An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution--a...
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Jan 21, 2012
Lou
rated it: 
The actions of people in the pursuit of love and happiness are sometimes unplanned spontaneous and dangerous. In this story a man comes to town and becomes involved with a married woman. They plan and plot her way out of the marriage, options on the table they want things to be clean. They have a plan, how will it unfold? Will they walk away in each other arms in happiness?
One thing for sure is there will be blood.
Well if your familiar with the authors writing and read his novel Do More...
One thing for sure is there will be blood.
Well if your familiar with the authors writing and read his novel Do More...
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Feb 10, 2012
Trudi
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Stealing a man's wife, that's nothing, but stealing his car, that's larceny. ~The Postman Always Rings TwiceIf Noir can be said to have a cold, black heart it’s Postman that provided the juice to electroshock it into a beating, breathing existence. It is without a doubt one of the most important crime novels of the 20th century (of any century really) and has gone on to influence entire generations of writers and filmmakers. As a debut, it shocked, titillated and disgusted, banned upon public More...
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Jan 10, 2008
Becca
rated it: 
Good for lessons on how to be a femme fatale.
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
Lesson three: Wear high-heels, red lipstick, and chain smoke while employing bedroom eyes.
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
Lesson three: Wear high-heels, red lipstick, and chain smoke while employing bedroom eyes.
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Jan 08, 2012
Randy
rated it:
One of the classics of crime noir, I've somehow managed to not read this one until today. I've been aware of it and knew it had been made into a movie twice. The original John Garfield/Lana Turner I've never seen either. the Jack Nicholson/Jessica Lange version I did see and was quite taken with.
You know the plot. Frank Chambers, a drifter comes into the lives of Nick Papadakis and his wife Cora. They run a diner alongside the highway and he ends up taking a job working there.
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You know the plot. Frank Chambers, a drifter comes into the lives of Nick Papadakis and his wife Cora. They run a diner alongside the highway and he ends up taking a job working there.
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Nov 30, 2007
Tony
rated it: 
He's no Ray Chandler, but who is? In this novella the characters are thinly, but fully sketched. But the characters don't matter, it's plot, the overwhelming sense of doom. Of course, the main characters' lack lack of a moral rudder is what pushes the story along. For them, there is nothing wrong with murder, as long as it serves your purposes -- and provided you don't get caught. But no one gets away free. Everyone's playing a game. You can't trust criminals. Or anyone in the criminal
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Kristopher
rated it:
Such a quick read, it's almost not worth it to not read it. An American crime classic that takes you by force on the page when you realize when it was written. It still has the power it did then. Cain is a ferocious writer, taking hard writing to levels Hemingway dreamed, I think.
I have much romanticized this book since I read an old copy of it in one sitting at the University of Maryland library. I couldn't take the copy I had with me, so I read it all there. I had a giddy smile on More...
I have much romanticized this book since I read an old copy of it in one sitting at the University of Maryland library. I couldn't take the copy I had with me, so I read it all there. I had a giddy smile on More...
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Aug 15, 2009
Ed
rated it:
This is a re-read but it's short enough I can fit it in right now, and I've wanted to take another look at it. Short read, of course. This time I noted the imagery--religious, cat, sky, etc. Also, the writing isn't as spare as I remember it. Great repetition of key phrases popped up, too. Loved it--vintage noir like they really did used to write them.
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Dec 17, 2009
Brenna
rated it:
Cain manages captivate his readers right off the bat with this tale of a dead-end marriage, violent sexual attraction and murder. The relationship between Cora and Frank's is violent, creepy and oppressive, yet I couldn't stop reading. There is a force and a reality to Cain's violent world, that grabs you and won't let go.
May 04, 2010
Tatiana
rated it:
Another book that I was introduced to by 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. My first venture into the genre of American crime noir, and a successful one.
This short (only about 100 pages) novel is narrated by Frank Chambers - a homeless bum, a morally deficient good-for-nothing fellow who gets by by hitch-hiking, gambling and turning shady deals. One day he comes across a roadside diner/gas station and is quickly hired by its owner - a Greek entrepreneur Nick. The only rea More...
This short (only about 100 pages) novel is narrated by Frank Chambers - a homeless bum, a morally deficient good-for-nothing fellow who gets by by hitch-hiking, gambling and turning shady deals. One day he comes across a roadside diner/gas station and is quickly hired by its owner - a Greek entrepreneur Nick. The only rea More...
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(7 people liked it)
Jun 03, 2008
Kelly
rated it:
I had no idea what this book was about when I randomly picked it up, so I was kind of like "what the hell?" when I started reading it. Once I could put it into its historical context, I "understood". The whole noir thing was rather outside of what I normally read, but it was interesting to listen to the choppy dialogue and learn about the unfolding drama. Someone else mentioned the impending sense of doom, which indeed was ever-present. It was disturbing how, although Fra
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 16, 2007
sage
rated it:
This is a little slip of a novel, only 116 pages, published in 1934. It's a gorgeous slice of life for early twentieth century enthusiasts.
