Classic pot boiler for my 50th review...... (The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain)

Member Name: tomflint

Product:	The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain
Date:	27/05/09 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great pace, classic story

Disadvantages: Inevitable old fashioned stereotypes.....

This is a review of the 2005 Orion Books publication, its part of their Crime Master Works series.

My good friend AdamBrown400 has often referred to the science fiction master works series, I hadn't realised that they also did one for Crime Fiction, a favourite genre of mine. This book arrived in the post today, and seeing as it was a rainy afternoon I decided to crack on with it and finished it in a couple of hours. At 116 pages it's a very quick read, this seems to fit in with the plot which has a breathless feel to it.

James M Cain is a well regarded author of the so called 'hard boiled' American Crime Fiction genre. The novel has been made into a film several times, but the two most well known are probably the 1946 version with John Garfield and Lana Turner, and the 1981 version with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. Cain's other well known works are 'Double Indemnity' [filmed by Billy Wilder] and 'Mildred Pierce' [filmed by Michael Curtiz]. This is someone with a seriously good reputation and so I was definitely looking forward to reading this.

The story does not disappoint, it concerns the fortunes of drifter Frank Chambers as he drifts from town to town getting by on whatever luck he can find, whether its hustling on the Pool tables or taking advantage of people's good nature. He stops at a Cafe/filling station run by friendly Greek proprietor Nick Papadakis and his beautiful wife Cora. Although keen to move on, Frank is persuaded by Nick to stay and work for him. Frank wastes no time bedding Cora and the two begin a passionate affair. The plot will be as familiar as they come to most people, even if you've never read any crime fiction or seen a film noir!. This is now the established template, but in 1934 when first published, this was probably very fresh. Suffice to say that Frank and Cora get involved in murder, betrayal and obsessive behaviour leading to an exciting, if predictable climax.

The book caused some controversy when initially published due to its violent tone, Dashiell Hammett quoted on the book's cover states: 'A good, swift, violent story.' For today's reader the violence is pretty tame, I've not seen any of the film adaptations so am not sure how this was portrayed on screen, though I can imagine Jack Nicholson going to town with the violence like he did in 'The Shining'. What will probably jar the modern reader more is the racism, an accusation difficult to level at the book when you consider in 1934 no-one had heard of racism, if you were White you were just considered 'superior'. The Mexican, Greek and Italian characters get a pretty rough ride here with the word 'greasy' being used a lot. To be fair, it's not as bad as many books written during this era, and Cain does make the character of Nick to be very sympathetic and likeable and its Frank and Cora who judge him.

I have to say I enjoy novellas hugely, I tend to get very impatient with books and unless the story is grabbing me early on my mind tends to wander. I found this one hard to put down and just had to keep going till the end, a good sign!. The title [according to Wikipedia] refers to a screenwriter friend of Cain's who used to wait nervously for the postman to call letting him know if he'd been successful with a submitted manuscript. It also has a metaphorical meaning relating to fate, if something is meant to happen it will, the 'postman' representing fate, will call again.

The book has a retail price of £6.99, but you can get it on Amazon UK from one of their trusty booksellers for under a pound, leaving just the postage charge, so around £3.50 all in, not bad. Don't pay £6.99 for it, as a very slim volume you may feel a little cheated by that price!.

The book comes with a high recommendation from me, and I will certainly now be seeking out other books by this author to add to my Crime collection.....

Summary: A cracking good read.