As cinematic as Raymond Chandler's writing was, screen adaptations somehow never equalled the wit and the wisdom of his books. Hollywood loved him and he hated it.
Does his work translate better to the computer screen than to the silver screen? Trouble Is My Business: The Raymond Chandler Library is primarily just what it says it is: a library. Only trouble is it's not a very comprehensive library. Chandler's biography is surprisingly brief, with a couple of hyperlinks to photos and indecipherable newspaper cuttings. There's a collection of letters, an "interactive map of Marlowe's LA," a "rogues gallery" of some 100 characters, roughly half as many stills of '40s Los Angeles, and 24 mediocre movie clips. The novella Playback the only Chandler book that wasn't made into a movie is included, while one of my favorites, The Little Sister, is missing. However, you can search for and compile Chandler's trademark similes "She knew about as much about rare books as I knew about handling a flea circus."
This disc encouraged me to get out those books again, unfold my map of LA, and dream. It's the usual problem I face with any adaptation: the Marlowe I see in my mind's eye is different from the one anyone else sees.
Matthias Penzel
Trouble Is My Business: The Raymond Chandler Library CD-ROM: US$39.95. Byron Preiss Multimedia Company Inc.: +1 (212) 989 6252, on the Web at www.byronpreiss.com.
STREET CRED
Striking a NerveThe End of Science
Let Your Fingers Do the Web Walking
The Big Sleep
