler's oeuvre while venturing to new and exciting places, and was quite disappointed to be revisiting old dirt roads. It was as if Black was running out of ideas and had to borrow from Chandler's old plotlines in order to come up with something relevant. A revisitation once in a while would be welcome, but in the end the story relied so heavily upon old names that it felt less of a new story than the continuation of an old unfinished one.
Benjamin Black does a veritable impersonation. The first lines caught me hook, line and sinker: 'It was one of those Tuesday afternoons in summer when you wonder if the earth has stopped revolving. The telephone on my desk had the air of something that knows it's being watched.' Black also does Chandler credit by using familiar expressions ('shamus', etc), and sculpts those time-wasting pauses in which the dusty, bad world of Marlowe turns into wistful poetry. These moments and more are perfectly balanced and the reader can almost believe that this is Marlowe come to life again.
Writing Marlowe/Chandler, comes with a certain reputation and high expectations, and the reader cannot help unconsciously weighing every line against every line Chandler ever wrote, and the spirit of the thing isn't channelled as well in other places. The story is at times too self-conscious, too eager to describe and explain, which gives the impression that the text is trying too hard (or not trying at all), which implicitly suggests a failure to meet that which it aspires to. These deviations catch like a sweater on a wire fence and the illusion threatens to unravel. There are times where the story pauses to give a summary of certain events that have occurred in older stories in order to bring readers to the same page, which spoils the story's rhythm. Chandler may have hinted at sex and sensuality, but never did he go into such detail; these are better left in the darkness with the other things of darkness. I cannot remember ever a time Marlowe said 'please' or 'thanks' that did not come with a tinge of irony, or with such affection/sincerity.
I prefer the rough, nostalgic Marlowe, the one that explained himself and did not, who sprung surprises on the reader. There was very little trash-talking, which was a shame.
The reader's impressions come down to two things: 'this is good because Chandler would have done this', and 'this is bad because Chandler would never have done this'.
Plotwise, it was a decent mystery, well-paced, exciting, able to stand on its own. What I liked less was the recurrence of past characters. (Who they are, I will not mention since it will spoil things.) I expected a fresh Marlowe mystery, a foggy tribute to Chandler's oeuvre while venturing to new and exciting places, and was quite disappointed to be revisiting old dirt roads. It was as if Black was running out of ideas and had to borrow from Chandler's old plotlines in order to come up with something relevant. A revisitation once in a while would be welcome, but in the end the story relied so heavily upon old names that it felt less of a new story than the continuation of an old unfinished one.
mike_brough's review against another edition
4.0
Great atmosphere... I'm just not sure what happened.
emileod4974's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.0
abroadwell's review against another edition
3.0
Good and well-written. But I think for me the charm of Benjamin Black is the insight he brings to Irish matters. The hard-boiled LA version of Philip Marlowe did not work as well for me.
thebeardedpoet's review against another edition
3.0
While this is a decent detective novel, it comes nowhere near the quality of an original Raymond Chandler novel. Next time one of these Philip Marlowe imitations pops up (and we all know one will!), I need to remember to go back and read Chandler instead!
jefecarpenter's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite Philip Marlowe book. I raise a gimlet to Benjamin Black.