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zanni_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tarheelreader's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this one. It's kind of a thriller/psychological thriller..I don't really know how to categorize it. It was written in 50's (I think), and originally in French so I wonder if those 2 things kept me from getting fully into it (talk of a wireless not being a cell phone), but it did keep my interested. I learned about this book when the narrator of A Simple Favor mentioned the movie in that book (Les Diaboliques). Interestingly, Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make this into a movie, but lost the rights; which led him to make Psycho!! He did make another one of this author's books, Vertigo, into a movie.
One thing that was strange about this book, is it just drops you as the reader in the middle of the action. No real introduction to the characters....you just meet all 3 at a pivotal moment in their lives, and are trying to figure things out from there. There's not even that much back story either, you just have to piece it together. I read it on a Kindle, so I was surprised to see there were only 192 pages, definitely felt like more. I'm planning to read Vertigo at some point (I haven't seen the movie).
Now to watch this movie.....
One thing that was strange about this book, is it just drops you as the reader in the middle of the action. No real introduction to the characters....you just meet all 3 at a pivotal moment in their lives, and are trying to figure things out from there. There's not even that much back story either, you just have to piece it together. I read it on a Kindle, so I was surprised to see there were only 192 pages, definitely felt like more. I'm planning to read Vertigo at some point (I haven't seen the movie).
Now to watch this movie.....
quirkycynic's review against another edition
4.0
Unlike Vertigo I've still not yet seen Les Diaboliques, which made the reading of this source material very interesting -- I know the famous twist of the movie of course, but I didn't know how this book would approach it through its own story. The biggest (and most welcome) surprise was of course that I didn't know the twist here would be gay , which immediately jumped this book up the ranks of the great works of "good for her!" fiction.
Honestly though, I will say that the thing I liked best about both this and Vertigo, other than they're both absolutely superlative examples of mid-century suspense fiction, is that Boileau-Narcejac write both about men who attempt to possessively control women to the point that it backfires and leads to their own complete destruction. I really wish there were more of these dudes' books in English translation cause I have a feeling I'd run the absolute hell out of them if there were, they're that good.
Honestly though, I will say that the thing I liked best about both this and Vertigo, other than they're both absolutely superlative examples of mid-century suspense fiction, is that Boileau-Narcejac write both about men who attempt to possessively control women to the point that it backfires and leads to their own complete destruction. I really wish there were more of these dudes' books in English translation cause I have a feeling I'd run the absolute hell out of them if there were, they're that good.
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