I've read this book now three times in as many months. More times in as many years. The first time I read it, years ago, I was nineteen. Much older now, I had to come back with a different perspective and try to see what Raymond Chandler was really up to. Entertaining the reader wasn't the point. Sending Marlowe into another violent beat down, like some of the other books, wasn't the point. Chasing down the mystery man, or woman, wasn't the point either.I can say this. Raymond Chandler, for those paying attention, penned a social portrait of the relationship that the public had with the police department at the time. This is a Dickensian social commentary on the the differences of two small town (at the time) police Departments. Santa Monica PD and Lake Arrowhead Sheriff's Deputies versus the public. What you get is two polar opposites.The book before this, my personal favourite, The High Window, also has an incredibly dark take of the Los Angeles Police Department during the late 30s early 40s. The Lady In The Lake though is to The High Window as what a film is to a snapshot. This being the film.Conan Doyle once stated as Holmes:"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." [The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) Sherlock Holmes in "The Copper Beeches" (Doubleday p. 323)]I would place a heavy wager that after The High Window came out, some of his critics were probably roasting him for his heavy-handed and dark portraits of the LAPD, which were likely too spot-on and were trying to deflect a bit for them and making the exact same point that Doyle made. I would imagine this novel is the response to that, and from that context, this book reads like a chess move. Knight to Kings' 4. I would also imagine that he was probably hearing it getting louder throughout his career. If you've read the earlier books in the series, then you'll know exactly what I'm speaking of here. And yes, Chandler was very much aware and concerned in regards to his critics.One of the more interesting aspects of this story, is that every single Police Officer or Law Enforcement official is an archetypal figure. A known stereotype lifted straight from the modern vernacular of that day. These days, Police procedural are no big whoop. But back then, you'd be hard pressed to find a plethora of them or any as scathing. With high-profile crimes like Black Dahlia and many others, as well as folks like Weegee (Arthur Fellig), Los Angeles really was a hot-bed for corruption and cops who would sap a man dead rather than fill out a tiresome form.(Sheriff) Patton up at Puma Lake & Little Fawn lake (Arrowhead & Big Bear Lake) is the indomitable, savvy veteran Sheriff who suffers no fools but wastes no energy being impolite. When you think you have him figured, you'd guess wrong.Degarmo is the text-book ne'er-do-well who roughs people up, frames poor saps who cross his path and busts people he doesn't like for intoxication and saps them on the back of the skull. He's like the bad guy out of every detective novel with a badge. Sneer included. Toothpick and quick-draw intact. Every instance on the page of this character has the reader cringing from Degarmo's behaviour, choice of words and inappropriate decisions.Webber, Chief over in Santa Monica - or Bay City as Chandler always referred to it, is the out of touch, administrative, trusting General who probably doesn't know half the business his men are getting into and is usually late to the scene on every occasion. He becomes an interesting character, quickly, once he's unearthed. It's curious that Chandler writes so snidely though about Santa Monica Police of this era, but perhaps he knew something back then that we don't, as readers, have a bead on anymore.Someone's going to mince words with me about Bay City being Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades, but in this context, we know that Chandler was writing about Santa Monica, while some of the victims did reside in Pac Palisades. Hope that clarifies it.All the other detectives and beat patrolmen do nothing but ratchet up the tension with every appearance.So much ground is covered in this book, in such a detailed manner, that the reader never sees any of it coming and the idea of stays well camouflaged throughout most of the book. You think Chandler is trying to tell a complex story about a Doctor's wife that he might've worked out backwards, first, in order to write it out artfully, but I think that would lead down the wrong mountain path.The plot becomes so convoluted in fact, that it takes almost four pages towards the end, without much dialogue or paragraph breaks to explain how it all ended up the way it did. When it does, you're left not just scratching your head a bit, but a tad dazed. It's a mouthful of explanation that reads more like Agatha Christie than it does Raymond Chandler.He was on top of his game during this period and I doubt that something so obvious, at least to me, wasn't his main aim. Chandler was a master story teller and the Dickens' of his age. Chandler was writing very detailed essays during this era about the very thing that I've highlighted in this review. Social commentary in fiction. He also wrote a lot about Charles Dickens and was a definite fan.I don't think I'm the first person to state that the overall story is pretty ludicrous. By the time you get 170 pages in, if you're not smelling the set up, then you probably just coast through books half asleep as it is. Reading like it's some form of sedative while you're curled up in bed after a long day. That's not a crime, but it does set the reader up for only a quarter of the message of the book. Some people like it like that though...."Police business is a hell of a problem. It's a good deal like politics. It asks for the highest type of men, and there's nothing in it to attract the highest type of men. So we have to work with what we get." -- Webber to Marlowe...."I'm all done with hating you. It's all washed out of me. I hate people hard, but I don't hate them very long." -- Marlowe to Degarmo....
