∎ [PDF] The Postman Always Rings Twice Crime Masterworks James M Cain 9780752861746 Books

The Postman Always Rings Twice Crime Masterworks James M Cain 9780752861746 Books

Download As PDF : The Postman Always Rings Twice Crime Masterworks James M Cain 9780752861746 Books

The Postman Always Rings Twice Crime Masterworks James M Cain 9780752861746 Books

James Cain's short and enigmatically-titled novel, "The Postman Rings Twice" (1934) began a new form of genre writing and noir film. It is tough, tersely told and raw, with a portrayal of sexuality that was extreme for its time. The novel works well because it depicts a sense of place - the dingy and poor areas, both rural and urban, of California in the 1930s. The characters are painted well in short, pointed strokes. The writing style is tough and laconic.

The story is told in the first person by Frank Chambers, a violent 24-year old loner and drifter. At the outset of the story, Chambers is thrown out of a truck in which he had stown himself away in Mexico. He finds himself in rural California about 20 miles from Los Angeles. He is offered a job at a small gas station and restaurant, the "Twin Oaks Tavern" owned Nick Papadakis, whom Chambers calls "The Greek". Chambers and Papadakis' young, frustrated wife Cora quickly begin a seamy affair. Cora is attracted by Chambers' strength, youth, and sexual brutality.

Chambers describes his and Cora's two attempts to kill Papadakis in which he narrowly avoids detection. The murder attempts are interspersed with stories of games of pool in shabby halls, drinking and wandering on Los Angeles streets, the gritty life of a waitress in "hash houses" full of sexual come-ons, and a short trip to Mexico that Chambers takes with another woman, Madge. Cain also portrays the defense and prosecutorial lawyers that occupy this level of the criminal justice system. But most of the book centers upon the torrid relationship between Chambers and Cora, as they betray and try to separate from each other. Chambers is an unsympathetic, immoral character for most of the story, but I found myself feeling for him and for Cora as the book comes to an ironic, fated end.

The novel has been made into at least four movies and it created a new form of pulp, crime novel. But in this case, the novel transcends its genre. With its tight style, portrayal of lonely lost people, and dismal places, "The Postman Rings Twice" is a work of literature separate from noir. The novel is available in a separate text; but it is probably best read as part of a Library of America volume of "Crime Novels, American Noir of the 1930s and 40s" that includes five additional works by five different authors.Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s: The Postman Always Rings Twice / They Shoot Horses, Don't They? / Thieves Like Us / The Big Clock / Nightmare ... a Dead Man (Library of America) (Vol 1)

Robin Friedman


Tags : The Postman Always Rings Twice (Crime Masterworks) [James M. Cain] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. First published in 1934, The Postman Always Rings Twice caused a scandal with its explosive mix of violence and sex,James M. Cain,The Postman Always Rings Twice (Crime Masterworks),Orion Pub Co,0752861743,Crime & mystery,MysterySuspense

The Postman Always Rings Twice Crime Masterworks James M Cain 9780752861746 Books Reviews

I give this just three stars because even though, yes, I expected it to be "pulpy", it's so pulpy it's a tad shallow. No real character development and very much just "this is what happened to these people". Now, what happens is interesting and kept my attention, but I didn't at all care WHO it was happening to because Cain never dives deeply enough into who the characters are to make you care about them specifically (versus just the situation, more generally). In other words, you're involved in the characters' stories not for the characters and who they are, but for what they encounter. Also, for a fairly slim novel, it took me kind of a while (about a week) to read it. Whenever I put it down, I wasn't dying to pick it back up.

The book I have doesn't look like the one pictured, with the man and woman hugging on the cover. Mine shows a picture of the TITLE SCREEN from the 1946 movie. It's very cool. The design of the book, quality of the texture of the cover, and the inside formatting are fantastic. I really like that I own this book and have it on my shelf. If you enjoy classic films and hope to read and collect books published in the first half of the 20th century that were later made into classic films, you'll like owning this book.

Finally, NO SPOILERS, but the Lana Turner/John Garfield movie (1946) was actually better than the book, but I won't say how or why because I don't want to spoil anything.
This is an enjoyable, relatively short, novel. As is the case with most short novels, probably by necessity in a short novel, character development is kept to a minimum. The novel is also a time piece. The traffic and roads in the area around Los Angeles described here are very different from today. I have found this novel on at least one list of the supposed "100 greatest novels". That, of course, is completely a matter of taste. However to me, I am quite certain I have read 100 novels better than this.

By coincidence, I had just finished a Mickey Spillane novel, and I find the writing by James M. Cain to be of a much more developed and sophisticated nature. I think if one studies the biographies of these two authors, one can correlate the comparative writing styles to their backgrounds.

Another interesting comparison (At least to me!) can be made between a short novel like this and a longer novel such as The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow. In both novels, there is a side story wherein the protagonist embarks on a somewhat bizarre misadventure to Mexico with an unusual female. If one wishes, one may note the differences in length, detail and style of these two interludes.

There is some allusions to what I might refer to as "rough sex" that surprised me. I cannot recall seeing that in American popular novels composed prior to this work. I do not know if this novel is considered "ground breaking" on that front or not. It did catch me by surprise.

As with the case of many American novels of this time period, there is quite a bit of negative ethnic references. There are negative allusions to people of Greek heritage and some negative terminology about Italian Americans. As I stated above this is common in American novels of this period. I only mention it in case it matters to a potential reader unfamiliar with this work or this literary period.
James Cain's short and enigmatically-titled novel, "The Postman Rings Twice" (1934) began a new form of genre writing and noir film. It is tough, tersely told and raw, with a portrayal of sexuality that was extreme for its time. The novel works well because it depicts a sense of place - the dingy and poor areas, both rural and urban, of California in the 1930s. The characters are painted well in short, pointed strokes. The writing style is tough and laconic.

The story is told in the first person by Frank Chambers, a violent 24-year old loner and drifter. At the outset of the story, Chambers is thrown out of a truck in which he had stown himself away in Mexico. He finds himself in rural California about 20 miles from Los Angeles. He is offered a job at a small gas station and restaurant, the "Twin Oaks Tavern" owned Nick Papadakis, whom Chambers calls "The Greek". Chambers and Papadakis' young, frustrated wife Cora quickly begin a seamy affair. Cora is attracted by Chambers' strength, youth, and sexual brutality.

Chambers describes his and Cora's two attempts to kill Papadakis in which he narrowly avoids detection. The murder attempts are interspersed with stories of games of pool in shabby halls, drinking and wandering on Los Angeles streets, the gritty life of a waitress in "hash houses" full of sexual come-ons, and a short trip to Mexico that Chambers takes with another woman, Madge. Cain also portrays the defense and prosecutorial lawyers that occupy this level of the criminal justice system. But most of the book centers upon the torrid relationship between Chambers and Cora, as they betray and try to separate from each other. Chambers is an unsympathetic, immoral character for most of the story, but I found myself feeling for him and for Cora as the book comes to an ironic, fated end.

The novel has been made into at least four movies and it created a new form of pulp, crime novel. But in this case, the novel transcends its genre. With its tight style, portrayal of lonely lost people, and dismal places, "The Postman Rings Twice" is a work of literature separate from noir. The novel is available in a separate text; but it is probably best read as part of a Library of America volume of "Crime Novels, American Noir of the 1930s and 40s" that includes five additional works by five different authors.Crime Novels American Noir of the 1930s and 40s The Postman Always Rings Twice / They Shoot Horses, Don't They? / Thieves Like Us / The Big Clock / Nightmare ... a Dead Man (Library of America) (Vol 1)

Robin Friedman