Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Lady in the Lake

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Philip Marlowe, L.A.'s toughest private eye, ventures away from the city's mean streets, to search the mountains outside Los Angeles for a missing woman and unravels a tangled web of murder and deceptions.

  • Creators

  • Series

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 6, 2002
      Audio Reviews reflect
      PW's assessment of the audio adaptation of a book and should be quoted only in reference to the audio version. Fiction THE LADY IN THE LAKE Raymond Chandler, read by Elliot Gould. New Millennium Audio, abridged, two cassettes, 2.5 hours, $18, ISBN 1-59007-093-3 Robert Altman's 1973 film version of The Long Goodbye
      wasn't anybody's idea of traditional Chandler, but Gould was certainly an interesting variation on Philip Marlowe—shabby and shambling, grinning boyishly, he was light-years away from the slicker, more worldly-wise actors (Humphrey Bogart, Robert Montgomery, Robert Mitchum, James Garner) who walked down Chandler's mean streets in Marlowe's shoes. Now Gould has translated his unusual vision to this fascinating, if somewhat abrupt, audio adaptation of one of Chandler's least appreciated novels, which finds the increasingly disgruntled and heavy-drinking author moving Marlowe away from the urban jungle of Los Angeles to the mountains and lakes on the fringes of the city, where a detective in a suit and a snap-brim hat looks and feels instantly out of place. Gould catches this fish-out-of-water quality perfectly, as he follows the trail of the missing wife of a perfume magnate and stumbles across several bodies. Although this abridgment clips the edges of many of Chandler's descriptive passages, it appears to leave untouched one of the most chilling scenes in all of crime fiction—the discovery of the body of the titular lady—and Gould gives a superbly chilling reading of the text.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Raymond Chandler and Elliott Gould prove to be a winning combination. Starting with the drowned lady in the lake, dead bodies pile up, unrelated story lines twist around each other, police corruption is exposed, and the sleazy underbelly of 1940s Los Angeles is revealed, all with Chandler's flat irony and blunt honesty. Gould gets it just right, the flatness, the dryness, the weariness. He gives characters subtle individual voices, resisting the temptation to overdramatize. The abridgment works smoothly, but I would have liked to hear more. E.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      This Raymond Chandler noir is classic Chandler. Although rarely performed, except in the 1947 MGM film, it still chills decades later as the quintessential shrewd private eye Philip Marlowe travels to Mexico and back and drives the hills of L.A. to a brisk mountain lake in search of a divorcée who just might be dead. Her philandering intended also poses a problem--having been murdered before the investigation begins. The BBC Radio 4 full cast dazzles with swift pacing and dramatic interactions enhanced by period music and sound effects. Actor Toby Stephens portrays the weary and cynical Marlowe in a style that bites off chunks of Chandler's iconic hard-boiled dialogue. The author's wry prose and fatalistic commentary never fail to beguile as the dark twists build to a climax. A.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading