Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Tremor of Forgery

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 393 ratings · 45 reviews

Under the hot desert sun nothing is quite as it seems. Howard Ingham, an American writer, is sent to Tunisia to gather material for a movie, a love story too sordid to be set in America. But his director fails to arrive as scheduled and the erratic mails bring news of infidelities and suicide.

Ingham, for reasons obscure even to himself, decides to stay on and work instead...more

Paperback, 264 pages

Published January 14th 1994 by Atlantic Monthly Press (first published 1969)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

HRF Keating 100 Best Crime and Mystery Books

69th out of 100 books — 16 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 630)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 07, 2008 Tosh rated it 4 of 5 stars

There has always been traces of Paul Bowles in Highsmith's fiction - and this book is almost a love letter of sorts to Bowles' world. Without moral overtones one falls into the spell of evil or at least except it on a face value. Very disturbing, even creepy like.

like 3 likes · see review

Dec 04, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this different from other Highsmith novels in that the characters are all fairly likeable and believable, not as extreme or as paranoid as I've come to expect. What isn't likeable is Howard Ingham's increasingly less than sympathetic view of Arabs. "Ingham imagined that Arabs were more or less always the same from one day to the next, that no external events could much affect them," for example. Highsmith does a good job of showing Ingham's shifting sense of self, of morality, in the hea...more

like 6 likes · see review

Oct 28, 2012 Anastasia Fitzgerald-Beaumont rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Tremor of Forgery is the first novel by Patricia Highsmith that I have ever read. It was this year’s main ‘holiday book’, taken with me to Tunisia for no better reason than it is set in Tunisia. I chose it, in other words, for precisely the same reason that I took Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile to Egypt last year.

Setting out on a review here is beset with uncertainty, a little like going on safari without a guide, a map or a compass. I simply have no landmarks, no basis for comparison....more

like 7 likes · see review

Jan 03, 2012 Daniel Gamboa rated it 4 of 5 stars

"The Sea of Doubt" is the title of this book in Italian, which, in my opinion, should've been its original title. Why? Howard is an interesting character in crisis to read about until he starts constantly changing his mind as to whether or not he loves Ina. Besides, after chapter 20, I started to feel a bit bored, like Jensen, everytime Abdullah's murder came up. I understand that Abdullah's murder is "the excuse" to address the moral issues in the book, but since such murder was more like an ac...more

like 1 like · see review

Feb 25, 2011 tENTATIVELY, cONVENIENCE rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature, psychology, sociology

On the cover of this is a quote purported to be from writer Graham Greene: "Highsmith's finest novel" & I'm inclined to agree. As w/ "Found in the Street" [see my review of that here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39...], the deaths aren't central mysteries to be solved, they're psychological mood setters. &, again as in "Found..", descriptions of personalities & the basic attitudes toward life that they represent are really the central concern.

Highsmith's sympathetic depiction...more On the cover of this is a quote purported to be from writer Graham Greene: "Highsmith's finest novel" & I'm inclined to agree. As w/ "Found in the Street" [see my review of that here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39...], the deaths aren't central mysteries to be solved, they're psychological mood setters. &, again as in "Found..", descriptions of personalities & the basic attitudes toward life that they represent are really the central concern.

Highsmith's sympathetic depiction of the main character, a writer, is gentle & sensitive to a remarkably refined level. Unlike anything else I've read by this author so far, Highsmith brings in politics: anti- Vietnam War, an exposure of American imperialist arrogance, etc.. But none of it's heavy-handed. As in her treatment of the Lindemann character in "Found..", Highsmith's OWL is presented in a well-rounded way despite his obnoxiousness.

