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scottjeffe's review against another edition
3.0
Some books leave you saying, "what was that ABOUT?" The Tremor of Forgery was such a book for me. Being by Highsmith, I kept waiting for Howard to kill someone or go completely off the rails. It's not that I couldn't see the links between the book that Howard was writing and what Howard was doing and going through, but I just didn't think it worked very well. For me the most interesting thing about the book was the homosexual character and his primary placement in the book. For a book written in 1969 I expected the words "queer" and "faggot" but I didn't expect that (to some extent) he was the most rational person in the book. He didn't have any of the hangups or neuroses of the other characters. Was this because he was gay, or because he was not American???? Loved that element of this otherwise odd book.
lauann717's review against another edition
5.0
Was anybody a good person in this book? No
But was I still pushing for my gay agenda??? Yes ☺️
But was I still pushing for my gay agenda??? Yes ☺️
suzannetronier's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful vacation read. Set in Tunisia in the mid 60s, American Howard Ingham is writing a novel about a morally ambiguous character, developing morally ambiguous relationships with expats and natives and longing for a word from his current love. Dark elements of the world he is inhabiting jut out glaringly from time to time as the ever eager hotel boys seek to create a smooth veneer of order. Something happens--we aren't sure what, even Howard is not sure what--but a tone of foreboding unfolds in its aftermath. This is all told with the polish of classic film noir, with shifting motives and a smart girl from New York lasering in on the unspoken. Masterful!
graybarruel's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. My favourite kind of escape reading; psychological suspense, tight prose, believable characters, terrific atmosphere.
Definitely not the last time I'll read a novel by Patricia Highsmith. Why did I wait so long?
Definitely not the last time I'll read a novel by Patricia Highsmith. Why did I wait so long?
departingin5mins's review against another edition
The plot is getting too convoluted for me. This is my second DNF in a row. Depressing. Let’s hope I don’t strike out with the next book…
marialy's review against another edition
1.0
Leí un 60% de este libro, el resto me lo spoile porque ya no podía más. No conecte con la historia, sentía que era un círculo vicioso que nunca avanzaba, no me gustaban los personajes y tampoco logre introducirme en la forma de escribir de la autora.
Confieso que empezó bien, tiene ese aire de misterio, una muerte, cartas, personajes que aparecen y no sabes cuál es su intensión. Pero todo ese encanto se pierde y el libro gira y gira en "salió de la casa, tomo algo, se acostó a dormir" y así sucesivamente. No sabía a donde quería conducirme la autora con esta monotonía. Estoy segura que quería transmitir algo y quizás tenga todo el sentido del mundo, pero yo me la pasaba aburrida y estancada hasta que decidí spoliarme y ponerle fin a esta sosobra jajaja.
Lo leí con el fin de conocer un poco sobre el país de Túnez y en cierta forma eso hice, pero me dejo con la sensación de no querer viajar a ese lugar. Puede que más adelante pruebe con otros libros que me den una sensación diferente del país
Confieso que empezó bien, tiene ese aire de misterio, una muerte, cartas, personajes que aparecen y no sabes cuál es su intensión. Pero todo ese encanto se pierde y el libro gira y gira en "salió de la casa, tomo algo, se acostó a dormir" y así sucesivamente. No sabía a donde quería conducirme la autora con esta monotonía. Estoy segura que quería transmitir algo y quizás tenga todo el sentido del mundo, pero yo me la pasaba aburrida y estancada hasta que decidí spoliarme y ponerle fin a esta sosobra jajaja.
Lo leí con el fin de conocer un poco sobre el país de Túnez y en cierta forma eso hice, pero me dejo con la sensación de no querer viajar a ese lugar. Puede que más adelante pruebe con otros libros que me den una sensación diferente del país
bookguyeric's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
After having read The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train, I expected a crime/suspense novel. Especially since this novel was included in The Library of America’s collection of crime novels of the 60s.
What I got was a thoughtful literary novel about Ingham, an American novelist in Tunisia. There is a crime. Or maybe there is. And Ingham’s moral and emotional state is affected by the incident. Ingham becomes friendly with Adams, another American (sort of a right wing radio propagandist), and Jensen, a gay Danish painter with a German shepherd. Ingham’s girlfriend (and likely fiancee) Ina also arrives on the scene.
Ingham is essentially ambivalent about a lot of things. The exotic setting allows him to work through his feelings about moral duties and attachments. I’d say that, besides one incident, not much happens in the novel plot-wise, but Ingham’s feelings shift and turn, and I think that what the real plot consists of.
What I’ve written probably sounds vague, but the book offers a lot of food for thought and some striking imagery of bustling Arab life, stifling heat, shifting sands, and surf.
What I got was a thoughtful literary novel about Ingham, an American novelist in Tunisia. There is a crime. Or maybe there is. And Ingham’s moral and emotional state is affected by the incident. Ingham becomes friendly with Adams, another American (sort of a right wing radio propagandist), and Jensen, a gay Danish painter with a German shepherd. Ingham’s girlfriend (and likely fiancee) Ina also arrives on the scene.
Ingham is essentially ambivalent about a lot of things. The exotic setting allows him to work through his feelings about moral duties and attachments. I’d say that, besides one incident, not much happens in the novel plot-wise, but Ingham’s feelings shift and turn, and I think that what the real plot consists of.
What I’ve written probably sounds vague, but the book offers a lot of food for thought and some striking imagery of bustling Arab life, stifling heat, shifting sands, and surf.
leasttorque's review against another edition
5.0
This novel was a seriously slow burn, slow to the extent that I almost abandoned it. Fortunately I hung in and was entranced as it took a turn into perhaps the most suspenseful novel I’ve ever read. I kept thinking of the title of a book of essays, “prisons we choose to live inside”. The inner dialog of the protagonist just fascinated me as he pondered and rambled across a varied terrain of moral fluidity, interpersonal complexities, religion, foreign influences, human worth, dependence, profession, and alienation. And of course there was the relationship of the author to the fiction he produces.
amusedmuse's review against another edition
3.0
Another one of Highsmith's novels about an American abroad (this time in Tunisia) going through relationship problems and an existential crisis. The commentary on Americanism and how that may, or may not, relate to morality is interesting. Not one of my favorites by the author, but a decent read.