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 -- culturally -- were a bit of a shock to me because it's been a while since I read anything where it was so blatant...it's also disturbing that Cora and Frank apparently both get off on him hitting her. ( More...
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 -- culturally -- were a bit of a shock to me because it's been a while since I read anything where it was so blatant...it's also disturbing that Cora and Frank apparently both get off on him hitting her. ( More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jan 01, 2009
Douglas
rated it:
Easily one of the best books I've ever read. The pace is relentless. You practically have to physically run to keep up with it. The opening hook is perfect: "They threw me off the hay truck about noon."
A mixture of violence and sex, Dionysian nature and gleeful decadence. A must read.
A mixture of violence and sex, Dionysian nature and gleeful decadence. A must read.
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Aug 05, 2011
Cain has been described as a balanced blend between Raymond Chandler and Ernest Hemingway and he is best known for his writing's freight train pace and this novel is the perfect example. It's only 100 pages, but I read it in one day, and I'm a painfully slow reader. Frank and Cora's lusty romance set the literary world on fire back in the early 1930's and the book was banned in many countries. By today's standards, the sexual themes are pretty tame, but that doesn't detract from the unrelenting
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Jan 05, 2012
M.L.
rated it:
1934. Put Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange out of your mind. That movie sucks compared to the book.
Cain's novella is a taut tale of a drifter, Frank Chambers, who arrives at an isolated gas station on the outskirts of LA; the station is run by an old world Greek immigrant, Nick, and his young midwestern wife, Cora. Right away we learn Frank's the kind of guy unburdened by morals or scruples. The instant he meets young Cora he knows in his gut he'll have her. Unfortunately for the Gr More...
Cain's novella is a taut tale of a drifter, Frank Chambers, who arrives at an isolated gas station on the outskirts of LA; the station is run by an old world Greek immigrant, Nick, and his young midwestern wife, Cora. Right away we learn Frank's the kind of guy unburdened by morals or scruples. The instant he meets young Cora he knows in his gut he'll have her. Unfortunately for the Gr More...
Oct 29, 2011
Andy
rated it:
This 1934 novella just breezes on by. The first half (act I) is like watching a train wreck unfold. I greedily devoured the setup. Seedy drifter, sexy unhappy wife, and loser older husband. Plus it's a crime novel. You know things aren't going to end up good. The style here is lean and mean. It feels fully modern, dated perhaps only by certain phrases and actually it's utter bare bones quality, devoid of really deliberate voice. My only complaint here was that it's so sparse on dialogue tags tha
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Sep 29, 2011
Richard
rated it:
This book has more twists than a jar of licorice.
This book has more twists than a Chubby Checker album.
This book has more twists than a python caught in a Venetian blind cord (??!?!!)
Yes. "The Postman" is a masterwork of plotting, not to mention a nice little piece of hardboiled Noir. The only thing is, I didn't emotionally connect with the characters. Frank is a drifter, which I think is important as he is a distinctly American type. A loner. Isolat More...
This book has more twists than a Chubby Checker album.
This book has more twists than a python caught in a Venetian blind cord (??!?!!)
Yes. "The Postman" is a masterwork of plotting, not to mention a nice little piece of hardboiled Noir. The only thing is, I didn't emotionally connect with the characters. Frank is a drifter, which I think is important as he is a distinctly American type. A loner. Isolat More...
Aug 21, 2011
Jamie
rated it: 
I realize that Cain wasn't trying to write "Literature" or anything, that he was making a buck, that the "Hardboiled" was in vogue, and he jumped on it. There are times, though, when he attempts to get literary (the scene near the end when Frank dives underwater and feels the Devil leaving him in the sea's pressure is pretty well-wrought). Other times (like when he tries to make a character of Cora by telling her hardscrabble backstory whoring herself to LA) it comes off forc
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(1 person liked it)
Apr 03, 2011
CaterinaAnna
rated it:
Jan 26th 2011
I picked this up from my 'Read, but not jounalled' pile to put in a book box about to be posted, but couldn't remember anything about it. Went back to my booklists to try to put it in context and couldn't find it. So either I hadn't read it after all, or I'd read it one night, forgot to record that I'd done so and have lost the plot. So it went back to Mount Toobie.
Jan 27th 2011
By the time I'd finishhed the first paragraph I'd remembered it. You see, that's More...
I picked this up from my 'Read, but not jounalled' pile to put in a book box about to be posted, but couldn't remember anything about it. Went back to my booklists to try to put it in context and couldn't find it. So either I hadn't read it after all, or I'd read it one night, forgot to record that I'd done so and have lost the plot. So it went back to Mount Toobie.
Jan 27th 2011
By the time I'd finishhed the first paragraph I'd remembered it. You see, that's More...
Apr 02, 2011
Book Concierge
rated it:
When Cain published this work in 1934 he opened up a new field for writers, and defined a new subgenre .. the hard-boiled noir crime novel.
