amandagstevens's review against another edition
4.0
If I were rating this on a curve with the other Philip Marlowe books, I'd give it three stars, but since I rate based on my complete reading experience, Chandler isn't likely to get less than four ever. This all became very convoluted, and I was grateful for the moments when Marlowe had to explain an element of the case to the cops because it reminded me of all the threads I was (supposed to be) keeping track of. But Marlowe is still Marlowe, and this case ends with him in as dark a place as ever, and I'm hoping somehow [b:The Long Goodbye|2054|The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6)|Raymond Chandler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388225584s/2054.jpg|998106] will give him something to hope for. (Though given that title, my expectations aren't high.) I love this character, though, regardless of where his author takes him.
silviasbookreviews's review against another edition
2.0
Esta lectura ha sido una tortura. Me sabe mal decirlo porque he disfrutado de los libros anteriores de esta saga, pero es que este se me ha atragantado un montón. La misoginia en este libro está más presente que en los anteriores, no he encontrado relación alguna con todos los hechos que se han presentado, y aun habiendo terminado la lectura, sigo sin saber qué mierdas ha ocurrido y de qué iba el caso. De verdad, es que no sé si me ha pillado esta lectura en una semana muy caótica o que seguía teniendo resaca emocional de mi última lectura, pero ha sido un suplicio leer las pocas páginas que componen esta novela. De todos modos, solo me queda un libro para cerrar esta saga, así que espero que vaya mejor que con este. No me doy por vencida, no tan cerca de la meta jejeje.
rhapsodyonathemeofpaganini's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book for Chandler’s narrative writing style which I found addicting in ‘The Big Sleep’. It still exists here, though the story itself is all over the place.
denitsadd's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
brianlokker's review against another edition
4.0
Nobody writes L.A. noir quite like Raymond Chandler (although James Ellroy is no slouch).
In The Little Sister, Chandler’s fifth book featuring private detective Philip Marlowe, readers are treated to a portrait of late-1940s Los Angeles as seen through Marlowe’s weary, cynical eyes. Marlowe muses that he used to like L.A., but he doesn’t like the way it’s changed. Much of it, including his own “scrubby little office,” is down at the heels. The sheen of the city streets at night is manufactured and fake:
“I drove on past the gaudy neons and the false fronts behind them, the sleazy hamburger joints that look like palaces under the colors, the circular drive-ins as gay as circuses with the chipper hard-eyed carhops, the brilliant counters, and the sweaty greasy kitchens that would have poisoned a toad.”
When a plain young woman from Manhattan, Kansas, with the preposterous name of Orfamay Quest visits him in his office and asks him to locate her brother, he’s not too impressed with her either, but out of boredom he agrees to take on the case for the grand sum of $20. Marlowe figures it won’t be too tough to track down the brother, but before he knows it he’s knee-deep in gangsters, thugs, blackmailers, and other shady characters. And there may be more to Orfamay and her story about her brother than meets the eye.
The brother’s trail leads Marlowe into Hollywood, and it’s no surprise that Marlowe is pretty cynical about that glamor factory and its denizens too.
“Wonderful what Hollywood will do to a nobody. It will make a radiant glamour queen out of a drab little wench who ought to be ironing a truck driver’s shirts, a he-man hero with shining eyes and brilliant smile reeking of sexual charm out of some overgrown kid who was meant to go to work with a lunchbox. Out of a Texas car hop with the literacy of a character in a comic strip it will make an international courtesan, married six times to six millionaires and so blasé and decadent at the end of it that her idea of a thrill is to seduce a furniture mover in a sweaty undershirt.”
But Marlowe is a man of principle who will do what it takes to find the truth and set things right, even if he has to skirt the law to do it, and even if he’s being used in the process by people with their own agendas.
If you like noir detective stories, you can’t miss with The Little Sister. It’s got everything — guns, girls, grit, and glamor, and of course, the world-weary, wise-cracking detective. Marlowe claims he’s not hard-boiled, that he’s a very sensitive guy. You can reach your own conclusion, but I’d say he’s both.
In The Little Sister, Chandler’s fifth book featuring private detective Philip Marlowe, readers are treated to a portrait of late-1940s Los Angeles as seen through Marlowe’s weary, cynical eyes. Marlowe muses that he used to like L.A., but he doesn’t like the way it’s changed. Much of it, including his own “scrubby little office,” is down at the heels. The sheen of the city streets at night is manufactured and fake:
“I drove on past the gaudy neons and the false fronts behind them, the sleazy hamburger joints that look like palaces under the colors, the circular drive-ins as gay as circuses with the chipper hard-eyed carhops, the brilliant counters, and the sweaty greasy kitchens that would have poisoned a toad.”
When a plain young woman from Manhattan, Kansas, with the preposterous name of Orfamay Quest visits him in his office and asks him to locate her brother, he’s not too impressed with her either, but out of boredom he agrees to take on the case for the grand sum of $20. Marlowe figures it won’t be too tough to track down the brother, but before he knows it he’s knee-deep in gangsters, thugs, blackmailers, and other shady characters. And there may be more to Orfamay and her story about her brother than meets the eye.
The brother’s trail leads Marlowe into Hollywood, and it’s no surprise that Marlowe is pretty cynical about that glamor factory and its denizens too.
“Wonderful what Hollywood will do to a nobody. It will make a radiant glamour queen out of a drab little wench who ought to be ironing a truck driver’s shirts, a he-man hero with shining eyes and brilliant smile reeking of sexual charm out of some overgrown kid who was meant to go to work with a lunchbox. Out of a Texas car hop with the literacy of a character in a comic strip it will make an international courtesan, married six times to six millionaires and so blasé and decadent at the end of it that her idea of a thrill is to seduce a furniture mover in a sweaty undershirt.”
But Marlowe is a man of principle who will do what it takes to find the truth and set things right, even if he has to skirt the law to do it, and even if he’s being used in the process by people with their own agendas.
If you like noir detective stories, you can’t miss with The Little Sister. It’s got everything — guns, girls, grit, and glamor, and of course, the world-weary, wise-cracking detective. Marlowe claims he’s not hard-boiled, that he’s a very sensitive guy. You can reach your own conclusion, but I’d say he’s both.
astrangerhere's review against another edition
4.0
A bit more tawdry than Chandler's prior novels, but still a helluva noir ride. I have enjoyed this noir self-challenge immensely this year.
natalie001's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
vondrake's review against another edition
5.0
Another amazing Chandler book. Philip Marlowe tries to help a seemingly innocent client, but of course finds himself wrapped up in a Hollywood scandal.
pedanther's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Drug use, Police brutality, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Racism