"Chandler escreve como se a dor doesse e a vida importasse."A "Dama do Lago" conta-nos mais uma história com Philip Marlowe. Tudo começa quando o detetive privado é contratado para encontrar uma pessoa desaparecida. Contudo, o que começa por parecer um caso como muitos outros, revela-se numa série de crimes relacionados entre si.Os crimes descritos neste livro são cometidos pelo mesmo tipo de pessoas que os comentem na vida real. O enredo é surrealmente real: os criminosos usam armas. A verdade é que é a forma mais simples de matar alguém. O envenenamento é um método complicado (ainda que exótico e limpo), arranjar substâncias que resultem não é simples; o estrangulamento é muito difícil, exige força física; o esfaqueamento é demasiado sujo e demorado e o espancamento até à morte ainda pior. Quanto aos criminosos, não têm passados incrivelmente dramáticos ou excecionais. Simplesmente ultrapassaram os limites da moralidade. Por fim, o caso é resolvido por um homem competente - afinal de contas, o que Marlowe tem mais é experiência profissional - em vez de um amador (herói típico, ajudado pela sorte e pelo karma devido a sua imensa bondade).Como já é característico do Raymond Chandler, o livro foca-se, principalmente, na forma como as personagens se relacionam entre si e como Marlowe encaixa as diferentes peças do mistério. A verdade é alcançada, mas não há floreados e Marlowe nunca tem a vida facilitada.Los Angeles é uma cidade de gansters. Apesar de estes não estarem presentes neste caso de Marlowe, tive o prazer de conhecer um médico patife, cujos clientes mais assíduos têm uma afeição especial por drogas e um polícia corrupto, que privilegia o uso da violência e das palavras feias.Como todos os livros do Philip Marlowe, a "Dama do Lago" é narrada na primeira pessoa, tornando quase natural a empatia com o detetive privado. À medida que Marlowe revela a corrupção e novos crimes acontecem, seguimos o desenrolar dos acontecimentos ao lado dele. Desta forma, ao ver o que os seus olhos veem, torna-se impossível desviarmos as nossas mentes da ação.Philip Marlowe é um detetive privado famoso e há motivos para isso. Ele é um homem leal, honesto, corajoso, inteligente e determinado. Acima de tudo, é um homem de carne e osso, que tem tantos defeitos quanto qualidade. Marlowe não é nenhum santo. Gosto de beber e se envolver com raparigas bonitas. Acrescenta-se o seu sentido de humor fantástico e temos uma personagem inesquecível.Aproveito para recomendar o filme "Lady in the Lake" de 1947, do realizador Robert Montgomery. É uma adaptação cinematográfica bastante interessante deste livro, e o facto de não ser fiel à história original só lhe confere mais qualidade.
What do You think about The Lady In The Lake (1988)?
Marlowe but not as I remember him.I generally love Chandler's style and specifically love Marlowe as a wise-cracking hard-boiled PI but for me there was something not up to speed with this book.Aside from the fact that I knew exactly how the narrative would play out thanks to the mighty obvious use of the genre staple of portraits and doubles meaning every incident in between felt like a lazy attempt at placing red herrings there was so little in the way of great dialogue and internal monologue that I wondered just what had happened to Marlowe; this could have been the story of any old gumshoe. The fact that this was combined with the middle class murder standards meant I really didn't care about the solution.As everyone knows Chandler's pretty good at describing; things, places, people, incidents, they're all wonderfully described but beyond that I really don't have anything positive to say about the book.Weak. No wonder Hollywood only made one fatal attempt to adapt this one. Although kudos to Robert Montgomery for trying something completely different with his direction.
—Tfitoby
Private Investigator Philip Marlowe was hired by Derace Kingsley to find his missing wife, Crystal – she had been missing for a month after contacting him from their cabin via telegram to say she was going to divorce him and marry Chris Lavery. Kingsley was concerned enough to want her found – Marlowe started his investigation not realizing how deeply he would become involved, how many webs would wind their way throughout quite a number of lives.With a little help from a country sheriff by the name of Patton, the mystery deepened when Marlowe discovered there was another woman missing – but they had nothing to do with one another – did they? As the hours passed, and then the days, instead of finding answers he continued to find more questions…This is my first Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlowe book and I read it on recommendation of a couple of friends. I enjoyed it very much; I like the style of writing and the laid back and laconic air of Marlowe. Some excellent twists throughout, the detective prowess of Marlowe reminds me a little of M Poirot from Murder on the Orient Express, which I read recently. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to all mystery/crime lovers.
—Brenda
Thanks to this book I woke up this morning with my eyelids feeling like two well licked stamps. I was trying to keep myself to five chapters a day, but last night I bolted the thing in a wee-hour biblio-binge. My head's throbbing now, but it was worth it. The Lady in the Lake (1943) is just about as good as Chandler gets, almost as good as The Big Sleep, but for different reasons. Chandler's first Marlowe novel is all about style and character; the plot weaves all over the road, making it unlikely that you'll ever figure out whodunnit. But The Lady in the Lake is a suspenseful, and more importantly, a solvable mystery that will keep you turning the pages to see if you're on the right track. Marlowe's hired to find a missing wife. His investigations take him to a secluded cabin community in the hills above San Bernardino. The air at 5,000 feet is a sweet and pure, but the vice up there is just as nasty as in the city. Law and order is provided by Sheriff Patton, one of Chandler's most likable characters, who could be just one step ahead of Marlowe, if he made the effort. The rest of the cast is made up of society's dregs ... some successful, but all repellent in his or her own way: crooked cops, a dope doctor, drunks, unfaithful spouses, thugs, a gigolo, and of course, tidy blondes with little guns and cold hearts. One of them ends up under water for far too long.The action takes place in early 1942, and it's clear that America is ramping up for a big war. Rubber is rationed, sentries are posted here and there, and some delicacies are getting harder to find. Luckily for Marlowe, there's no shortage of booze. He seems to hit the bottle a lot harder in this book than he did in the early novels. All the graft, corruption, murder and general moral decay contrast awkwardly with the many patriotic statements Chandler drops into the book. Looks like the War Board asked him to do a little flag waving. Makes you wonder, though, if the boys on the troop ships reading this book ever questioned what they were fighting for.There's no question, though, about what I was reading for, and that was pure entertainment. And I found it. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a book page by page as much as I have The Lady in the Lake. If you're going to read Chandler, start with The Big Sleep just to figure out who Marlowe is and to get a feel for Chandler's style. Then move on to The Lady in the Lake to see what he can do with a plot. He won't leave you behind this time.
—Scott
