Reviews

Das Zittern des Fälschers by Dirk van Gunsteren, Patricia Highsmith

lee_foust's review against another edition

3.0

What an odd novel in the Highsmith canon. Rather more subtle that I expected from Highsmith and the thriller genre in general. Although usually the psychological study of her protagonist is her stock and trade, it's the threat or the murder or whatever that usually pushes her protagonists to reveal their true nature and leads them either to destruction or redemption, or that hellish nether land that lies between the two.

Here instead the murder (if there is even a murder) is obviously permitted, and so morally ambiguous we--like the protagonist--are never really sure what we think about it and it all seems beside the point, the point being the portrait of an emotionally and sexually needy man between gigs as it were weighing his options. That's all. Also, there's an exotic location, Tunisia, but not much more to it than that. (Oh, and I should say it might be a nod to Camus's The Stranger, or even a send-up, pointing out that for all Camus's existential querying, he never bothers to think of the murder victim as a real person or that Meursault could be in any way guilty of killing an actual human being. We have a clearly misguided American patriot and Christian character here as a kind of foil to the North African ennui/European existential blase-ity. He was at times a Samaritan and then at times seemed to be veering toward the villain of the piece--but no crime, no villain, no real drama here, just a portrait.)

Also it's Highsmith's usually fine prose, with the exception of the opening chapter: one of the worst I've ever read! Just a big info dump as the kids say, a bland and seemingly hurried exposition bringing us up to speed with no art to it at all. I was embarrassed for her.

jcgrant's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

pudseyrecommends's review against another edition

4.0

I was intrigued and captivated by Patricia Highsmith's narrative, almost like a forensic analysis of her main character, Ingham, who holds liberal views and America itself, represented by a secondary character who could easily be a MAGA type today, which Ingham nicknames OWL (Our Way Of Life). OWL preaches the religious and western ways as the way to be, and nothing else will do; Ingham mostly avoids any type of conflict with OWL.

In a strange episode, it seems like Ingham killed an elderly Arab thief who was breaking into his cottage and the hotel or their staff might have buried the body to avoid bad press, but all we discover in everyone's reactions is a slight, self-protective fear from Ingham, condemnation from OWL who seems to influence Ingham's girlfriend Ina's views, and Jensen's disregard of the whole thing.

There is an undercurrent theme of homosexuality and how natural it all is, which I found most interesting. Right at the beginning of the story, Ingham's comments that in Tunisia there is no stigma for boys to be going out with other boys, they hold hands in public and it feels completely natural. Ingham befriends gay Danish Jensen and go on to become best of friends. Ina insinuates at one point her jealousy of their relationship, she can see that Jensen loves Ingham, and goes on to admit to having had a crush at another girl when she was in school.

What I felt was that Patricia Highsmith is investigating here is the relationship between two English-speaking men who find themselves overseas during civil unrest and on different sides of “a moral compass”; these American tourists are so full of prejudices and Highsmith has no qualm in presenting them with brutal honesty. What a clever writer.

booksndogs4me's review against another edition

5.0

Although it was written in 1969, this book is relevant for 2018. Against the arid backdrop of Tunisia, The Tremor of Forgery addresses Middle East conflict, American involvement in controversial wars, and judgmental morality. This book was delicious.

jashcraft88's review against another edition

3.0

3. This was fine. Initially, I was intrigued to see what Highsmith would do with a more foreign and sweeping setting as well as the potential of spy play. Alas, the characters are too vanilla and the plot really never reaches the frenzy you come to expect from her.

diegodproductions's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

saareman's review against another edition

4.0

A Night in Tunisia*
Review of the Grove Press Kindle eBook edition (2011) with an Introduction by [a:Francine Prose|12180|Francine Prose|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1249678588p2/12180.jpg] of the Heinemann (UK) & Doubleday & Co. (USA) hardcover original (1969).

Last night, oddly enough after his disturbing conversation with Adams, Ingham had thought of a title for his book, The Tremor of Forgery. It was much better than the two other ideas he had had. He had read somewhere, before he left America, that forgers’ hands usually trembled very slightly at the beginning and end of their false signatures, sometimes so slightly the tremor could be seen only under a microscope.

There are some aspects to this noirish tale, set in Tunisia, where it crosses over with Highsmith's more famous portrayals of sociopathic characters such as Tom Ripley in The Ripliad Pentalogy (1955-1991) and Charles Anthony Bruno in [b:Strangers on a Train|15677|Strangers on a Train|Patricia Highsmith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1634841748l/15677._SY75_.jpg|1187279] (1950). Howard Ingham is an innocent writer character who is drawn into a morally ambiguous world in his environment and his own fiction. There are 2 deaths during the book, one found by Ingham and one likely caused by him, but neither are reported on. The impression is given that the local tourist industry and bureaucracy would prefer that crime not be publicized even if it resulted in murder.

