Playback

A Philip Marlowe Novel

De: Raymond Chandler

Narrado por: Scott Brick

Crime fiction master Raymond Chandler's final novel featuring Philip Marlowe, the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times).

In noir master Raymond Chandler's Playback, Philip Marlowe is hired by an influential lawyer he's never heard of to tail a gorgeous redhead but then decides he'd rather help out the redhead. She's been acquitted of her alcoholic husband's murder, but her father-in-law prefers not to take the court's word for it.

"Chandler wrote like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence." (Ross Macdonald)

©1958 Raymond Chandler (P)2021 Random House Audio

Not Chandler's finest, but Brick is always great!

Not Chandler's finest, but Brick is always great!
Not Chandler's finest, but Brick is always great!

Dramatic and very good

I agree the music trumpets the drama, but who deserves extras more than Marlow. Chandler's literary flourish may not be as top notch in this episode as in others, yet the depth of all characters here is striking~ Marlow accepts his dangerous psyche more than ever.

So Marlowe

Excellent as always, audio production fits the story well. Liked music between chapters, so Marlowe.

Overproduced

The music was too loud and distracting. I love Scott Brick - this was not one of his best .,,,

Raymond Chandler!…

…Philip Marlowe! Murder! Dames!

Read all of these as a late teenager… a few elements haven’t aged quite well, but they’re less upsetting to me than they may be for others. Otherwise: classic.

The moral rectitude, but not the unnecessary body count or over-complexity of early Hammett nor the high society cocktail party crime game of late Hammett. Just right.

Well read, too (could maybe have been more gravelly voiced?). Could have done without the music interludes and stuff… it dates these and makes listening to them feel like watching a black-and-white movie…. The writing style is so modern and immediate.

Thank You Mr. Chandler

Well, I have finished the last novel written exclusively by Raymond Chandler. Scott Brick, as usual, does an excellent job with the narration. While not mentioning it previously, I even enjoyed the brief jazz music interludes between each chapter.

In this finale for Chandler, Marlowe is hired by a lawyer to follow and keep an eye on mysterious woman. Before long, as one would expect, Marlowe is not just following her, but gets involved with her personal story. While this particular novel is not Chandler at his best, it is still enjoyable and worth the listen. Unfortunately, at five hours and a some minutes, it is the shortest work of the series.

I see there are other novels written by authors attempting to carry on the Marlowe tradition, but, for me, it is time to take a break since Raymond Chandler is no longer at the helm. Overall, I enjoyed the whole series.

As an aside, I did find the 1983 HBO series on YouTube entitled Philip Marlowe, Private Eye starring Power Booth as Marlowe. I have viewed only a couple of episodes, but this series does a credible job thus far. According to the episode introductions, the series is based on short stories written by Chandler. Booth not only stars, but acts as a narrator in true noir fashion. Could be worth taking a look if you are a fan.

Spontaneous traffic noises while driving

The music interludes were obnoxious and inappropriate. I don't know why you would use those.

Annoying musical interludes

Sigh. What is this? Did Raymond really write this book? It's like someone TRYING to write like him, but they are an amateur. ChatGPT could spin a better more "Chandler" story than this. Don't buy this book.