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angewalton's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lexie_gabrielle's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
aljosa's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmm, I remember liking the tv adaptation so much more, but it was still good
tscott907's review against another edition
4.5
Odd and engrossing the way the best novels always are. I had seen the Todd Haynes miniseries a few months ago because I love his work and wanted to read Cain’s original story to see how close it stuck. Mildred is a refreshingly unknowable protagonist, and Veda is delightfully awful in a way few modern characters are. I had a wonderful time with this book and hope to watch the Crawford adaptation soon!
kathieboucher's review against another edition
5.0
Fun reading, especially after watching Joan Crawford's Hollywood version. The book has some surprises: is it a spoiler to say there's no murder?? But if I were a character in this story, I know exactly who I would murder (and it's not the same person who gets offed in the movie...)
ifyouhappentoremember's review against another edition
4.0
I was familiar with the 1945 film adaption of this book, and when I saw that my library had an ebook copy, I picked it up, not expecting much. This was much better than I expected a book from the 1940s to be (and far darker than I was expecting too).
The main takeaway from this book is that Veda is an absolutely terrible person. She is a classic textbook nacisist. It is so frustrating to see how she uses and shelves people, especially her mother, and practically gets away with it too. I don't understand why more people don't hate Veda in daily life. She is so easy to hate.
The main takeaway from this book is that Veda is an absolutely terrible person. She is a classic textbook nacisist. It is so frustrating to see how she uses and shelves people, especially her mother, and practically gets away with it too. I don't understand why more people don't hate Veda in daily life. She is so easy to hate.
deegee24's review against another edition
5.0
This is surely Cain's masterpiece, and one of the best American novels of its time. It is not a detective or crime story (though a detective does appear in one scene), and it is not written in the hard-boiled manner of Cain's earlier fiction like "The Postman Always Rings Twice." The writing style is accessible, but with highly distinctive touches in rendering characters, settings, and dialogue. Set during the Great Depression, it tells of a hard-working single mother who loves her ungrateful, musically gifted daughter beyond all reason, and pays a high price for that love. It reminds me of the fifties-era Hollywood melodramas of Douglas Sirk and Nicholas Ray, in that it has all the ingredients of a soap opera, but hits you in the gut like tragedy.
liketheday's review against another edition
4.0
I may have wanted to punch every character (except maybe two or three) in this book right in the face at some point in time, but isn't that how life is? I think that Cain has really hit on a perfect description of a person with a pretty good life in a pretty terrible time, and all of the characters ring true, whether we'd like to know them or not.
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