Book Eleven of the Book-a-Week Quest
The Postman Always Rings Twice
by James M. Cain (1934)
Frank Chambers is a roaming drifter who happens upon a little gas station/diner run by Nick Papadakis and his wife, Cora. Within days, Frank not only is working for Nick, but is also screwing his wife. Like all great noirs, Cora is not happy with her life and she conspires with Frank to kill her husband...for, you see, a noir without a conniving woman is simply not a noir.
For a book written in 1934, Postman was incredibly sexual. By chapter two, Frank is biting Cora's lip and drawing blood as a means of foreplay, and I can't even count how many times he ripped open her blouse and slapped her around. Truly a very masochistic take on love that easily could've been written today, rather more than over seventy years ago.
I loved the book, but I love a good noir (see my Double Indemnity movie review here). Cain's writing style was completely non-descriptive, almost to the point where I longed for more details (and I usually despise when authors just add words to add words). The way he writes dialogue was odd, too. I don't think that at one point in time in the book he wrote, "she said" or "he replied". The dialogue was just there and you kind of had to figure out who was saying it. Odd, and it didn't always work out.
Plus, I didn't get the title at all. There is no postman in the book at all and no one rings any doorbell or telephone twice. After doing a little research, the postman may be symbolic for Fate as he seeks retribution for the ills of the main characters...but a weird title nonetheless.
However, I truly thought the story was riveting and the genre was right up my alley. Rest assured, there will be another James M. Cain novel review in the near future.
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