From the Bookshelf of 2017 Reading Challenge…

Salz und sein Preis

Claire Morgan (Pseudonym),

Patricia Highsmith

Start date: January 2, 2016

Finish date: February 2, 2016

Discussion: Book with LGBT matter/characters

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Book with LGBT matter/characters

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By Anne · 37 posts · 122 views

last updated Jul 05, 2016 01:31PM

Tell thw Wolves I'm Home
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last updated Jul 31, 2016 10:59PM

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Jun 30, 2022 Louis Muñoz rated it liked it · review of another edition

Rating a 3, though it's closer to a 3.5, TBH. "Claire Morgan" was really Patricia Highsmith, best known for "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and its related books, adapted most famously in 1960 AND 1999. Her very first novel, "Strangers on a Train," came out in 1950 before she was 28/29, and was adapted the next year by a little-known British director. (You probably haven't heard of him, it was some dude by the last name of Hitchcock, first name Allen or Albert or something, I don't remember.)

In any e Rating a 3, though it's closer to a 3.5, TBH. "Claire Morgan" was really Patricia Highsmith, best known for "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and its related books, adapted most famously in 1960 AND 1999. Her very first novel, "Strangers on a Train," came out in 1950 before she was 28/29, and was adapted the next year by a little-known British director. (You probably haven't heard of him, it was some dude by the last name of Hitchcock, first name Allen or Albert or something, I don't remember.)

In any event, "The Price of Salt" was Highsmith's second novel, published in 1952, which means this year is the book's 70th anniversary. It was released as what some have described as a lesbian pulp drama under the pseudonym "Claire Morgan," but was critically pretty well-received. (Highsmith didn't claim credit for it, though, till 1990, five years before her death.) And how was the book? Well, I have seen the Todd Haynes screen adaptation, "Carol," several times before reading the book, and I have to say, sorry, Ms. Highsmith, but I enjoyed the movie much, much more. First, the eponymous character of the movie, Carol Aird, is much more likeable and sympathetic in the film, especially as portrayed by one of my all-time favorite actresses, Cate Blanchett. And the other MC, Therese Belivet, is also better believed in the film than in the book. (Rooney Mara was also wonderful in that portrayal.) And Phyllis Nagy, the screenwriter, who knew Patricia Highsmith in her last years, improved vastly on the source material, in my opinion, especially in conveying why these two women would connect, which I couldn't quite get from the novel, among other flaws.

I didn't come to bury Caesar but to at least partly praise her, and I greatly admire Highsmith for daring to write a lesbian love story that does NOT end in mental illness, death, and/or other tragedies, as was expected of other LGBTQ+ novels of the era. I especially respect that she did this in 1952, the same year that homosexuality was classified as a mental illness - specifically, a "sexual deviation" - by the American Psychiatric Association. (By the way, this was considered by many a step UP/FORWARD. In any event, the classification was not removed until 1973.) The 1950s also saw a lot of LGBTQ+ lives ruined by the "Lavender Scare," tragic beyond belief. So, even though she published the book under a pen name and didn't own it until almost 40 years after its publication, I thank Patricia Highsmith for a flawed, but beautiful, courageous, hopeful, and intriguing book. ...more

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Mar 31, 2016 Adriana rated it liked it · review of another edition

2016 Book challenge: a book with LGBT matter or characters.

Although I read this book to fulfill the LBGT Category- I really felt like this book is more about coming of age for Therese. She starts off as young, meek and lacking confidence. At the end she is aware of herself has much more confidence and is able to make her own choices for her future.

Slow start, but pick ups about half way through.

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