Chris,
I agree with your take on Fred's observations and questions
about Marlowe being racist. I, too, take his "only a shine
killing" comments as an ironic criticism of the cops who
dismiss it as such.
And the casual use of racial slurs and stereotypes was a,
from today's perspective unfortunate, part of the time. His
use of those words seems largely benign to me. Marlowe is not
one to hide it when he looks down on someone. As an example,
just look at the way he talks about Bay City cops,
individually and collectively. So I think his animosity
towards the various races would be a whole lot clearer if he
really was a bigot.
Also, Fred, wasn't Big Sleep Chandler's first novel, not
Farewell My Lovely? Or are you claiming Farewell was his
first "LA novel"?
Mark
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