The setting is Tunisia & Highsmith uses the cultural clash between the main character's NYC background & Arab culture to present a view of humanity in wch no oversimplification prevails. I don't know if Highsmith ever went to Tunisia but on pp106 & 113 she references a bk wch I assume/deduce she may've consulted in order to make "A Tremor of Forgery" more realistic: Norman Douglas' Fountains in the Sand: The main character, Ingham, has the bk w/ him:

"Ingham would never see Miss Darby again, he supposed, which mattered neither to her nor to him. He was reminded of a passage in the Norman Douglas book which he had liked, and he picked up the book and looked for it. Douglas was talking about an old Italian gardener he had met by accident somewhere in Tunisia. The passage Ingham had marked went:

"...he had travelled far in the Old and New Worlds; in him I recognized once again that simple mind of the sailor or wanderer who learns, as he goes along, to talk and think decently; who, instead of gathering fresh encumbrances on Life's journey, wisely discards even those he set out with."

Unlike most crime fiction writers, Highsmith has a gentleness here that reminds me of Jean Genet's. There's no need to wallow in brutality to keep this reader, at least, engrossed. 2 people possibly die violent deaths, the reader never discovers the circumstances of one of them & is never sure whether the other person has even died. This is very subtle - where lesser writers wd metaphorically splatter the blood as much as possible in the reader's face in order to shock them into paying attn, Highsmith takes the much more difficult path of trying to address the complex psychological, cultural & social circumstances surrounding the event - leaving some of these a mystery when it's appropriate to do so to create an understanding of the main character's situation.

Also unlike many of Highsmith's own novels (I think particularly of her "A Suspension of Mercy" [my review of that is here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15...]), the characters don't inevitably spiral down to their doom b/c of bad decisions. In my review of "..Suspension.." I write:

"2 fairly ordinary people, a married couple, have some minor quirks. Their bad decisions follow one after the other in believable ways that're related to their quirks. Things cd go one way or the other - almost all the way to the end. But the bad decisions eventually lead to a tragedy that's even more tragic b/c of its sheer stupid unnecessariness."

& this is certainly NOT the case in "The Tremor of Forgery" - although Highsmith sets up the reader to frequently wonder whether it will be. Decisions that Ingham makes seem to be heading in a self-destructive direction: his non-reporting of a corpse found, his staying on in Tunisia, his continued friendship w/ the OWL, his prevaricating over his relationship w/ Ina, his avoidance of a more public confronting of his altercation w/ a burglar. But instead of using these behaviors of Ingham's to ensnare him, Highsmith chooses a less sensational & perhaps more realistic way in wch things get worked out in moderation.

Even the title of the bk is cleverly misleading & an opportunity for Highsmith to make writerly self-reference. My applause, Patricia Highsmith! I wish you were still alive so I cd compliment you in person! (less)

like 2 likes · see review

Jan 10, 2011 pinknantucket rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm afraid I missed the point of this novel. Howard Ingham, a writer, has travelled from New York to Tunisia, to work on a film project with a soon-to-arrive acquaintance. In the meantime he starts work on a new novel. A few things happen; he gets caught up in some lies, feels disassociated from regular life, wonders if he really loves his girlfriend, maybe kills someone etc.

Highsmith writes well, of course, but I wasn't entertained, challenged or provoked on reading this. I didn't experience su...more

like 1 like · see review

Aug 26, 2009 Robin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, cont-fiction

I hated this title -- it seemed so hokey. Like “The Whip of Larceny” or “The Chains of Shoplifting” or something. But Highsmith nailed so much in this novel. The mood and tone rocked -- I’m so glad I read this in a steamy August in Baltimore -- not quite Tunisia, but I could start to begin to relate. I’m not big into mystery -- if this indeed qualifies -- but she did an excellent job of maintaining tension in a lazy atmosphere redolent of scotch and sweat -- the sun reduces problems to absurdity...more

like 5 likes · see review

Dec 07, 2012 Patrick McCoy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, crime-noir

I was compelled to read Patrica Highsmith's novel, The Tremor of Forgery (1969) because Graham Greene called it her finest novel. From what I have read so far, I am in agreement. That being said I have only read The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cry of the Owl previously. This novel about a writer holed up in Tunisia writing a novel can't help but recall Albert Camus' The Stranger and The Cure's Stranger-inspired song "Killing An Arab." Highsmith does an excellent job of creating a sense of exile and...more

like · see review

Jan 22, 2013 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is something maddeningly fascinating about Patricia Highsmith's writing. By all rights, I should nto enjoy reading her, yet I do, very much.

This book, set in Tunisia in 1967, has murder, suicide, treachery, and lost love. Yet all that seems secondary to Highsmith's clean and sparse descriptions of the mundane daily activities of the protagonist, a dilettante of an American writer tricked into traveling to North Africa by a would-be friend. The elements of suspense seem afterthoughts in Hig...more

like · see review

Aug 25, 2009 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Stranger, The Cure, and Tremor of a Forgery: it’s an existential trifecta. In life, sings The Cure, “I can turn and walk away / Or I can fire the gun / Staring at the sky staring at the sun / Whichever I choose / It amounts to the same: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.”

So discovers Howard Ingham, just like Meursault before him. But unlike Meursault, Howard Ingham's moral Arab-killing dilemma in the North African desert is plagued by a hyper awareness that his values --thus, himself?-- are different when...more

like 1 like · see review

Feb 19, 2013 Morgana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads, fiction

Atmospheric, Graham Greene-ish, fascinating. It's 1967, and New York writer Howard Ingham has come to Tunisia to meet up with another fellow to work on writing a film script. The other man never arrives, there's much waiting for letters and cables, much sand and heat and thievery and some intestinal troubles. Ingham's writing a novel about a forger and it begins to take off, just as he begins to develop his own reasons to contemplate whether morality is ingrained and properly unchanging, or whet...more

like · see review

Oct 11, 2011 Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a strange book -- not really a mystery, not really a thriller, though it has elements of one or the other. It seems to be a psychological study of one of Highsmith's famously unlikeable, possibly closeted characters who commit morally questionable acts and then somehow try to evade the consequences, or conceal them from themselves. But Howard Ingham isn't all that unlikeable, and his choices are only questionable if you're kind of prim and morally smug, like a couple of the people around...more

like · see review

Sep 10, 2012 Maria João Fernandes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, feira-do-livro-2011, patricia-highsmith

"E o que está certo e errado, supunha Ingham, é aquilo que as pessoas que nos rodeiam dizem que é.(...) as pessoas vivem segundo um código moral, no qual lhes tinha sido ensinado a acreditar desde pequenos. (...) Até que ponto se manterá, até que ponto se poderá actuar segundo ele, se não for o mesmo código daqueles que nos rodeiam?"

Howard Ingham, um escritor divorciado cujos ganhos lhe permitem ter uma vida simples sem preocupações monetárias, encontra-se na Tunísia para realizar um projecto co...more "E o que está certo e errado, supunha Ingham, é aquilo que as pessoas que nos rodeiam dizem que é.(...) as pessoas vivem segundo um código moral, no qual lhes tinha sido ensinado a acreditar desde pequenos. (...) Até que ponto se manterá, até que ponto se poderá actuar segundo ele, se não for o mesmo código daqueles que nos rodeiam?"

Howard Ingham, um escritor divorciado cujos ganhos lhe permitem ter uma vida simples sem preocupações monetárias, encontra-se na Tunísia para realizar um projecto com o seu amigo John Castlewood. Este pediu a sua participação na produção de um argumento de um filme de baixo orçamento que irá realizar. A acção passa-se na Tunísia e por essa razão, Ingham viaja para lá a fim de conhecer o meio, as pessoas e a cultura. No entanto, o produtor do filme, que ficou de se encontrar lá com ele, não aparece no dia combinado nem lhe responde às cartas. O mesmo acontece com Ina, a sua namorada que ficou em Nova Iorque a trabalhar. Também ela não lhe dá qualquer notícia. Os dias vão passando devagar e Ingham acaba por aceitar este silêncio. Faz a sua vida normalmente: escreve, vai à praia e conduz até outras cidades. E assim é o início de uma série de acontecimentos estranhos que irão atravessar o caminho de Ingham e que o farão debater-se sobre o que está certo e o que está errado, de modo a poder agir da forma que ele acha a mais acertada na sociedade em que se encontra enquadrado.

