In The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler introduces his private eye Philip Marlowe showcasing his skills in a case that begins as a simple blackmail problem that quickly escalates to murder.

This particular edition was a bit of a mistake on my part; I was looking to inter-library loan an audio version of The Big Sleep and accidentally selected this one, which is only an adaptation, not the entire book. What it loses in content, it makes up for in style: This version includes a full-cast reading complete with sound effects. For instance, some of the descriptive narrative is quickly disposed of by including the simple sound of rain falling. That being said though, there is still narration from Marlowe, so this is not simply a case of dialogue with no context. Nonetheless, in order to reduce the entire book to an hour and a half long adaptation, many things do get brushed over, such as Marlowe's actual feet-to-the-ground detective work, to move right along to the dialogue and action. I also felt like the denouement was rushed through a little too much.

Still, this adaptation contains a great deal of word-for-word dialogue and narration while remaining true to the characters and story. I could see this adaptation being appropriate for those who really love Chandler/Marlowe and are looking for a new interpretation on a favorite work. It could also work for those who like to get right to the meat of a story without superfluous description. Personally, I was much happier when I got to the version I really wanted - the full book! ( )