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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
本来冲着代餐去的，结果看了两页就知道代不到了。海氏百转千回的文笔再惊艳我也失望至极。激动人心的谋杀出现得太晚，我早已被毫无必要的家庭琐碎磨光了耐心。作为一部靠不可靠叙述者推动的侦探小说，远远比不上阿婆的《罗杰疑案》。主角是我最讨厌的那类男人，就伍迪·艾伦那一类男人：“他有卓别林综合症，就那种标志性的傲慢和怯懦，让我恨到咬牙切齿。跟其他所有怯懦性格的人一样，他的傲慢简直是无穷尽的。那些说话轻声细语、在人前枯萎的人都难以置信地傲慢。他表现得好像很害羞，但他其实一点也不。他那是恐惧。他憎恶他自己，但他也深爱他自己，这非常矛盾。对我来说，这简直是世界上最不要脸的事：一个男人把他最差的一面表现出来，大家笑了，也就没人关注他那一堆心理问题了。他在镜头前的一切表现都只是他的心灵保健。”
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As always, Highsmith excels in these little tales of suburban sociopathies.
Victor Van Allen, husband and father finds himself in the unenviable position of being the neighborhood cuckold. But despite social pressures from friends maintains a calm and dispassionate face in the midst of what most would think would be a humiliating situation and calmly structures his life around maintaining his existence for his child and his own self-interests. After being humiliated by his wife repeatedly he reacts with such a calm and stealthy manner that not many actually suspect that he could be capable of such cold-blooded responses to his wife's misbehaviour.
This made for an intriguing look into the mind of a man approaching middle age who watches his world slipping away from him. My problem is, and I say this only half jokingly, I completely identified with him as he perpetrated despicable acts upon even more despicable people. Hmmm....what does that say about me, I wonder?
I found myself more completely identifying with him than with his so-called "victims".
Like with her previous work I'd read, The Talented Mr. Ripley, I found myself identifying very emapthetically towards the "bad guy" , so to speak. Which is a bit disturbing on one level but on the other hand it also goes to show Highsmiths talent that people might actually be pulling for the one not ususally considered the hero by society.
Excellent reading and HIGHLY recommended. Thanks again Kiddie for a wonderful reading experience! I plan to release this to Plinius within the next day or so as soon as the snow and ice have cleared enough to allow me to get to the Post Office.
Victor Van Allen, husband and father finds himself in the unenviable position of being the neighborhood cuckold. But despite social pressures from friends maintains a calm and dispassionate face in the midst of what most would think would be a humiliating situation and calmly structures his life around maintaining his existence for his child and his own self-interests. After being humiliated by his wife repeatedly he reacts with such a calm and stealthy manner that not many actually suspect that he could be capable of such cold-blooded responses to his wife's misbehaviour.
This made for an intriguing look into the mind of a man approaching middle age who watches his world slipping away from him. My problem is, and I say this only half jokingly, I completely identified with him as he perpetrated despicable acts upon even more despicable people. Hmmm....what does that say about me, I wonder?
I found myself more completely identifying with him than with his so-called "victims".
Like with her previous work I'd read, The Talented Mr. Ripley, I found myself identifying very emapthetically towards the "bad guy" , so to speak. Which is a bit disturbing on one level but on the other hand it also goes to show Highsmiths talent that people might actually be pulling for the one not ususally considered the hero by society.
Excellent reading and HIGHLY recommended. Thanks again Kiddie for a wonderful reading experience! I plan to release this to Plinius within the next day or so as soon as the snow and ice have cleared enough to allow me to get to the Post Office.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
pretty depressing in my opinion, characters are pretty unlikable, not really to my taste. well written and interesting plot though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood
Страхотна, препоръчвам!
(Не съм чела още „Талантливият мистър Рипли“, нито съм гледала филма, защото искам първо да прочета книгата, но Патриша Хайсмит наистина е удоволствие.)
(Не съм чела още „Талантливият мистър Рипли“, нито съм гледала филма, защото искам първо да прочета книгата, но Патриша Хайсмит наистина е удоволствие.)
