Raymond Chandler and his Long Embrace
Judith Freeman’s Biography Reveals a Man in Love but Never at Peace
Mar 12, 2009
Largely heralded as the creator of the hard-boiled detective genre and its quintessential hero, Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler wrote novels about urban damsels in need of rescue amidst the shadow-drenched and corrupt environs of mid-century Los Angeles. But as author Judith Freeman discovers, his views on women and his uniquely visceral grasp of the city in which he lived were derived from unexpected sources.
Chandler’s Damsel in Distress
Long before Chandler had ever written his first story, he met and fell in love with a woman known as Cissy, and despite Chandler’s mother’s protestations and the fact that Cissy was already married, she eventually became his wife. What Chandler did not know, perhaps did not even fully suspect, was that Cissy was 18 years his senior.
Cissy’s love of fantasy and the arts allowed Chandler to pursue his literary endeavors after his career in the oil business imploded. She kept him grounded and focused, despite his constant battle with alcoholism. For his part, Chandler viewed Cissy as someone too fragile for the harsh realities of the world and steadfastly sought to protect her from it throughout their marriage, no matter how trapped he may have felt at times, especially as she grew older and more infirmed.
The City of Angels
Another fascinating aspect of Chandler’s life in Los Angeles that Freeman uncovers is the fact that he and Cissy changed residences with incredible frequency. It was not uncommon for the Chandlers to move no fewer than three times during a single year. Literally following the trail of Chandler’s rented apartments and small houses throughout L.A. County and beyond becomes the narrative framework of Judith Freeman’s book.
The reasons for the constant relocation might have been due largely to Chandler’s admittedly fastidious nature—the neighbors were too loud, or the house too drafty. Or possibly it was his increasingly invalided wife combined with unchanging scenery that caused him to need to up and move so often. But whatever the cause, the result was that Raymond Chandler grew to know the intricacies of Los Angeles like no other writer before him.
When Life Shapes Art
Chandler’s literary creation, private eye Philip Marlowe, is commonly associated with the ideal of the tarnished knight. Marlowe is a man with few worldly possessions, but a strict moral code, always ready to defend a woman in need. This was how Chandler viewed himself in his relationship to Cissy, contends author Judith Freeman. It was a self-image encouraged by Cissy, as evidenced by her nickname for Raymond—“Gallibeoth”—a derivation of the Arthurian knight, Sir Galahad.
The numerous locales depicted in Chandler’s novels can be directly linked the towns he and Cissy lived in during their time in Los Angeles. Their stay in the bucolic environs of Big Bear clearly inspired the location of his fourth book The Lady in the Lake. Chandler’s fondness for taking daytrips along the Pacific Coast Highway enabled him to bring the wealthy enclave of Malibu to life with such clarity in The Long Goodbye. And the multitude of addresses he and Cissy occupied within central L.A. allowed him to paint a vivid picture of the heart of the city with a lyricism often imitated, but seldom replicated.
Judith Freeman’s unique approach to Raymond Chandler’s life and work allows the reader a deeper understanding by shedding light upon the woman and the city that so influenced him.
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