Lady in the Lake [Audio Cassette]

Raymond Chandler (Author), Elliott Gould (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1988

A beautiful, historically accurate edition of the modern classic first published in 1943 reproduces the original and offers an alternative for those who love great old books and want to relive Philip Marlowe's strange and puzzling search for the missing woman.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Chandler is not only the best writer of hardboiled PI stories, he's one of the 20th century's top scribes, period. His full canon of novels and short stories is reprinted in trade paper featuring uniform covers in Black Lizard's signature style. A handsome set for a reasonable price.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"Raymond Chandler is a master." --The New York Times

“[Chandler] wrote as if pain hurt and life mattered.” --The New Yorker

“Chandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious.” --Robert B. Parker, The New York Times Book Review

“Philip Marlowe remains the quintessential urban private eye.” --Los Angeles Times

“Nobody can write like Chandler on his home turf, not even Faulkner. . . . An original. . . . A great artist.” —The Boston Book Review

“Raymond Chandler was one of the finest prose writers of the twentieth century. . . . Age does not wither Chandler’s prose. . . . He wrote like an angel.” --Literary Review

“[T]he prose rises to heights of unselfconscious eloquence, and we realize with a jolt of excitement that we are in the presence of not a mere action tale teller, but a stylist, a writer with a vision.” --Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Review of Books

“Chandler wrote like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence.” —Ross Macdonald

“Raymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude.” --Erle Stanley Gardner

“Raymond Chandler invented a new way of talking about America, and America has never looked the same to us since.” --Paul Auster

“[Chandler]’s the perfect novelist for our times. He takes us into a different world, a world that’s like ours, but isn’t. ” --Carolyn See

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Dove Entertainment Inc (January 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558000690
• ISBN-13: 978-1558000698
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,274,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Chandler, Raymond

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book has x-ray eyes, June 10, 2000

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Lady in the Lake (Paperback)

In this absolute literary classic, Philip Marlowe has been asked to look into the disappearance of the straying wife of a local businessman. His search to find her leads him through dead bodies, corrupt police, and wicked women. The amazing thing is that the book doesn't preach, it just sees-- Marlowe witnesses the world with a kind of fatalistic and dispassionate affection-- the things people do to each other; the things people do to themselves. The kind of writing style of which most writers can only dream.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Philip Marlowe Finds Another Body..., May 1, 2008

By 

Donald Gallinger - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lady in the Lake (Paperback)

The Lady in the Lake is one of Chandler's best. Philip Marlowe finds a body--but whose body is it? Laced with Chandler's wry commentary on everything from rich dames to down and out war veterans, this book is an absolute delight from the first page to the last. Classic Chandler. Sharp, funny, full of surprising twists, and always the most original prose around. Highest recommendation for an American "noir" novel.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weaker Marlowe Entry Still Worth Reading, January 25, 2003

By 

Tony C "Tony C" (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lady in the Lake (Paperback)

THE LADY IN THE LAKE is one of Raymond Chandler's weaker Philip Marlowe novels, if not the weakest. (I say "weakest" as opposed to "worst," because, to paraphrase the cliche, reading Chandler is a bit like sex: Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good.) But that's just it. It's not that this is a bad read by any stretch - it's head and shoulders above the best mysteries taking up space on the bestseller lists, and most of the mysteries ever published. But, because this is Chandler, it's held to a higher standard than disposable airline reads, and by that yardstick, it falls short.

The story of this (the first Marlowe novel written after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor), like all in the series, starts simply enough: Our Hero is hired by a wealthy businessman to find his missing wife. And like all Marlowe stories, the case soon becomes much more complicated, leading Marlowe on a trail of twists and turns through some of the darkest shadows of his world until, at last, all is revealed.

It is a fun trail to follow for the reader, if not always for Marlowe. Still, it doesn't match the intense intricacy of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY nor the lurid seductiveness of THE BIG SLEEP - both among the classics of 20th century literature. It even misses the layering of THE HIGH WINDOW, leaving a fun read without as much depth. Worse, the twists, while they might surprise or confuse readers fed on the whodunit simplicity of Agatha Christie, are, for devoted Chandlerites, more obvious. I guessed the titular lady's secret soon after she was found in the lake, and it was not too difficult to tie in several - although, I admit, not all - later twists.

Still, Chandler is Chandler. His dry, intoxicating prose is here, as is his mastery of characterization. The most vivid supporting characters here are not Degarmo, the brutal cop heavy, nor Mr. Kingsley, the wealthy perfume baron, both of whom would fit into almost any Chandler novel. Rather, the scene-stealers are Bill Chess, the roughneck widower, and Sheriff Jim Patton, the law in a place that rarely needs him. These two are far removed from the Los Angeles back alleys, grimy motel rooms, rundown slums and mansions with plenty of closet space for skeletons that are Chandler's milieu, yet they become as real as old friends.

Ultimately, writing a review of a Chandler novel is almost a waste of time. His devoted fans - among whose numbers I readily count myself - will want to own this no matter how many stars I give it; and those who prefer locked room whodunits with quirky old lady detectives aren't even reading this. Still, to those interested in finding out why Chandler has engrossed readers for decades, don't start here. I'd recommend THE BIG SLEEP and FAREWELL, MY LOVELY as introductions, and THE LADY IN THE LAKE as a palate-cleanser once you're hooked.