Raymond Chandler On Organized Crime in America

I finished rereading Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye last night. 

This is perhaps the fourth or fifth time I’ve read the late, great writer’s crime novel. 

I love Raymond Chandler’s character Philip Marlowe, the private detective, and I love Chandler’s writing, with his vivid descriptions of people. places and things, his striking similes, and his memorable dialogue. 

Forget the Robert Altman film The Long Goodbye (although I have a soft spot for Eliot Gould), Chandler’s novel is more complicated, dark and suspenseful. 

In The Long Goodbye, Chandler has Marlowe give his view of crime in America. 

“We’re a big rough wild people and crime is the price we pay for it, and organized crime is the price we pay for organization,” Marlowe says in the novel. “We’ll have it with us a long time. Organized crime is just the dirty side of the sharp dollar.”      

Note: Above is a photo of James Garner as Philip Marlowe in the 1969 film, Marlowe. He is my favorite Philip Marlowe on film. Garner is big and handsome, smokes a pipe like Marlowe in the novels, and he is very good with the wise cracks. 

You can watch Marlowe via the below link:

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You can also read my Crime Beat column on Raymond Chandler via the below link:  

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Beat Column: A Look Back At Raymond Chandler's Influence On Crime Novels And Films