Marlowe is hired by an influential lawyer he's never herd of to tail a gorgeous redhead, but decides he prefers to help out the redhead. She's been...
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reviews
Jan 29, 2012
Andrew
rated it: 
I've read three Chandlers so far (also The Lady In The Lake and The Big Sleep) and I have to say this was my favourite. The plot, as such, is a little ramshackle and the *big secret* the main dame carries might not be something to shout about, but the prose seems darker than ever and there are slices of almost existential brilliance which left me breathless. If anything, this was more real, more hit-and-miss which real life is all about. The only puzzle is that my edition has a cover shot of a p
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Dec 12, 2011
Jack
rated it: 
I've been haunting bookstores looking for something interesting to read. Raymond Chandler usually fits the bill for me.
This one was a little off-putting because it seemed to wander a little in the middle. Chandler definitely keeps you off your game and on your toes when reading his works. A handful of actors have played Marlowe in the movies, but Bogart is the quintessential P.I. Even his picture is on the cover of this book, but it was never made into a movie that I can see... a More...
This one was a little off-putting because it seemed to wander a little in the middle. Chandler definitely keeps you off your game and on your toes when reading his works. A handful of actors have played Marlowe in the movies, but Bogart is the quintessential P.I. Even his picture is on the cover of this book, but it was never made into a movie that I can see... a More...
Jul 16, 2011
Judy
rated it: 
This was Raymond Chandler's last novel, so now I have read them all. Back in 2002 when I read The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely, it was a whole new genre for me. I was thrilled to be reading about Los Angeles in the 1940s, chilled by the cynicism of Marlowe, and titillated to learn about the seamier side of my adopted city where the degraded, the insane and the rich make their connections.
Now that I have also read Denise Hamilton, Sara Paretsky, not to mention James M Cain, I c More...
Jun 20, 2010
Alex
rated it:
NOTE: This is a review of the abridged audiobook.
I wasn't too surprised to learn that this is considered to be one of Raymond Chandler's weaker novels. (It also was his last completed novel.) All of the key elements are there--hoodlums, tycoons, femme fatales, and of course world-weary detectives. But the plot relies too much on coincidence and contrivance, and isn't as convincing as his other work. It's just as baffling as "The Big Sleep," but it lacks the intensity which More...
I wasn't too surprised to learn that this is considered to be one of Raymond Chandler's weaker novels. (It also was his last completed novel.) All of the key elements are there--hoodlums, tycoons, femme fatales, and of course world-weary detectives. But the plot relies too much on coincidence and contrivance, and isn't as convincing as his other work. It's just as baffling as "The Big Sleep," but it lacks the intensity which More...
Apr 22, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
I don't know what to think of this book. "If that's the case, Rat," I can hear you say, "why the devil did you give it five stars?" Well, I gave it five stars because it provoked considerable emotion in me, because it intrigued and sometimes baffled me, and because I feel like Mr. Chandler was trying to do something almost experimental with it. I'm not sure what that is, but I feel like there's stuff here in this book that is bigger than my understanding, and I want to giv
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Jun 22, 2008
Andrew
rated it: 
Far away the worst Marlowe book. It is hard to even put it up against the Long Goodbye or Big Sleep. The plot is lacking, but worse are the auxillary characters that usually make these books so readable and fun. Chandler seems intent on getting Marlowe laid in this book. Unfortunately, the dames in this book are not interesting, tough or smart neither are the romances at all credible. Little suspense or violence in this one. However, it is Chandler so it is very readable.
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May 24, 2011
Moonit
rated it:
I've been hearing that this book is considered the weakest Raymond Chandler novel, but even if that's the case, his weakest is a lot better than some authors' strongest. Short and sweet, with all the usual elements: blackmail, murder, conspiracy, dames, and a countless number of stiff drinks. Philip Marlowe is, as always, the most likable anti-hero. The writing is classic and often humorous. I love sentences like this one: "Down below, the ocean was getting a lapis lazuli blue that some
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Jun 15, 2011
Spiros
rated it:
Exhibit A, "Why I'll never join a Book Group."
