--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Michael Robison
<miker_zspider@y...> wrote:
> The tarnished knight label more aptly applies to
to
> Chandler's Marlowe, but it should be noted
that
> Marlowe, too, could be a pig. Isn't it in
FAREWELL,
> MY LOVELY where he gets filthy drunk and plays
tongue
> tag with a guy's wife right in his home, and
then
> makes arrangements to meet her later when
interupted
> by the husband. There are several scenes
in
> Chandler's works where I think Chandler transfers
his
> own bad habits to Marlowe, drawing him out
of
> character to my way of thinking. My personal
feeling
> is that Chandler thought that if he could transfer
his
> sins to Marlowe, and Marlowe could be thought of
as
> noble at the end of the book, that in some
way
> redeemed Chandler. Redemption in print, a baptism
in
> ink.
I liked FAREWELL. Yeah, I thought Marlowe was at his most
flawed in that story. He's actually drunk through most of the
book and tries to commit a number of misdeeds, but can't seem
to follow through. Conscience does get the better of him, but
one must not underestimate the role alcohol and circumstance
played in that book.
Someone once called FAREWELL "the happy Marlowe book." As
much as Chandler might have been transferring his own vices
to Marlowe, it also seemed he was having the most fun with
this book.
Switch to THE HIGH WINDOW or look back at THE BIG SLEEP, and
notice that Marlowe's nobility comes through a little more.
He can't stand what's happening to and around the General in
TBS, and his client in THW disgusts him, esp. when she puts
him in a bad position with the cops. FML seems to be Marlowe
in a bad place in his life. I don't even think the chess
board showed up in that one. (Been a year since I read it,
though.)
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 29 Nov 2004 EST