《The Long Goodbye (level 6)》.doc

Introduction That night, Terry would have told me the story of his life if Id asked him. If I had asked, and if he had told me, it might have saved a couple of lives. It might have. Terry Lennox is a drunk. Philip Marlowe, private detective, knows its always a mistake to try to help drunks. But then, Marlowe is always on the side of losers. Perhaps thats why he decides to help Lennox get away when hes in trouble. But then the body of Sylvia Lennox is found. Marlowe cant believe that Lennox killed his wife, but the police certainly do. Suddenly, wherever Marlowe goes, whatever he does, Terry Lennoxs strange life seems to follow him around. It will stay that way until Marlowe can find some answers. But to find answers, you have to know what the questions are . . . Raymond Chandler is one of the greatest of all modern detective writers. He turned the tough American crime story into a kind of art. He was born in 1888 in Chicago, Illinois, but was brought up and educated in England. After fighting in France during the First World War, he returned to the United States and took a managerial job with an oil company. He rose to a high position in the organization until he was sacked in 1932, for not taking his job seriously. It was then that he decided to write for a living. By 1938 he had written sixteen stories. The hero of his first novel, The Big Sleep (1939), was Philip Marlowe. This was a great success, and Marlowe appeared in several other books, including Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The High Window (1942), The Lady in the Lake (1944), and The Long Goodbye (1953). In his last few years, Chandler suffered from depression and ill health, and began drinking heavily. He died in 1959. Chapter 1 Bus to Las Vegas The first time I saw Terry Lennox he was sitting in a Rolls-Royce in front of a fancy restaurant, and he was very drunk. He had a young mans face but his hair was white as snow. You could see he was drunk by looking at his eyes; otherwise he looked like any young