Ingham is on a working vacation to the seaside town of Hammamet in Tunisia. He is there to work on a film script in advance of the arrival of the film's director. The latter never writes and never arrives, and eventually Ingham learns that he has committed suicide back in New York City. Ingham's own girlfriend Ina also does not write and Ingham suspects an involvement with the director. Ingham stays on in Hammamet to work on a new novel, a Robin Hood-like tale of a character who embezzles from his business in order to aid disadvantaged people. He forms friendships with two other local visitors, an American propagandist Francis Adams and a Danish artist Anders Jensen. One night while walking home from Jensen's apartment, Ingham stumbles over a dead body in the street, the victim of an apparent cutthroat robbery. Ingham doesn't call the police and doesn't mention the murder.


The dust jacket for the original UK edition published by Heinemann in 1969. Image sourced from Existential Ennui (see link below).

Ingham has items stolen during his stay and especially resents an old local thief named Abdullah whom he had seen in the act. One evening there is a break-in at Ingham's rented bungalow and in the dark he throws his typewriter at the head of the thief who collapses outside. Ingham locks his door and ignores further outside sounds. In the morning there is no body outside, but Abdullah is also no longer seen in the vicinity. The houseboys deny that any body was found. Ingham believes that he probably killed Abdullah, but decides to keep quiet about it. Eventually he confesses to Jensen. The latter, who is also resentful about the locals who have apparently stolen his beloved dog, tells him to forget it. Adams however is suspicious and then Ina arrives from the USA as well. Ingham is lost in a moral quandary of whether to confess all or to keep silent.

I found the tension and moral ambiguity of The Tremor of Forgery to be very compelling and the evasiveness and self-justification of Ingham made for a suspenseful character study. The atmosphere of the Tunisian setting was also well crafted and definitely gave the impression that Highsmith must have spent time in the area.

Footnote and Soundtrack
* I couldn’t resist using this title for my lede, having recently come across film director Neil Jordan’s first book of short stories [b:Night in Tunisia|7229242|Night in Tunisia|Neil Jordan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677799196l/7229242._SY75_.jpg|526076] (1993) and being reminded of the Dizzy Gillespie bebop jazz tune, first called “Interlude,” and which later had lyrics added and was first sung by Sarah Vaughn in 1944, which you can listen to here.

Other Reviews
Not a full review, but author [a:Graham Greene|2533|Graham Greene|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1254688603p2/2533.jpg] said: "Miss Highsmith's finest novel to my mind is The Tremor of Forgery, and if I were to be asked what it is about I would reply, 'Apprehension'."

Not an original review from 1969, but this later 2011 review does include photos of both the original UK and USA covers at Existential Ennui: The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith.

Trivia and Links
The Tremor of Forgery has not been adapted for film unlike many other Highsmith novels (e.g. Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Carol (aka The Price of Salt), The Two Faces of January, etc.). A recent biographical film documentary was released in 2022 called “Loving Highsmith” directed by Eva Vitija for which you can see the trailer here.

mescalero_at_bat's review against another edition

4.0

i liked this one a lot - took me by surprise, because it's not your typical crime novel - not that highsmith is capable of writing anything typical - but compared to some of other books i've read, this one stays on the back burner, just simmering with lots of psychological and moral inquiry. things unfold slowly, she gives you lots of time to dig into the characters and their positions before they bump heads and the conflicts ensue.

apechild's review against another edition

3.0

Bit of an odd one. All the classic Highsmith writing and yet nothing happens. It just ends and I'm thinking... did I miss something? But it's so well written in her usual way, with this feeling of an underlying threat or something not quite right that it was addictive reading for me. Reading about Americans hanging out in Tunisia in the 1960s (I do also love her stories that are about Americans in other countries) and comparing the Arab lifestyle with the American way of life, particularly with this strange middle aged man, OWL who is randomly paid by Russians to do radio broadcasts about how great America is. Howard Ingham's gone over to Tunisia to write a script with a director that they plan to film in Tunisia. He waits and waits and no one turns up or replies to his letters (the good old days before mobile phones and the internet). In the meantime he relaxes into the heat and the life there, starts writing another novel. The woman he thinks he is in love with comes over, he desperately wants to marry her then he doesn't. There's something in this experience of living abroad, taking yourself out of the cultural context of home and discovering just who you are that appears in this story. There's also robberies and some killings, but nobody seems desperately fussed about them - apparently the arabs all feels it's god's will so they don't stress about it - and... yeah, nothing does happen. And at the end Howard goes back to New York. Honestly, not her best work, and it leaves me a little baffled. Maybe it was a bit of a fun writing project at the time.

glenncolerussell's review against another edition

Patricia Highsmith's The Tremor of Forgery serves as an indictment of modern society every bit as penetrating as Greene's The Quiet American and Camus' The Stranger. I see there is a study guide for the novel, and for good reason: the story, the four main characters, and the political and cultural elements are all worthy of in-depth analysis.

