The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion
Buddy Reads
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Double Indemnity, by James M. Cain -- the "official" thread
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It's on it's way. I'm stoked to read the book.
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Hi, Gwennyth!!! Nice to have you on board! YAY
I am waiting for my book. I am looking forward to this, too. It's so tres noir
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It's a great book. The ultimate noir tbh. Can't wait until everyone has read it so we can discuss the story.
I finished reading it. I will look forward to the discussion.
I love his description of the insurance industry. It’s the biggest gambling wheel in the world... You bet that your house will burn down, they bet it won’t, that’s all. What fools you is that you didn’t want your house to burn down when you made the bet, and so you forget it’s a bet. That don’t fool them. To them, a bet is a bet, and a hedged bet don’t look any different than any other bet.
I work in the business and this is very much how they look at it.
I have my copy and I am good to go: just need to read it (work schedule has been non stop).
Skye wrote: "I have my copy and I am good to go: just need to read it (work schedule has been non stop)."It's a quick read. I finished it this morning.
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It's a quick read. I finished it this morning."
Tomorrow for me.
After reading it I'm convinced I never saw the end of the movie. I can remember watching it up to the murder but nothing afterwards is in any way familiar. This is my second James M. Cain book and both are easy five star reads.
I loved this book as well as the film. I'm going to try to dig up my copy and post some thoughts. Very essential noir here.
I listened to it this time. I don't recommend that way of reading it for this book. Much more powerful in the written word.
About halfway through. Love the staccato prose. Reflects Walter's state of mind. Copying out my favorite passages. Isaac Babel wrote, "No iron spike can pierce a human heart as icily as a period in the right place." Cain pounds a lot of spikes with his periods.
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Nice of you to join us!
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I'll be getting started this afternoon. Looking forward to it.
Jan C wrote: "I listened to it this time. I don't recommend that way of reading it for this book. Much more powerful in the written word."I listened to it as well. I actually thought it worked pretty well, though, as if Huff was telling me what happened from his point of view. I also thought the narrator did a good job as I easily imagined the voice to be that of Huff.
Nancy wrote: "Tom wrote: "About halfway through. Love the staccato prose. Reflects Walter's state of mind. Copying out my favorite passages. Isaac Babel wrote, "No iron spike can pierce a human heart as icil..."Me, too, I think; I am finishing a novel now, midway through another, and I can read more than one or two ( as long as I am awake, that is)...chuckle~
I just finished this a couple of days ago and really liked it. I gave it 5 stars. I watched the movie also, but liked the book so much better, of course!
Mary wrote: "I just finished this a couple of days ago and really liked it. I gave it 5 stars. I watched the movie also, but liked the book so much better, of course!"I'm going to have to watch the movie before this discussion is over.
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Well, it just so happens that I am laid up with a bad cold so I have nothing but reading time now so I'll be finished by tomorrow, so I can start throwing in my two cents' worth.
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Well, it just so happens that I am laid up with a bad ..."
What a bad sentence. LOL
Just a note that you will be able to stream the film Double Indemnity on Netflix only this weekend as by 12/1 that option will go away.
Nancy, feel better, please.Thanks for the heads up, Stephen.
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Thanks for the heads up, Stephen."
Will do, Skye. One more down day ought to do it. Thanks!
Hoo-whee, love the ending. What exactly it says re Cain's vision of love and retribution, I'm not prepared to say yet. Need to let it settle in my brain -- like a wounded animal sinking in a swamp -- and reread a few times. Don't hold me to it, but right now I think I like this novel even more than C's "Postman." (and yes, it's far, far better than the movie).
I haven't received my book yet....we've had a lot of snow here and a power outage over the Thanksgiving holiday. Hope it arrives today.
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That's why I set the read-by date later than sooner. No worries! I Hope you're okay. I'm drinking tea from a recipe Skye gave me and it' seems to be helping.
Nancy wrote: "Gwennyth wrote: "I haven't received my book yet....we've had a lot of snow here and a power outage over the Thanksgiving holiday. Hope it arrives today."
That's why I set the read-by date later th..."
I do hope you feel better! Sending a get well hug.
And the mail just arrived,with the book! Ahhhhh!
That's why I set the read-by date later th..."
I do hope you feel better! Sending a get well hug.
And the mail just arrived,with the book! Ahhhhh!
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That's why I set the read-by..."
Oh hooray! Thanks for the hug. When you have a cold, let me know and I'll send you Skye's recipe.
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"She looks like what came aboard the ship to shoot dice for souls in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Seriously, who writes like this any more? That was just beyond excellent.
I agree--great line. So I guess that means the character looks like Life-in-Death (scarlet lips and "skin as white as leprosy..."). Who is the character referred to?
Nancy wrote: "I LOVED this line:"She looks like what came aboard the ship to shoot dice for souls in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Seriously, who writes like this any more? That was just beyond excellent."
Oh, yeah, I marked that one, too, though I did wonder if the ref were appropriate for Huff's character?
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"She looks like what came aboard the ship to shoot dice for souls in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Seriously, who writes like this any more? That was just bey..."
I think we ought to hold off on that discussion until everyone's finished since it may give something away. I just wanted to point it out as just one example of why I loved this book so much.
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I didn't know you were joining us, SK! Cool.
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If everyone could come up with a few topics of discussion, I'd like for us to stay focused and not roam all over the book at the outset. Examples: characters, themes, writing style, yada yada -- specifics will make their way through under bigger areas for us to launch from.
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I love how at the very beginning the narrator (Walter) sets us up with a conundrum when he says "this House of Death" (note the capitalization, btw) "that you've been reading about in the papers."
Later, of course, we know who the "you" refers to, but at this point, we have no clue. Double conundrum.
And we're not even out of the first paragraph.
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At first I thought Phyllis has a vague notion of killing her husband, sort of wishing it to happen, and it was Huff who pushed her into action. I had read it for first time so many decades ago that when I tried to think of the plot before the re-read that was the impression that stuck.
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I thought she was up to no good the minute she said "Do you handle accident insurance?" And I realized at that moment that Walter knew the same -- he said "Maybe that don't mean to you what it meant to me," like he just KNEW what was running through her head.
The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West (other topics)The Bride Wore Black (other topics)
Build My Gallows High (other topics)
Double Indemnity (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Cormac McCarthy (other topics)Charles Todd (other topics)
James Joyce (other topics)
Charles Todd (other topics)
Cornell Woolrich (other topics)
More...
Feel free to post anything about the book, the author, interesting facts, etc; just please do NOT give out any spoilers in the discussion. The read-by date is December 10th, and after that we can speak much more freely about the book.
Enjoy the book, the great company of your fellow readers, and have fun. Oh yes. Please be considerate and polite! Thanks.