∎ Read Gratis 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

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.


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

Talk about being years ahead of time. Before there was "Psycho" and "The Stranger," there was this 1934 novel by James M. Cain, a dialogue-driven, first-person narrative in the form of a diary by a man on death row.
While I still haven't figured out just where the title of the book relates to the story (who cares?), what I have figured out is this novel just plain works. This page-burner is a half-day read at best. It's as though someone lit a fuse on a stick of dynamite and you read faster and faster until it all blows up on the protagonist of the story and his lover, two killers who are in their relationship for the money, sadistic and masochistic carnality and, ironically, love.
The book stuck with me for days. Cain didn't waste any time on the flowery descriptions common with works of literature -- no talk of the sounds of leaves crunching underfoot beneath a sky of azure. He jumps right into the eerie plot and takes you into the minds and actions of two amoral people and what they'd do for money and their own brand of twisted love.
Many reviewers call it noir. Others would say it's full of existential dread a la Camus. I call Cain's unique style "existential dreadnoir,' and it's insanely readable and impossible to put down. Grab a couple cups of coffee, read it in five or six hours and be prepared to examine your thoughts for at least a couple of days.
Unsettling and karmic and full of irony, it's titillating crime reading at its best.
This book is a riveting classic of duplicity, love found, lost, and then found again, even eighty years after its first publication date. It has moments of gut wrenching suspense interspersed with examples of heartless cruelty, and innocent, young, sweet love. The writing is taut, sufficiently descriptive and perhaps most surprisingly, the story is still relevant today.

The best laid plans of mice and men can be lain flat by the simplest of things and early in the book, a cat of all things spoils the party for our two duplicitous love birds.

i find it hard to believe that two people who can be so cruel and heartless can ever amount to anything and if fate or karma has a say in the way things turn out for any of us in this world, then young Cora and the tramp Frank Chambers don't gave much to look forward to. And they won't get any sympathy from me.

This book is a classic of the genre. Those with any interest in crime, suspense, noir, or even the odd love story should get something from reading this delightful work of literature. Full marks for this one.

BFN Greggorio!
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.