Frank Chambers is a drifter, who gets tossed off a truck on which he had stowed away, and winds up at the Twin Oaks Tavern. It’s a dusty little “roadside sandwich joint, like a million others in California” including a lunch counter, filling station, and a half-dozen “shacks that they called an auto court.” The owner, a Greek named Nick Papadaki More...
Frank Chambers is a drifter, who gets tossed off a truck on which he had stowed away, and winds up at the Twin Oaks Tavern. It’s a dusty little “roadside sandwich joint, like a million others in California” including a lunch counter, filling station, and a half-dozen “shacks that they called an auto court.” The owner, a Greek named Nick Papadaki More...
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Jan 26, 2011
Tony
rated it:
Having just finished American Rust, I figured it was about time to finally get around to reading Cain's classic The Postman Always Rings Twice. Like Redemption Street, this book was on my dying to read list.
Postman and Cain are often lumped in with the Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler school of crime writing. This is a false categorization. Cain actually writes in a more terse, hard-boiled style than either Hammett or Chandler but the comparisons really end there. Postman (and non More...
Postman and Cain are often lumped in with the Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler school of crime writing. This is a false categorization. Cain actually writes in a more terse, hard-boiled style than either Hammett or Chandler but the comparisons really end there. Postman (and non More...
Dec 05, 2010
Jenni Lou
rated it:
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain is a fast-paced noir thriller charged with sex, passion and murder. The narrator, Frank Chambers, is a drifter ex-con who through happenstance lands a job at a diner owned by Nick aka “The Greek.” He decides to stick around because Nick’s wife, Cora, catches his eye. “Except for the shape, she really wasn’t any raving beauty, but she had a sulky look to her, and her lips stuck out in a way that made me want to mash them in for her.” Cora is an unha
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Oct 29, 2010
Pvw
rated it:
A lesser book than Double Indemnity, but continuing on the same ideas, namely: how do you commit a perfect murder? In "The Postman", Frank is a not-so-smart petty criminal who has an affair with the wife of his Greek employer. They decide to kill the man and collect the money from his restaurant and the insurance. But there are many holes in their plot and they rapidly run into an increasing amount of trouble.
It is hard to find any sympathetic characters in this book, excep More...
It is hard to find any sympathetic characters in this book, excep More...
May 18, 2010
JabBeRwoCkY
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Apr 18, 2010
Dennis
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Feb 28, 2010
Alli
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Jan 25, 2012
Nathan
rated it:
I never have understood why people enjoy reading about morally corrupt people. The people in this book are morally corrupt. And the Greek seems like a nice, fun loving guy. So at times there wasn't much to enjoy. The writing was excellent and I can't wait to get my hands on Double Endemnity. Somewhere between Ernest Hemingway and Dashiel Hammett. Yet, by the end I felt their punishment was too much. Somehow I wanted them to end up happy and together for they seemed to deserve each other.
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Jan 23, 2012
David
rated it:
Adjust your expectations because there are neither postmen nor ringings (of any frequency) in this novel. Even though I didn't much care for the 1946 Lana Turner-John Garfield film adaptation, I decided to read this because the new cover was visually appealing. Score one for judging a book by its cover! Suck it, wise saying! This nasty little noir features rotten people doing rotten things, like hatching murder plots, trapping pumas in the jungles of Nicaragua, and opening beer gardens. Cora is
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Jul 17, 2011
Vanessa
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There's not a lot of fancy prose to be found here (by design, according to the author) but if the narrator were to sit next to you on a bar stool and start to recount it, you would be glued to that stool for whatever time was necessary to see it through to its conclusion. Fortunately for you and your bladder, the story clocks in at a little over 100 pages so you wouldn't be there too long.
This is the tale of two amoral people who met and fell in love and were eventually, maybe, chan More...
This is the tale of two amoral people who met and fell in love and were eventually, maybe, chan More...
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Nov 03, 2011
Gregory
rated it:
The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James Cain, is told just like they played it. The description of the old Gas Station in the middle of nowhere, on a lone highway, is a model for setting (I hope to achieve someday). The story traces a sordid love triangle, and the administration of justice to the perfect crime. This book is a parent to sub-slime instinct of form and is a crime novel par excellence.
James Cain poses a number of questions: Will the lovers be able to get away with the pe More...
James Cain poses a number of questions: Will the lovers be able to get away with the pe More...
May 31, 2011
Jim
rated it:
James M. Cain’s first novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, is a short violent book that was “banned in Boston” for its sexual content. Written in 1934, the obscenity was extremely tame by todays’s standards. I liked this, typical of the dialog: “I kissed her. Her eyes were shining up at me like two blue stars. It was like being in church.”
The title is metaphorical. There is no postman in it. It’s more a reference to the fact that something will always come back to those who commit ev More...
The title is metaphorical. There is no postman in it. It’s more a reference to the fact that something will always come back to those who commit ev More...
