Scan barcode
elia25's review against another edition
5.0
Que risa.... me lo leia 50 veces y aun podria reirme como la primera vez
norinorris's review against another edition
4.0
A great quick read for my flight today. I didn’t see the ending coming, but it fit perfectly.
caractacus's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this more than I did - it shows up a lot in the kinds of lists I love, "long forgotten treasures," "cult favorites," that kind of thing - and some of the problems (a clunkiness in the writing at times, the police lieutenant who talks like a robot programmed to not use contractions, the fact that a psychiatrist openly discusses his patient's case -- disparagingly, at that! -- with an acquaintance of the patient whom he's just met) are things I could overlook in an older book. But the problem I can't get past is one common to crime novels, telling me maybe it's just not my genre: the protagonist is SUCH an asshole.
Madness, leprechauns, amnesia, impostors, conspiracies - that stuff all sounds good, and it's why I kept reading to find out what happened. But Jesus, this narrator is a dick, and I just wanted people to hit him.
Madness, leprechauns, amnesia, impostors, conspiracies - that stuff all sounds good, and it's why I kept reading to find out what happened. But Jesus, this narrator is a dick, and I just wanted people to hit him.
litsirk's review against another edition
4.0
Exciting! I've been catching some good mid-1940s detective books lately, with this and Ross MacDonald. I can really see this as an old noir movie, complete with unrealistic but incredibly satisfying pat ending. Hitchcock would have loved it. Very fun.
thecommonswings's review against another edition
5.0
A masterpiece and all the more so because, as Symons says in the introduction to the omnibus I read this in, it's not perfect. It lurches around tonally from noir to psychological novel to satire to just plain weirdness - and all this is part of why it's such a masterpiece. I love the idea of Harry Stephen Keeler and his impenetrable novels far more than I do the books themselves. Bardin is like what would happen if Keeler just took one of his maddest ideas and followed it with focus and thought and discipline. The central idea is irresistibly mad, and it's as mad and shocking today as it was when I first read it thirteen years ago. Part of me is sad that someone has never adapted it for the screen but I suspect unless you got a mid sixties Samuel Fuller or a David Lynch to do it the book wouldn't be remotely done justice to
I've been explicitly cagey about any details of the plot here, because I think within two pages you'll either know whether this thing is for you or not. And I would *hate* to spoil the delirium of those opening pages. This is the real deal and thankfully still as unique and wonderful as it was when I first read it. Astonishing
I've been explicitly cagey about any details of the plot here, because I think within two pages you'll either know whether this thing is for you or not. And I would *hate* to spoil the delirium of those opening pages. This is the real deal and thankfully still as unique and wonderful as it was when I first read it. Astonishing
nora_dlc's review against another edition
3.0
La primera mitad es buena, pero luego se torna cliché. Seguro en su tiempo fue novedosa pero no envejeció bien.
bites_of_books's review against another edition
3.0
Perhaps it's the genre or the style of writing but, although it was interesting, it just seemed like it went around in circles, and then at the climax it just suddenly ended.
The story is about a psychologist who ends up losing his memory after one of his patients is accused of murder. He's stuck knowing that he has to solve the murder but having no idea how. Psychologically it is definitely an interesting read, but the style of writing and the pace were just not for me.
I think that if you like crime novels this is certainly an interesting one, if not then it might be a bit strange and slow paced.
The story is about a psychologist who ends up losing his memory after one of his patients is accused of murder. He's stuck knowing that he has to solve the murder but having no idea how. Psychologically it is definitely an interesting read, but the style of writing and the pace were just not for me.
I think that if you like crime novels this is certainly an interesting one, if not then it might be a bit strange and slow paced.
sarahsponda's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this unpredictable story! Plot twists, bad guy/good guy???, psychological terror, and MURDER. I was suspicious of almost everyone at some point in the story.
(Irritated by occasional sexist comments along the lines of "womanish" etc. SIGH.)
(Irritated by occasional sexist comments along the lines of "womanish" etc. SIGH.)
peebee's review against another edition
3.0
Ok enough mystery for what it was and when it was written. I'd heard it was super crazy, and figured I was getting into some crazy Paul Auster territory with the first couple of chapters, but it turns out it's real people in the real world deliberately acting crazy instead of the universe being fucking nutso with leprechauns and deadly horses and face changing murderers. Oh well.
jimg's review against another edition
4.0
A strange mystery. Extremely compelling and lucid front end, highly staged and quite implausible ending that didn't live up to the quality of the rest of the book.
More...