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A review by hahildebrand
Playback by Raymond Chandler
5.0
I love all of Raymond Chandler's novels, but this one, Playback, the last full outing for Phillip Marlowe, tends to get relatively short shrift compared to the others. But I really like it. It's a different sort of book, one where Marlowe's tired, and he's confused - he doesn't really understand what he's doing or why until very late in the story, and the mystery, such as it is, isn't particularly important or consequential or even surprising.
But it's funny and it's unexpectedly romantic and there are several characters who monologue entertainingly at Marlowe for several pages, never turning up as part of the action again. We're bewildered with Marlowe, we're on his side when he's frustrated at the way the plot never really gets going - but we're also compelled to stick with him, as he sticks with the 'case', because he's a good, interesting guy essentially muddling through, despite his hardboiled whip-smart image.
But it's funny and it's unexpectedly romantic and there are several characters who monologue entertainingly at Marlowe for several pages, never turning up as part of the action again. We're bewildered with Marlowe, we're on his side when he's frustrated at the way the plot never really gets going - but we're also compelled to stick with him, as he sticks with the 'case', because he's a good, interesting guy essentially muddling through, despite his hardboiled whip-smart image.