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A review by bookguyeric
The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
After having read The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train, I expected a crime/suspense novel. Especially since this novel was included in The Library of America’s collection of crime novels of the 60s.
What I got was a thoughtful literary novel about Ingham, an American novelist in Tunisia. There is a crime. Or maybe there is. And Ingham’s moral and emotional state is affected by the incident. Ingham becomes friendly with Adams, another American (sort of a right wing radio propagandist), and Jensen, a gay Danish painter with a German shepherd. Ingham’s girlfriend (and likely fiancee) Ina also arrives on the scene.
Ingham is essentially ambivalent about a lot of things. The exotic setting allows him to work through his feelings about moral duties and attachments. I’d say that, besides one incident, not much happens in the novel plot-wise, but Ingham’s feelings shift and turn, and I think that what the real plot consists of.
What I’ve written probably sounds vague, but the book offers a lot of food for thought and some striking imagery of bustling Arab life, stifling heat, shifting sands, and surf.
What I got was a thoughtful literary novel about Ingham, an American novelist in Tunisia. There is a crime. Or maybe there is. And Ingham’s moral and emotional state is affected by the incident. Ingham becomes friendly with Adams, another American (sort of a right wing radio propagandist), and Jensen, a gay Danish painter with a German shepherd. Ingham’s girlfriend (and likely fiancee) Ina also arrives on the scene.
Ingham is essentially ambivalent about a lot of things. The exotic setting allows him to work through his feelings about moral duties and attachments. I’d say that, besides one incident, not much happens in the novel plot-wise, but Ingham’s feelings shift and turn, and I think that what the real plot consists of.
What I’ve written probably sounds vague, but the book offers a lot of food for thought and some striking imagery of bustling Arab life, stifling heat, shifting sands, and surf.