Reading Kevin Starr's Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s gave me an itch to revisit this book, since I have always postulated that the resort town Chandler names "Esmerelda" was his stand-in for Santa Barbara. Having read the book again, I'm not entirely sure that I'm correct, since Esmerelda is clearly located between San Diego and Los Angeles. But all that is neither here nor there.
I couldn't trac More...
Reading Kevin Starr's Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s gave me an itch to revisit this book, since I have always postulated that the resort town Chandler names "Esmerelda" was his stand-in for Santa Barbara. Having read the book again, I'm not entirely sure that I'm correct, since Esmerelda is clearly located between San Diego and Los Angeles. But all that is neither here nor there.
I couldn't trac More...
Jan 15, 2012
David
rated it:
Considering the circumstances, I found Playback to be a satisfactory end to my time with Marlowe. It's different to the previous works, in that the plot really is rather irrelevant here. Personally I'd make the argument this is the case with all of Chandler's work, but here it is glaring. What we receive instead is Marlowe's existentialist wanderings. Is he going to be a P.I forever? Is he ever going to allow other people into his life? He's a somewhat broken man in Playback, and after The Long
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Oct 05, 2011
Wilsontherocker
rated it:
Marlowe's hired to follow a beautiful woman and ends up in a small, rich town. He of course gets mixed up with her, and the question of who or what she's running from becomes the central mystery. The heart of the novel is in Marlowe's inner life as he wonders why he's even involved in any of it in the first place.
I've only read one other Chandler novel (The Long Goodbye) , and this was not as memorable. But the writing's excellent throughout, and Chandler still knew how to make you win More...
I've only read one other Chandler novel (The Long Goodbye) , and this was not as memorable. But the writing's excellent throughout, and Chandler still knew how to make you win More...
Feb 24, 2011
robyn
rated it:
Marlowe just isn't that likeable in this book - not as compared to the Marlowe of the earlier stories. He's a little preachy. A little loose. And that unlikely thing happens that DOES happen to this sort of hero, when the writer starts believing his own press (or just gets tired) - instead of the reader being the only one that 'gets' Marlowe, everyone starts to. Women fall at his feet like dominoes. He starts to win, instead of losing all the time.
And it's not that you never want Mar More...
And it's not that you never want Mar More...
Jun 15, 2011
Dave
rated it:
This is another lightning fast read and absorbing one by Chandler.
A few kinks in the writing show up in what must be the last book written, a few clues and people seemingly show up to reveal too much, because either Marlowe didn't have the time, he had the luck, or Chandler was finally tired of writing his magic.
This will not disappoint, all at once holding the magic of old California and the grumblings which still exist in current California make for a strikingly vivid real setting. More...
A few kinks in the writing show up in what must be the last book written, a few clues and people seemingly show up to reveal too much, because either Marlowe didn't have the time, he had the luck, or Chandler was finally tired of writing his magic.
This will not disappoint, all at once holding the magic of old California and the grumblings which still exist in current California make for a strikingly vivid real setting. More...
Jun 11, 2011
Charity
rated it:
In respects the plot is thin on the intrigue of the Noir genre, but the depth of the novel and the portrait of Phillip Marlowe and how his character is further developed in the last of Chandler's novels was really quite staggering to me. Chandler did not get to finish the novel, but the novel, while not having the fully polished feel of his other six novels, this novel still felt complete and pulled together.
Phillip Marlowe may just be the most interesting character in literary histor More...
Phillip Marlowe may just be the most interesting character in literary histor More...