Apesar de já ter lido alguns livros desta autora, ela continua a conseguir surpreender-me. A sua escrita é brilhante e perturbadora. Traição, mentiras e segredos são apenas alguns dos temas, comuns em todas as obras da autora, que vemos abordados neste thriller psicológico.

Uma vez mais somos confrontados com o crime da falsificação. Quem leu a série Ripley, lembra-se certamente que este tinha, com um sócio, um negócio de falsificação de quadros de um pintor que já tinha morrido, mas que eles fingiam que estava vivo, para continuarem a falsificar e a vender o seu trabalho. Em "O Falsário Indeciso" é a personagem principal do romance de Ingham quem faz os desvios de dinheiro: investindo-o e dando-o a amigos, para abrirem negócios ou ajudarem as suas famílias. Aliás, o título "O Falsário Indeciso" foi escolhido, por Ingham, para a obra se encontra a escrever.

O tema da homossexualidade volta também a ser retratado. Eu, pessoalmente, gosto imenso de ver este tema a ser abordado, uma vez que me fascina imenso sentir o à vontade desta autora, que nasceu a 19 de Janeiro de 1921. Em 1952 ela publicou um livro com esta temática, o Preço do Sal. O livro é sobre uma história de amor entre uma jovem e uma mulher mais velha, que se está a divorciar e já tem filha. E um dos primeiros livros, com esta temática, em que as personagens principais têm um final feliz. Até esta altura as personagens homossexuais tinham sempre um final trágico, como se a sua orientação sexual fosse algo de tão errado, que mereciam e deviam ser castigadas por isso. Eu acredito que nós amamos, independentemente do sexo da pessoa. O amor existe sob todas as formas e é por isso mesmo que é um sentimento tão excepcional.A sua personagem mais famosa, Tom Ripley era também bissexual.

No livro “O Falsário Indeciso", Ingham conhece duas pessoas que vão acompanhar o seu percurso ao longo do livro: Francis Adams, um americano viúvo e Anders Jensen, um pintor dinamarquês homossexual, que vive com o seu adorado cão Hasso. As relações entre as personagens são um detalhe importante do método de escrita de Highsmith. À medida que vamos conhecendo Howard Ingham, começamos a compreender os seus verdadeiros sentimentos. A ex-mulher, por quem afirma ainda sentir saudades, apenas lhe era útil na cama, segundo diz. Ina, a actual namorada, que diz amar e com quem deseja casar, acaba por se revelar insignificante. Tão insignificante, que quando lhe confessa que o traiu, este pensa que até o desaparecimento do cão - Hasso - é mais horrível que a confissão dela. Quanto ao seu vizinho Adam, o americano que faz propaganda americana para a Rússia via rádio, compara-o frequentemente a um esquilo, devido ao seu sorriso trocista. Admite que a sua simpatia é genuína, e convive com ele várias vezes, no entanto o seu desdém, tanto pelo seu físico, como pelo seu intelecto, é evidenciado com bastante clareza. Este fala constantemente do "O nosso estilo de vida" (isto é, o estilo de via americano). Está sempre a pregá-lo: a bondade, a santidade e a democracia irão, segundo ele, salvar o Homem e o mundo. Ingham não acredita no que Adams defende. O que está claramente errado para ele, não é assim tão linear para o nosso herói. O dinamarquês Jensen é com quem Ingham mais simpatiza. No momento em que o seu cão Hasso desaparece, Ingham sente vontade de estar com ele e de o consolar. Mais tarde, é a este que faz as suas confidências.
Howard vê-se mais inclinado a acreditar nos ideais de Jensen, talvez porque lhe é mais conveniente. Mas no fundo, é uma pessoa que sente perdida e confusa, num mundo que não é apenas preto e branco, onde também existe o cinzento, que é onde ele se encontra.

