#190 in Crime & mystery
Farewell, My Lovely
- 275
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
- Film 1975 +2
- On screen
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Our view
“Farewell, My Lovely” is classic noir whose twists are prepared with care and pay off. Raymond Chandler’s second novel about the Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe is also a genuine pleasure to read. Some readers find the racism of this 1940 book hard to set aside. A good choice for anyone who wants a classic detective story in which the plot holds together.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Farewell, My Lovely is a novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1940, the second novel he wrote featuring the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times and was also adapted for the stage and radio.
Reading order · Philip Marlowe
Full order & progress →- The Big SleepStart here
7.67.6 / 10 - Farewell, My LovelyThis book
7.77.7 / 10 - The High Window
7.67.6 / 10 - Lady in the LakeLady in the Lake–Not ranked yet
- The Little Sister
7.67.6 / 10 - The Long Goodbye
8.08.0 / 10 - PlaybackPlayback–Not ranked yet
- Trouble Is My BusinessTrouble Is My Business–Not ranked yet
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 3 times — from 1942 to 1975.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.7 across 126 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 46% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Crime & mystery average of 7.6. That is how 7.7 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.7 | 20 | 16% |
| Hardcover | 7.8 | 106 | 84% |
Frequently asked
How long is Farewell, My Lovely?
It has 275 pages — shorter than 88% of the ranked books in Crime & mystery.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Crime & mystery — and a score of 7.7, the closest to this book.