Jul 20, 2009
Paul
rated it:
This was Chandler's last novel. His heart wasn't in it. The only really good parts are Marlowe's funny interactions with the sexy Miss Vermilyea. But sadness prevails. In one ill-fitting fragment, Marlowe sits staring at a "blank wall in a meaningless room in a meaningless house." Then the phone rings and a woman's voice is expressing undying love for him. Chandler seems to have intended this passage to fit fairly conventionally into the narrative, but it's too eerie for that and feels
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Feb 05, 2009
Sara
rated it:
Maybe Raymond Chandler is not going to be my favorite author. It was a mildly entertaining book. If it had been any longer I would have thought it a total waste of my time. It was annoying that he gave small pieces of the puzzle and then put them all together in the end. I usually like that, but when I found out why all the secrets, there didn't seem to be a reason to keep them all secret, except to create this grand ending, which wasn't so grand after all. I thought the end was anti-climatic
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Jan 23, 2011
Richard
rated it:
Holy smokes! Good book!
Pure Raymond Chandler. Lots of declarative, active-voice, verb-heavy sentences. More snappy dialogue and similies than you can shake a stick at. The protagonist beds a blonde and a redhead, chain smokes and cracks a thug in the nose with a tire iron: you know, all that noir shit.
Even though this is one of the weaker books in Chandler's canon, it is still better than any other detective story out there.
Dashiell Hammett vs. Raymond Chandler? Chandler. Hand More...
Pure Raymond Chandler. Lots of declarative, active-voice, verb-heavy sentences. More snappy dialogue and similies than you can shake a stick at. The protagonist beds a blonde and a redhead, chain smokes and cracks a thug in the nose with a tire iron: you know, all that noir shit.
Even though this is one of the weaker books in Chandler's canon, it is still better than any other detective story out there.
Dashiell Hammett vs. Raymond Chandler? Chandler. Hand More...
Jan 05, 2011
Jayaprakash
rated it:
The last, and definitely the least, of Chandler's novels. Some of those ice-pick similes and that spiky wit is still on display, but the plot unravels a little too easily at the end and Marlowe is a bit of a sexual goon this time around. His musings on women get pretty sexist and the dialogue put in the mouths of female characters in the many sex scenes (considerably less explicit than what you'd find in, say, James Hadley Chase, thankfully) is frankly egregious. This one is more for the complet
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Dec 25, 2011
Morpheus
rated it:
Well,the book is not bad. Raymond Chandler is one of the best in this genre.But this book doesn't interested me like other from him. Still,it's not bad book for an empty week-end :)
Книгата не е лоша.Реймънд Чандлър е един от най-добрите в този жанр.Но тази книга не ме заинтригува като други негови.Все пак не е лошо четиво за някой празен събото-неделен ден :Р :) More...
Книгата не е лоша.Реймънд Чандлър е един от най-добрите в този жанр.Но тази книга не ме заинтригува като други негови.Все пак не е лошо четиво за някой празен събото-неделен ден :Р :) More...
May 21, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
His final complete novel, and the best possible exit for Philip Marlowe. Nobody does noir better, has a better feel for sexier dialogue, or creates a more absorbing mystery. Do yourself a favor and do NOT read any plot summaries, or even the book jacket. These books are slim, fast, and there is no better way to read them by just jumping straight into the action. Heads up- this was written in 1958, so expect misogynistic tropes like Marlow kissing a dame who falls limp in his arms. But when there
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Feb 15, 2011
Joe
rated it:
Playback is Philip Marlowe's swansong, the last novel of his literary life. Perhaps not the best of Chandler's novels (that would be its immediate predecessor, The long Goodbye), but not an ufitting closing chapter to Marlowe's long career.
As is often the case in a Marlowe novel, the a very cinematic depiction of the times serves as a backdrop to the action. The times are the end of the 50s and the dawn of the Space Age, a period when cinematic Hollywood had already lost the film n More...
As is often the case in a Marlowe novel, the a very cinematic depiction of the times serves as a backdrop to the action. The times are the end of the 50s and the dawn of the Space Age, a period when cinematic Hollywood had already lost the film n More...
