Rating Raymond

With just over a week to go before the 50th anniversary of author Raymond Chandler’s death on March 26, we’ve decided to conduct a little poll. Nothing fancy. We’re just asking a question that has caused more than a few arguments among crime-fiction readers over the last half century:

Which of Chandler’s seven novels is his best?

The usual prime contenders are Farewell, My Lovely (1940) and The Long Goodbye (1953), but other readers are known to have contrary opinions. Not everybody believes, for instance, that Playback (1958) is the weakest link in the Marlowe series chain. And people who love the 1969 James Garner film Marlowe, which was adapted from The Little Sister (1949), can also be particularly fond of that book.

But what do you think? Near the top of the right-hand column on this page, you’ll find a silver-tinted box in which you can vote for your favorite Chandler novel. Make your opinions known. You can vote for more than one title, but only once a day.

This poll will remain open through next Wednesday, after which we’ll announce the results.

What the hell are you waiting for? Go vote! And if you have more complicated opinions about Chandler’s work that you’d like to share, please feel free to do in the Comments section of this post.