noir read of the month #4: Nightmare Alley, by William Gresham

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Nightmare Alley is one of my favorite noir reads because it is so very different in many ways. As always, I plan to read and post about it even if I'm the only one, but it's always more fun with like-minded people.

Read date starts April 15th. The book is widely available in both print and e-versions, so there should be no problem finding a copy.

If anyone is joining me, feel free to post your insights, thoughts, whatever, marking spoilers so as to be considerate of other readers.

[Franky]

Wow, I read this one awhile back and loved it! Would love to read again :)

There is an awesome 1944 film for Nightmare Alley with Tyrone Power as well.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Great! Thanks, Franky!

[Jan C]

Why are there two threads for this book?

I just started yesterday.

I love that movie.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I'll fix it.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

This is the official thread, Jan -- the other was just an intro to the noir read threads in general.

[Eden]

Going to have to put it down for a bit and digest. Just finished first three chapters. I don't like the look of Stan and I'm wondering how much Zeena can really read minds...

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I just noticed that the chapters are tarot card names.

[Eden]

Yep. My copy's got a fascinating intro by Nick Tosches regarding Gresham's influences and about his decisions about structure. I'm also going to treat myself to watching the movie with Tyrone Power at some point so I can see how the book compares. I want to watch it later but that might spoil my enjoyment of the book...

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Well, just crap. I forgot about my real-world book group meeting Tuesday, starting the minute it's over, I'll be reading Gresham and nothing else. Sorry for my delay -- my brain is on overload right now.

[Eden]

No worries Nancy. Believe it or not, since my last post I've had to read 3 novels for work so am only about to get back to NA myself!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Finished with Rebecca, so I'll pick this one up where I left off tonight.

[Arlene]

Hi Nancy I remember some time ago you saying that you wanted to read Rebecca did you like it?

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I loved it. Still good the second time around!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Okay -- I've just passed the 100-page mark - and it's another one that's stood up well over time. Last night I was laying in bed reading thinking how racy this book must have been. However, at this point what is quite interesting to me is the way he discusses the people who show up at the carnival -- "the marks" is how he describes them.

For example:
--- on my p. 20 (NYRB ed.), the "dollar-bill" trick brings up the "poverty-stricken bastards;"
--- Zeena's "fortunetelling" reveals that "human nature is the same everywhere" (p. 63), and how later, with the code book, the problems or questions they have are so prevalent that they are given categories/numbers);
---the African-Americans in the South who "stood always on the fringe of the crowd, an invisible cordon holding in place" and then the South as "the dark and bloody land where hidden war traveled like a million earthworms under the sod." (65)


And then, of course, you've got the meaning of the title (my p. 67) "Nightmare Alley."

Then again, if you consider the life stories of the people who work in the carnival, well, I don't really know who to feel sorrier for.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

It just kills me that this book is so under appreciated. It is stunningly superb. Coming down the home stretch now.

[Franky]

Great observations Nancy. Sorry, been so busy with stuff that I haven't been able to re-read but here and there. Will comment more conclusively later.

I think you bring up a significant and telling point about the title, which is where old Stan is headed. It's amazing the character transformation for him in this book, the world he surrounds himself in and how it destroys him for a good part.

My favorite quote from the book: “Ever since he was a kid Stan had had the dream. He was running down a dark alley, the buildings vacant and black and menacing on either side. Far down at the end of it a light burned; but there was something behind him, close behind him, getting closer until he woke up trembling and never reached the light.”

I also like the setting, with the carny and everything. There is something seedy and distorted about this whole fortune telling thing, and Stan is consumed by the ideas.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

When you finish, let me know. This is one of the bleakest looks at this country I've ever read.

[Jan C]

I'm still on the Introduction - but I did move this month so I think that excuses me.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Jan C wrote: "I'm still on the Introduction - but I did move this month so I think that excuses me."

Definitely! Well, catch up and we'll all talk. I still haven't read the intro.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

An easier one for next month, I think...how about Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith?

Don't panic -- reading always goes from the 15th to the 15th so there's plenty of time.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Franky wrote: "Great observations Nancy. Sorry, been so busy with stuff that I haven't been able to re-read but here and there. Will comment more conclusively later.

I think you bring up a significant and telli..."

I made note of this in another thread but after I read this book I wanted to watch the movie "Freaks" again much more than I wanted to see "Nightmare Alley." I'm utterly fascinated with the whole carny thing -- maybe not so much these days, but from the past.

[Arlene]

Nancy wrote: "An easier one for next month, I think...how about Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith?

Don't panic -- reading always goes from the 15th to the 15th so there's plenty of time."

Nancy, great choice, I have wanted to read Strangers on a Train for a very long time!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

If other people are amenable, then we'll start on the 15th. That leaves everyone plenty of time to grab a copy.

[Franky]

Nancy wrote: "An easier one for next month, I think...how about Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith?

Don't panic -- reading always goes from the 15th to the 15th so there's plenty of time."

That sounds like a great one. I just bought the book!

[Franky]

The introduction I had in my book is fascinating. It had quite a bit of detail about the whole "geek show" during the carnival, which the author became fascinated -- and repulsed--about, and so wanted to write about.

Stan is definitely a shyster, and takes his ambition to "sell hopes" to another level.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

for everyone who's not finished, I'll spoiler bracket this question:

(view spoiler)[ What did you think of the flash of reference at the end to The Communist Manifesto ("a spectre is haunting Grindle")? I actually did a double take when I read it wondering if I'd read it right ... to me it implied a tiny ray of hope -- not just for the man to whom it referred, but to working-class America in general. (hide spoiler)]

[Ctgt]

Just a tad behind here, started this morning.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

no hurry whatsoever. I'll be spoiler bracketing any comments so take your time.

[Ctgt]

Hmmm...I need to go back and check but (view spoiler)[-in regards to the chicken scene-I seem to remember something similar from Geek Love. I don't know carny history but now I'm wondering if that was a staple of carny lore. (hide spoiler)]

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

check out this article on the history of the geek:

http://whatellenknows.hubpages.com/hu...

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I just watched the movie again. The actress who plays Lillith, Helen Walker, was positively evil in this role.

The book is SO much better.