Feb 23, 2008
Alison
rated it:
I have not read many of these old detective books before, and I get a kick out of the language. It is something so commonly made fun of, to hear someone speak in such an over-the-top manner was fun, and kept the book moving quickly. However, for some reason this book would just not stick in my mind, and everytime I picked it up to read more, I had to go back a few pages to get back on track. I think it was because I never really got involved with any of the characters, no one really had any r
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Jul 29, 2011
Eric
rated it:
Finally picked this up after figuring it would rule but ignoring it since a friend gave it to me like 3 years ago now. I was right. Super fast read (did most of it a on plane from Salt Lake City to Detroit) with amazing style and one liners. It's a noire mystery, I guess, but the plot seemed less important than the characters. Still no clue where the title comes from. Wikipedia says this was Chandler's last and weakest novel. Looking forward to checking out "The Big Sleep" and "Th
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Jan 06, 2011
Knowledge Lost
rated it:
The last completed novel by Raymond Chandler; Playback is somewhat less impressive than all the other Philip Marlowe novels. While still enjoyable it just didn’t have the same feel as some of his better known works, like The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, Farewell, My Lovely or The Lady in the Lake. It is one book that people either enjoyed or hated but in my case I did enjoy it, as all other hardboiled novels I’ve read. The banter before Marlowe and Miss Vermilyea alone make this book worth readi
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Jul 30, 2010
George V.
rated it:
Playback is the last Philip Marlowe novel completed by Raymond Chandler. Marlowe is hired to tail a woman who arrives on a train from the East. He follows her to a small town near San Diego, where she falls under the influence of a blackmailer—and Marlowe starts to fall for her.
Not Chandler's best work—one is left feeling that both Chandler and Marlowe are old and tired and going through the motions—but enjoyable none the less.
Not Chandler's best work—one is left feeling that both Chandler and Marlowe are old and tired and going through the motions—but enjoyable none the less.
Aug 18, 2010
Kendric
rated it:
A weaker Phillip Marlowe novel, with a plot that simply seems to fizzle out, the book is still delightful to read--a fizzled plot is really only a minor impediment to this flavor of crime fiction, as the incidents of the novel exist primarily to carry a string of vivid characters through gritty situations. When in doubt, have a man with a gun come through the door, and the resulting hard-boiledness will undoubtedly be a delight.
Jul 30, 2011
Mike
rated it:
Marlowe is hired by an influential lawyer he''s never herd of to tail a gorgeous redhead, but decides he prefers to 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
"Chandler wrote like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence: " -- Ross Macdonald
Jan 04, 2010
Christopher
rated it:
The end made me happy, and I don't know what other end there could be. It is the one I think I expected, though I'm not sure if Raymond Chandler realized it would be his last (complete) Marlowe book. I probably won't try to read Poodle Springs for a while since it isn't really a Raymond Chandler book. I'll probably read it at some point though. Who am I sharing this with? Really.
Jun 28, 2011
Mmmm, Chandler. Even when not at his best, he's still better than anyone else. (Apologies, Rex Stout, but let's be real here...) Another in the wise-cracking oeuvre featuring Phillip Marlowe. An exercise in atmosphere and attitude, with just enough plot thrown in to make it interesting. Would that they still wrote 'em this way.
Jun 14, 2011
Noiresque
rated it:
Certainly the weakest Chandler, but it was still Chandler. The style was there in full force. The plot is usually beside the point in any Marlowe story, but that being said, this one was a bit annoying. We are never sure until the very end just who his client is and what she's done, and once we do find out, it's a real let down.
But it is a good final Marlowe novel, I have to say. Marlowe flexes his muscles and morals, get the dames, has a great, philosophical discussion with an aff More...
But it is a good final Marlowe novel, I have to say. Marlowe flexes his muscles and morals, get the dames, has a great, philosophical discussion with an aff More...
Nov 11, 2009
Patrick
rated it:
Chandler's last novel to be published in his lifetime, is probably his least accomplished. But, the references to San Diego, my adopted hometown, made me smile. Devour the Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye (indeed all of his other novels) before your addiction lands you here. And still you will want more...