Um outro fio condutor da história é a descrição do povo árabe, por parte das personagens. No meu entender, a autora deixa transparecer o seu desdém pelos árabes, criticando o seu comportamento e atitudes, não apontando nenhuma característica minimamente positiva. Quando alguma coisa é roubada a culpa é dos árabes. Quando o cão Hasso desaparece a culpa é dos árabes. Todas as personagens sentem o mesmo relativamente a este povo e cultura, em menor ou maior grau. A verdade é que ninguém simpatiza com eles. Eu mesma dei por mim a apreciar as conversas em que os árabes são gozados. Mais uma vez está presente a noção de moral única da autora. Será isto correcto ou errado?

A mestre do suspense literário faz sempre introduções lentas às suas histórias. Demora o seu tempo a introduzir as personagens e a descrever o meio envolvente para que o leitor os possa conhecer melhor. Para mim, a sua escrita pode mesmo ser descrita com hipnótica. O seu herói/criminoso, Howard Ingham, tal como todas as suas personagens que conheci anteriormente, tem uma personalidade muito complexa e é dotado de uma perturbação psicológica profunda. Mesmo depois do produtor do filme não ir ao seu encontro, Ingham continua a fazer o seu trabalho, continua a escrever o seu romance mesmo sabendo que o filme não irá ser produzido. A sua história é sobre um homem chamado Dennison que tem uma vida dupla, que não tem consciência da amoralidade da sua forma de viver. Por um lado, ele rouba e engana pessoas, mas por outro ajuda aqueles que mais necessitam. Mas o que torna tudo isto interessante e genial é o facto desta descrição assentar que nem uma luva à personagem principal de Patricia Highsmith. E, quem sabe, talvez se aplique também à própria autora.

Ao longo deste livro somos confrontados com os mistérios humanos que levam alguém a cometer um crime. Neste caso em particular, trata-se de um crime por impulso. Ingham vê-se encurralado numa situação complicada e o medo leva-o a agir instintivamente. Patricia Highsmith foge à estrutura tradicional do romance policial a que estamos habituados. Um dos aspectos que mais se destaca, para mim, é a inexistência da noção de justiça nos seus livros. As suas personagens principais são sempre criminosas e, normalmente, instáveis. Indivíduos que não se encaixam na sociedade a que chamamos "normal". E acredito mesmo que estas estranhas personagens, produto da sua imaginação obscura, são nada mais do que versões da própria autora. No entanto, apesar das suas más escolhas e comportamento criminoso, estas nunca são castigadas. Muito pelo contrário.

Para finalizar, quero apenas dizer que gostava muito que fosse possível ter conhecido pessoalmente esta autora. Tenho a certeza que a sua mente era tão obscura como a das suas personagens e o seu sentido de moral único. A sua personalidade era, certamente, inconstante, complexa e contraditória pois só isso poderá ter tornado possível a criação das suas obras extraordinárias. Sinto que conheci um pouco desta mulher, de talento inato, e estou grata por isso. Se Alfred Hitchcock - na minha opinião, o melhor realizador de todos os tempos, também ele descrito como mestre do suspense, dotado de um génio sem igual - viu talento na Patricia Highsmith, quem pode duvidar da qualidade da escrita desta autora? De qualquer maneira, se não fosse escritora, seria, certamente uma assassina.

“My New Year’s Eve Toast: to all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envies, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real, the army of memories, with which I do battle — may they never give me peace.” (Patricia Highsmith, 26 anos, Passagem de Ano de 1947, 2:30h)(less)

like 3 likes · see review

Oct 18, 2008 bill rated it 3 of 5 stars

If this book were by a writer i didn't know, or if i hadn't already read The Talented Mr Ripley, i'da given it four stars. It's certainly well written. Highsmith has a wonderful way of building tension that leads to nothing (a Suspension Bridge to Nowhere, if you will). Even the most mundane actions seem sinister. She'll make a point of mentioning that a character left his door unlocked even though he was warned not to do so, and then when he returns to his room everything is fine. The book is f...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 09, 2012 Jeremiah Mcenerney rated it 5 of 5 stars

