This was the book that came up for me in the latest Classics Club Spin. The book is a classic noir mystery and very brief, only 120 pages long. James M. Cain is a well known author of noir fiction; this was his first novel.
Summary:
An attractive young woman with an older husband she is sick of meets a young handsome tramp. Cora and Nick Papadakis own and operate a small diner in rural California, not far from Los Angeles. Frank Chambers, the drifter, has just arrived in the area and does some odd jobs for Nick. Frank wants Cora to leave her husband behind and drift around the country with him. But Cora wants a more stable life with money and a place to live, and thus they begin plotting to kill her husband.
My thoughts:
- This book was a challenging read for me. The story is very dark and gritty and those elements went beyond the point that I could enjoy the story, especially the first 90 pages. I would have given up on the book except that it was on my classic list, and it was very short. Almost any book that short deserves to be read all the way through, although I am sure that there are exceptions.
- The story is told in first person narrative by Frank Chambers. Normally I like that point of view, but with this book it brought me closer to the distasteful story, so did not work well for me.
- Almost all of the characters were unlikeable, and I could not care about them. However, the development of the characters was very good. The lawyer, Mr. Katz, was a very interesting character.
- I acknowledge that the author was a very talented writer and kept the reader involved in the story. The pacing was good. He accomplished what he was aiming for, and many readers have enjoyed the book since it was published.
- I was glad I finished the book. The last 30 pages was the best part and pulled the book together without going for an unrealistic "happy" ending. I recommend reading this book if you are interested in trying the classics in the noir genre.
I did question why the book was titled "The Postman Always Rings Twice"? I could remember no reference to a postman, but thought I had just missed it. Later I read that the title did not refer to anything in the book. I have read several explanations for why Cain used that title, although I don't know how valid they are.
I read and enjoyed two other books by this author: Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce.
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Publisher: Vintage, 1989 (orig. pub. 1934)
Length: 120 pages
Format: Trade paperback
Setting: USA; Southern California
Genre: Noir mystery
Source: On my TBR since 2015.
26 comments:
I still fondly remember The Postman Always Rings Twice because it is the novel that introduced me to the classic period of noire fiction. James M. Cain became a favorite of mine that year, and even though I haven't read him at all in a while, I still feel grateful to him even though I probably only ever spotted him because Hollywood seemed to really love him for a while, and I was first a fan of movies of that period. I agree it's dark and the characters are not even remotely sympathetic ones...but that's part of my definition of "noire," so it didn't bother me much in my reading of the novel.
You've got a good point about the characters, Tracy. Cain was good at creating unsympathetic characters, but as you say, his writing was strong, so that you still want to know what happens in the end. You're right, though, that his work tends to be gritty and dark. To me, it's not the sort of story you just pick up and read for a pleasant afternoon. I always have to be ready for one of his stories.
I don't think I could read it. But I loved reading your post about it!
Sam, I knew that this book would be dark and that was why I avoided it for so long. It was an approach / avoidance conflict. Double Indemnity was dark also but I guess it had more secondary characters that were likable. I have more books of Cain's to read but it won't be soon.
Margot, he did do a really good job with the characters. And the story never dragged.
Nan, I am glad you enjoyed the review. You can safely skip this one, there are lots of other great mysteries out there.
The two movies made from it (Jack Nicholson and John Garfield) are no more likable than the novel's character. So no one has ever tried to make it a nicer story. I guess you can feel some sympathy for the murder victim but not much.
I could recommend the late collection THE BABY IN THE ICEBOX as well, but the title is indeed fair warning.
Most amusing anecdote about Cain I recall was how his brief career as an editorial assistant at THE NEW YORKER ended...founding editor Harold Ross was a man of endless and externally-applied opinions on how everyone else should live, and sent Cain to go bother one of the contributors about living "in sin" (as I recall, rather temporarily) with his romantic buddy, and Cain, increasingly dubious as he made his way to their apartment, when he arrived and knocked at the apartment door and was greeted, said only, paraphrase from memory, "Live how you want to live, Sorry to trouble you...it's not anyone else's business." And quit THE NEW YORKER that day.
I thought you were going to review the movie because I didn't know the film was based on a book. Suspect it's a cultural thing, being British I'm not so familiar with well-known American crime writers and films made from their work. Excellent review but not one I will rush to read at the moment.
Oh... I liked Todd's anecdote above. :-)
Patti, Glen and I started watching the Jack Nicholson version of Postman Always Ring Twice a few years ago and neither one of us wanted to finish it. Glen had seen the John Garfield version before but we are not interested in watching it now. But we both like the Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce adaptations a lot.
Todd, I have a copy of The Baby in the Icebox: And Other Short Fiction, and also another collection of short stories by Cain, The Complete Crime Stories. Both on Kindle. They both appear to have good introductions by different people so those should be interesting. I will admit that the title The Baby in the Icebox is offputting, but I will probably try a few stories anyway.
That is a great story about Cain's short stint at the New Yorker. Reflects well on Cain.
Cath, I don't know when I became aware of James M. Cain, because noir books of that vintage were not always on my radar either. I was aware of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ross Macdonald, but that is about it. And in the case of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, I probably learned about the books from the movie adaptations first.
I have only had one experience with James M Cain, the movie Mildred Pierce starring Joan Crawford which I really enjoyed. I think he also wrote Double Idemnity? But I have never been able to sit through that film. If I were to give Cain a try it would have to be Mildred Pierce which sounds like a much more interesting novel to me.
Well, I liked knowing more about the book but I am not a fan of noir or gritty (although don't mind serial killers so long as I don't have to be read their point of view - there is no accounting for taste).
I was going to ask if you feel compelled to watch the movie now but if you tried it once, that was clearly enough. I think you need a nice cozy now as a palate cleanser! I just began my first holiday-themed book of the year and I know you have some coming too!
Kathy, Mildred Pierce is my favorite novel by James M. Cain. It is longer than the other two I have read, at 238 pages, but still not very long. Not happy or uplifting but worth reading.
Constance, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't like noir. I don't like mysteries about serial killers myself but there are always exceptions.
Most of my Christmas reading that I have (sort of) planned is short stories. But I have at least one book in mind, maybe more. And I read The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street in early November, which is a Christmas middle grade book.
I have watched a B&W movie based on the book and it was a great experience.
I've seen the movie version of this story, but I've never read the book.
Neeru, I will keep that in mind if we ever have an opportunity to see the movie. I know that both film versions of the book have good actors in the roles.
Lark, normally I always recommend reading the book version, but I am not sure you would enjoy this one. The story is very dark and gritty.
I found this one too dark for my tastes too. I'm not really a fan of noir in books in general, although I love the old noir movies, including the movie of this one. Somehow reading about the horrible things they do and think is worse than watching glamorous stars do them!
I have difficulty with books when they don't have any likeable characters in them, so I think this one wouldn't be for me. I had no idea what it was about so I would have given it a go if I had seen a copy of the book, as it's so well known.
Fiction Fan, it seems that there is a range of how dark Noir novels are, and this one was too extreme for me. Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald both wrote books described as noir, but they are nowhere near as bleak as this one.
I read your review after reading the book, and I saw that we had similar reactions.
Katrina, I also need to have some sympathetic characters in a story to enjoy it. The Postman Always Rings Twice is very realistic, and not enjoyable to read. But it is a good depiction of the times.
Odd about the title right? No Postman at all, weird. Sounds a bit dark for me.
Susan, it is very dark, and if you don't care for that, I would avoid it. I prefer some hope in my fiction.
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