false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167766202m/25807.jpg 25807 30 <B>Penzler Pick, April 2000:</B> It is sometimes easy to trace a literary genre to its source, and James M. Cain's first novel, <I>The Postman Always Rings Twice</I>, is the noir novel that paved the way for all the noir fiction that followed. The famous film starring Lana Turner and John Garfield is notoriously dark, but the novel is even more full of despair and devoid of hope. It is a short book--little more than a novella--but its searing characterization and depiction of tawdry greed and lust is branded into every reader's memory.<p> Frank Chambers, a drifter, is dropped from the back of a truck at a rundown rural diner. When he spots Cora, the owner's wife, he instantly decides to stay. The sexy young woman, married to Nick, a violent and thuggish boor, is equally attracted to the younger man and sees him as her way out of her hopeless, boring life. They begin a clandestine affair and plot to kill Nick, beginning their own journey toward destruction.<p> Horace McCoy, David Goodis, Jim Thompson, and the other notable noir writers never achieved Cain's spare brilliance. Virtually all of his major works have been filmed, though several Hollywood studios refused to make the films, directors refused to be involved, and actors turned down roles because of their repugnance at the lack of morality inherent in all Cain's characters. Reading him may not be fit for a Sunday school class, but once you begin you will be unable to resist continuing, like picking at a painful scab or watching a tarantula inside a glass dome. <I>--Otto Penzler</I> 808562 1934 The Postman Always Rings Twice (Crime Masterworks) total:1424|5:361|4:546|3:421|2:88|1:8| 1424 5436 2116 166 5 4 false false Wed Jan 09 22:35:12 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 23:18:07 -0800 2008
Lesson one: Say things like, "I don't especially like the way I look sometimes. But I never met a man since I was fourteen that didn't want to give me an argument about it."

Lesson two: Think up an elaborate murder plan
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I haven't seen the film in at least twenty years, so I can't speak to how similar or not they are.

The sexism and racism infused -- cul...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 01 20:43:38 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 20:46:02 -0800 2009
A mixture of violence and sex, Dionysian nature and gleeful decadence. A mus...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Wed May 16 21:31:01 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 28 20:26:13 -0700 2008
I have ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 12 05:02:20 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 05:02:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 14 11:19:12 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 06:56:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 20:19:43 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 14:03:28 -0700 2009 [Addition to my rather terse original commentary:] - What do I know from Southern California slang in the 1930s or 40s other than Hollywood cliche but the regional dialog of the characters seems quite convincing and adds resonance to th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 14:06:13 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 14:13:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 15:37:17 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 20:01:38 -0700 2009
It's fun.

But something I didn't quite get was the title--there were no postmans? Thank you Wikipedia, which told me it could mean several things. The two most interesting...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 19:54:08 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 15:27:14 -0700 2009
Here I am now in my mid 30s a...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 08:57:42 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 06:27:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 27 20:52:38 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 27 20:57:44 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Wed Jan 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 17:16:10 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 02:12:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 04:47:44 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 06:42:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 05 20:27:02 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 20:39:07 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Dec 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Oct 17 13:11:22 -0700 2008 Sun Dec 21 20:08:09 -0800 2008 1
A drifter (Frank Chambers) comes to town to a Greek restaurant, falls for the wife of the owner, and performs some of t...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=25807