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fascinating, dark, sometimes funny, and weirdly sexy book.
It's the story of Vic and Melinda (told through Vic's point fo view) who hate each other and stay in a loveless marriage; Melinda's outlet is to have many lover's and Vic's is to be passive-agressive about it and, eventually, agressive. The overall atmosphere of suburban sexual repression is delicious, and the whole homosexual subtext (that might as well be bold text) around Vic's character is, like in Talented Mr. Ripley, expertly done.
There's fascinating themes around misogyny and marriage that also are not explicit, but are touched on enough to make the book interesting.
I would give it a higher rating if it weren't for a portion where the books drags a bit.. Other than that, a really cool read.
Music for this book:
Pagliacci - Leoncavallo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
" 'The winter's going to be even more boring - without a break somewhere,' he said.
'Oh, I don't think it's going to be boring' she said.
He smiled. 'Is that a threat?'
'Take it the way you like.'
'Are you going to put arsenic in my food?'
'I don't think arsenic could kill you.'
It was a charming evening. Before they went home Vic stopped at Wesley's biggest drugstore to look over the book rack. He bought a coupe of Penguin books, one on insects, the other on the installation of stained glass in church windows."
"Hortense and Edgar were making love, Edgar reaching down from a little rock to kiss Hortense on the mouth. Hortense was reared on the end of her foot, swaying a little under his caress like a slow dancer enchanted by music. Vic watched for perhaps five minutes, thinking of absolutely nothing, not even of the snails, until he saw the cup-shaped excrescences start to appear on the right side of both the snails' heads. How did they adore each other, and how perfect they were together! The glutinuous cups grew larger and touched, rim to rim. Their mouths drew apart."
"Vic didn't dance, but not for the reasons that most men who don;t dance give to themselves. He didn't dance simply because his wife liked to dance."
"Silently, and with a smile, and with all that was left of him, he cursed it."
It's the story of Vic and Melinda (told through Vic's point fo view) who hate each other and stay in a loveless marriage; Melinda's outlet is to have many lover's and Vic's is to be passive-agressive about it and, eventually, agressive. The overall atmosphere of suburban sexual repression is delicious, and the whole homosexual subtext (that might as well be bold text) around Vic's character is, like in Talented Mr. Ripley, expertly done.
There's fascinating themes around misogyny and marriage that also are not explicit, but are touched on enough to make the book interesting.
I would give it a higher rating if it weren't for a portion where the books drags a bit.
Spoiler
Basically, the whole section where Vic thinks Melinda hired a private detective ends up being so out of place in the book, one gets the feeling that it's all in Vic's head and that the book will get into some interesting things about how guilt is drawing him crazy, but then..it turns out to all be true? and it turns out to all be irrelevant?Music for this book:
Pagliacci - Leoncavallo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
" 'The winter's going to be even more boring - without a break somewhere,' he said.
'Oh, I don't think it's going to be boring' she said.
He smiled. 'Is that a threat?'
'Take it the way you like.'
'Are you going to put arsenic in my food?'
'I don't think arsenic could kill you.'
It was a charming evening. Before they went home Vic stopped at Wesley's biggest drugstore to look over the book rack. He bought a coupe of Penguin books, one on insects, the other on the installation of stained glass in church windows."
"Hortense and Edgar were making love, Edgar reaching down from a little rock to kiss Hortense on the mouth. Hortense was reared on the end of her foot, swaying a little under his caress like a slow dancer enchanted by music. Vic watched for perhaps five minutes, thinking of absolutely nothing, not even of the snails, until he saw the cup-shaped excrescences start to appear on the right side of both the snails' heads. How did they adore each other, and how perfect they were together! The glutinuous cups grew larger and touched, rim to rim. Their mouths drew apart."
"Vic didn't dance, but not for the reasons that most men who don;t dance give to themselves. He didn't dance simply because his wife liked to dance."
"Silently, and with a smile, and with all that was left of him, he cursed it."