However, for the purposes of my review, I'll focus on the one character I found to be among the most detestable I've encountered: Francis J. Adams.

We first meet Adams, a short, balding, paunchy, fifty-something American from Connecticut, when he approaches the beach chair of the main character, a writer by the name of Howard Ingham. Adams asks Ingham in a loud, brassy voice if he's an American. When Ingham says, "Yes," he proudly proclaims, in turn, "My name's Adams. Francis J. Adams." Following some chitchat, Adams invites Ingham to stop by his bungalow sometime for a drink.

The prime location for the novel is a hotel with bungalows along the coast of Tunisia. With a few quick strokes, Patricia Highsmith provides us with key information: Adams is loud, brash, and intrusive, a man with a grandiose sense of superiority because, after all, he's an American.

When Ingham accepts Adam's offer to join him in his bungalow, he takes a look around – among the contents: a much used writing table with stacks of papers, on open dictionary, a Reader's Digest, and a Bible. Adams walks out of his kitchen holding a scotch and soda, bouncing on his toes. Ingham observes, “Adams had high arches, high insteps and rather small feet. There was something disgusting about Adams' feet, and having looked at them once, Ingham did not look again.”

Adams' feet are a telling detail, such a revealer of character (or, more to the point, lack of character). In traditional societies, one's feet serve as grounding to the earth, a sense of solidity, just the opposite of bouncing on one's toes while walking. Likewise, in the world of dance and physical theater – to walk, to move, it is important to be grounded in order to establish balance and equilibrium, and one's feet serve as the all-important anchor. I speak from direct experience in these arts.

The novel takes place in 1967, the year of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War. Since Adams is in his fifties, most of his adult life has been spent in the 1930s to the 1950s, a period when it was a common practice for men and women to frequently drink liquor. In nearly every scene, like the one cited here, Adams is drinking and pushing booze on Ingham and others. Living alone, isolated in a foreign land, I think it's safe to infer that Adams is an alcoholic.

Adams is described as having “a squirrel-like smile.” Indeed, there is an undeniable sense of restlessness and nervousness about this loutish man, including his frequent, nervous way of laughing, ha-ha. When Ingham asks Adams what he does to fill his time, Adams replies, “I consider myself an unofficial ambassador for America. I spread goodwill – and the American way of life. Our way of life.” This is a very revealing statement – Adams assumes anyone who is a true blue American will share his thinking and values. This “our way of life” is so fundamental to Adams that Ingham thinks of him as OWL.

Deeper into the conversation, when Adams, aka OWL, discovers that Ingham is a novelist, he states, “I don't read much fiction. Now and then, something that's condensed. Like in the Reader's Digest, you know.” This admission is entirely predictable. Fiction requires a reader to shift perspectives, to see the world the way the characters (and author) see the world. For the likes of Adams, with his small, self-centered vision of himself and “our way of life,” such a shift is nearly impossible. The Reader's Digest. Ha! I can imagine Patricia Highsmith cringing when she typed out this scene.

Several chapters on, Ingham and Adams are dining out at a restaurant. Adams launches into a monologue on the virtues of democracy and Christian morals for everyone, which has a tincture of irony since he's been living among Arabs in Tunisia for the past year. Adams drones on, “You can see it in their faces, the men who have turned their back on God....Drug addicts, alcoholics, homosexuals, criminals – and even the ordinary man in the street, if he's forgotten the Right Way – they're all wretched. But they can be shown the Right Way . . .” Of course, the tacit statement is Adams knows the right way, the American way, the Christian way, and he's among the chosen ones to correct anyone who dares hold views and opinions contrary to his own. And note how Adams includes alcoholics in his list. Again, predictable – Adams is obviously in a state of denial.

I need not continue, as I think you can surmise where Adams stands on everything touching on politics and religion, on communism and the Vietnam War, and on Ingham's moral responsibility when he's eventually involved in a crime. I read Patricia Highsmith's modern classic, reflecting on Adams and his blessed “our way of life,” with an eye to how the wise author accurately predicted the current cultural crisis we face in the United States.


American author Patricia Highsmith, 1921- 1995