First time I read Highsmith. Ingham's decision to tell/not tell various characters what really happened was the central theme of the book. The fact that it occured in Tunisia defined Ingham's moral relativism, but you could see her appreciating religion in Ina's character as a benchmark for what is right, regardless of the environment. The delays in correspondence between Tunisia and New York seemed quaint in today's hyper-connected world and I can see that we miss something in today in this de...more

like · see review

Mar 14, 2011 Kayla rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is what Graham Greene calls Patricia Highsmith's finest book. But it shares some of the flaws of Graham Greene books: a protagonist too much like the author, a sense of ennui that spills over to bore the reader.

Here's the plot: our hero, a writer, is sojourning in Tunis. He sees the sights, which do not particularly interest him. He makes friends with a Danish homosexual and an American patriot. He is involved with various women, who feel lukewarmly toward him. He feels lukewarmly toward th...more

like · see review

Nov 26, 2009 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought "The Talented Mr Ripley" intriguing both for story and characters. Discovered she had written a book taking place in Tunisia- so thought "perfect" for a book to read while we were trav elling there.Evocative of some of the things we were experiencing on our journey and her description of political and cultural conditions are the same now as when the book was written (1967).

like · see review

Mar 19, 2012 Craig Pittman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although the New Yorker raved that this was Patricia Highsmith's best novel, it's not. That honor still belongs to "The Talented Mr. Ripley," I think -- it has a much higher bloodshed-to-archness quotient, and she really twists you around so that you feel like you're rooting for a psychopath even though you know you shouldn't. The stakes in "The Tremor of Forgery" are much, much lower, and the suspense is mostly concerning the conscience of the main character, a writer who may or may not have ki...more

like 1 like · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Danny rated it 3 of 5 stars

While a perfectly fine novel, there was less of the normal heart pounding Highsmith that I was looking for. However, it's due in no part to any fault of the book or author(obviously because Highsmith doesn't make faults) but due to what she wanted to do with the novel. If you're expecting another Strangers on a Train, look for a different novel.

like · see review

Aug 24, 2010 Joseph rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: patricia-highsmith

One of the comments on the back of the book had The New York Times saying this was her best novel. Ummm, no. the New York Times doesn't know what it is talking about. What a disappointment to say the least. I have liked her other books a lot, but this one was dumb.

I won't bother going into the details of the book (one of the things that bothered me is why the main character didn't just go back to NYC as opposed to wait for more letters to come), but basically the whole books thought or thing to...more

like · see review

Mar 04, 2013 Josh Boardman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: african-summer-2012

This book was so much fun. There was no climax, but I didn't seem to care. This may be the first time I've ever not wanted a book to end (mostly because there was little resolution). The writing wasn't perfect, but it wasn't required. A plot driven story that I enjoy? Preposterous!!!

like · see review

Dec 29, 2010 Sketchbook rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sweaty Tunisia in the blistering sun. That wonderful
suspense writer of "sheer dread" keeps you restless
and uncomfortable in a trembling labyrinth of amorality,
ethics and ambiguous relationships.

like · see review

Feb 16, 2009 aya rated it 4 of 5 stars

like a graham greene novel and a patricia highsmith novel had a baby. therefore strong colonialist overtones but still as original and unsettling as expected from a highsmith book.

like · see review

Sep 19, 2011 Matthew Gallaway rated it 5 of 5 stars

Intense story about an American ex-pat who may or may not have committed a crime in Tunisia. Totally gripping rumination on the relative nature of what exactly is right and wrong.

like · see review

Apr 14, 2009 Brenna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Only 3 stars because It's Patricia Highsmith writing, anyone else would get at least a 4, but as great as this book is I know she's done better. Still I would recommend it.

like · see review

Jan 28, 2013 Leata Holloway rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like ye olde Ripley books better than her other stuff, but after reading that biography of Patricia Highsmith a couple years ago I started reading more of her stuff.

like · see review

Dec 10, 2011 Taryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

There is an interesting theme as to the nature of morality when a person is in a foreign environment, and the entire book is intensely readable. Odd that the Arabs are portrayed in such a negative light, making me wonder what Highsmith really thinks of them. I did wish that more happened. Lots of swims in the ocean, lots of scotches and beers, lots of restaurant meals. If this were not Patricia Highsmith I'd have given it four stars.

like · see review

Oct 21, 2012 Columbus rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Patricia Highsmith fans or fans of psychological mysteries/thrillers.

The Queen of the Psychopaths! Highsmith is well known for her Ripley novels and the suspense classic, Strangers on a Train. But, she has a slew of other excellent books out there including The Glass Cell & The Two Faces of January - among many, many others. Do yourself a favor and read her!

like · see review

Jul 07, 2012 Betsy rated it 5 of 5 stars

A thoughtful and engaging reverie on personal identity vis-a-vis others. Beautifully rendered.

like · see review

Mar 06, 2013 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Is it possible for Highsmith to write a bad book?

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 20 21 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (18)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery > Crime

7 users

Mystery

7 users

Novels

4 users

Suspense

3 users

Thriller > Psychological Thriller

2 users

Mystery > Noir

2 users

Book Club

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations over the years.

She lived with her grandmother, mother and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before 'Patsy' was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in...more Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations over the years.

She lived with her grandmother, mother and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before 'Patsy' was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in 1927 but returned to live with her grandmother for a year in 1933. Returning to her parents in New York, she attended public schools in New York City and later graduated from Barnard College in 1942.

Shortly after graduation her short story 'The Heroine' was published in the Harper's Bazaar magazine and it was selected as one of the 22 best stories that appeared in American magazines in 1945 and it won the O Henry award for short stories in 1946. She continued to write short stories, many of them comic book stories, and regularly earned herself a weekly $55 pay-check. During this period of her life she lived variously in New York and Mexico.

Her first suspense novel 'Strangers on a Train' published in 1950 was an immediate success with public and critics alike. The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951.

In 1955 her anti-hero Tom Ripley appeared in the splendid 'The Talented Mr Ripley', a book that was awarded the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere as the best foreign mystery novel translated into French in 1957. This book, too, has been the subject of a number of film versions. Ripley appeared again in 'Ripley Under Ground' in 1970, in 'Ripley's Game' in 1974, 'The boy who Followed Ripley' in 1980 and in 'Ripley Under Water' in 1991.

Along with her acclaimed series about Ripley, she wrote 22 novels and eight short story collections plus many other short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humour. She also wrote one novel, non-mystery, under the name Claire Morgan, plus a work of non-fiction 'Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction' and a co-written book of children's verse, 'Miranda the Panda Is on the Veranda'.

She latterly lived in England and France and was more popular in England than in her native United States. Her novel 'Deep Water', 1957, was called by the Sunday Times one of the "most brilliant analyses of psychosis in America" and Julian Symons once wrote of her "Miss Highsmith is the writer who fuses character and plot most successfully ... the most important crime novelist at present in practice." In addition, Michael Dirda observed "Europeans honoured her as a psychological novelist, part of an existentialist tradition represented by her own favorite writers, in particular Dostoevsky, Conrad, Kafka, Gide, and Camus."

She died of leukemia in Locarno, Switzerland on 4 February 1995 and her last novel, 'Small g: a Summer Idyll', was published posthumously a month later.

Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2010

(less)

More about Patricia Highsmith...

Books by Patricia Highsmith

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Tremor of For...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Tremor of Forgery
avg rating	preview: The Tremor of Forgery Goodreads rating: 3.87 (393 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/391890.The_Tremor_of_Forgery?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347752381l/391890.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/391890.The_Tremor_of_Forgery?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith[/url]

The Tremor of Forgery

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website