أظنها جريمة قتل

هيتشكوك يقدم: الموسم الأول #10

by Cornell Woolrich, محمد عبد العزيز (Translator)

يقضي "جيفريز" أيامه في مراقبة جيرانه من النافذة الخلفية لتبديد ملل حبسه في بيته بعد كسر ساقه.
باستخدام وجهة نظر "جيفريز" لرواية القصة، تصبح مشاركًا ومتورطًا معه في المراقبة بنفس قدر تورط البطل نفسه، توتر وتشويق سيلازمانك لتشعر بنفس الشعور بالفضول والشك والرهبة بينما "جيفريز" يستجمع الأحداث الغامضة التي يشهدها من بعيد تدريجيًا ويحاول فهمها.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Mystery, Classics, School, Noir, Media Tie In

180 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Cornell Woolrich is widely regarded as the twentieth century’s finest writer of pure suspense fiction. The author of numerous classic novels and short stories (many of which were turned into classic films) such as Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Waltz Into Darkness, and I Married a Dead Man, Woolrich began his career in the 1920s writing mainstream novels that won him comparisons to F. Scott Fitzgerald. The bulk of his best-known work, however, was written in the field of crime fiction, often appearing serialized in pulp magazines or as paperback novels. Because he was prolific, he found it necessary to publish under multiple pseudonyms, including "William Irish" and "George Hopley" [...] Woolrich lived a life as dark and emotionally tortured as any of his unfortunate characters and died, alone, in a seedy Manhattan hotel room following the amputation of a gangrenous leg. Upon his death, he left a bequest of one million dollars to Columbia University, to fund a scholarship for young writers.

Source: [http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bi...]

Reviews

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

How did I not know this was a short story????? I’m such a failure!

Nothing in this world makes me happier than a rainy night, warm P.J.s, a bowl full of popcorn and an Alfred Hitchcock movie marathon. While I love the campy wonderment which is The Birds and Farley Granger’s horrible acting in Rope, my all-time fave has always been Rear Window. Nowadays my husband and I refer to that moment when you tell yourself you’ll only watch five minutes of a movie and then wind up sucked in until the final credits roll “Getting Shawshanked.” Back in the day it was probably referred to as “Getting Rear Windowed.” When I saw my buddy Dan read this a few days ago I knew I had to get to it pronto. (Sorry buddy read group, but really y’all should already be well aware of the fact that I’m horrible.)

Call it my bias coming through because although I’m not a huge fan of the shorty-short I really enjoyed this one. For only being fourteen pages long, it really packed in the suspense and provided quite a full story to inspire the film. Of course, since this was only fourteen pages, it was missing some of what made the film so much fun. Mainly the neighbors. Of course, a certain couple was very much still a part of the story . . .



But the humor that was delivered by others - mainly . . .



And . . .



The unforgettable score provided by . . .



As well as the Debbie Downer which could be found in . . . .



Was most definitely missing.

But in all actuality? The real important stuff was still there . . .



Kudos to Cornell Woolrich for being able to pack such a wallop into such a little package and kudos to the Master of Suspense for giving it life on the big screen. Today is my Friday and it’s supposed to rain tonight. I think a trip to the video store might be in order . . . .

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truman Capote once said that all literature is gossip. In his In Cold Blood he delves deeper and deeper into the lives of two young murderers. Why must we know how their father treated them? And why do their sexual obsessions matter? He talks to them for years, befriends them, but he also needs them to finally die on death row so he can complete his book! Something invasive and self-serving here, troubling?

Similarly Hitchcock admitted that film for him was like voyeurism. He, the portly bald film auteur, hired stunning actresses for his films, and put them in peril in his stories, time and time again. He had us watch their private activities behind closed doors. At the beginning of Psycho we see a city at noon from a wide angle, then slowly, steadily, zoom into a bedroom where a couple are dressing after meeting for sex. What business is it of ours to see their private acts? Then, later that night, in another motel, we watch that same woman take a shower. And someone else is watching with us. Creepy?

But yes, what about us? What do we know of our neighbors, the ones next door, with their daughter on her third husband, and yes, please tell us about the couple down the street and their wild parties, shameful. The young boy, not doing well in school, on drugs, why was the police car there last night? Is the young couple, fighting into the night, in serious trouble? But they were once so in love!

Cornell Woolrich writes in “It Had to be Murder,” the short story that formed the inspiration for Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller Rear Window (with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly), of a man, L. B. Jeffries, laid up for a month in a full leg cast, noticing the comings and goings of his neighbors, one of them he assumes is involved in committing and covering up the murder of his wife.

Woolwich begins his story: "I didn’t know their names. I’d never heard their voices. I didn’t even know them by sight, strictly speaking, for their faces were too small to fill in with identifiable features at that distance. Yet I could have constructed a timetable of their comings and goings, their daily habits and activities. They were the rear-window dwellers around me."

Jeffries sees into many neighboring flats, but he becomes particularly interested in one neighbor, caring for his ill wife, who talks on the phone (secretively?) with someone, as his wife sleeps. A little snooping and Jeffries finds they are Mr. and Mrs. Lars Thorvald. Initially, as we read our narrator's constructed narrative of their lives, we are a little uncomfortable about his suppositions, and certainly skeptical, as is detective Boyne, initially, but there’s an increasing dread we feel as we join him in his obsessive inquiry, as we observe what he observes. Things don’t add up! Why is Mrs. Thorvald suddenly gone? He must have killed her! Get his phone number and call him before he skips town, let him know we’re on to him! But he turns to see you, his only witness, calling him. Mr. Watcher, Mr. Busybody, who is now watching you? And who’s that at the door?

What do you mean, what happened?! What do you mean, did he do it? Read it yourself and find out!

http://www.miettecast.com/woolrich.pdf

Hitchcock creates a taut, entertaining thriller. He also brilliantly adds a layer of reflection to Woolrich’s story about eavesdropping, gossip, voyeurism. And he adds another layer not in Woolwich's original: A woman friend, Laura, in love with Jeffries, joins in his snooping, and one night decides to stay with him all night. Immoral, for 1954? Suddenly the couple engages in an act that any neighbor might be curious to know and gossip about. Hitchcock, in the middle of his tale of deceit and murder, turns our eyes on Jeffries, the watcher of sin; how would he feel being watched? How do we feel watching them; how would it feel to be watched?

And then there’s another aspect of the tale Hitchcock creates, a reflection about the difficulties of being in love. Jeffries is an invalid being cared for by his girlfriend; Thorvald is caring for his invalid wife. Both relationships seem to be in trouble. It’s easy to criticize our neighbors for their failures in love and life, as our narrator does, but how often do we turn the gaze on ourselves? I recommend reading this fine short story by noir master Woolrich in conjunction with seeing the film by the master of suspense Hitchcock, No. 42 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Best Movies list. Great fun, and with some things to think about.

[Connie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. First published as "It Had to Be Murder", this noir short story was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock as "Rear Window". Jeffries, a disabled man, sits by his bedroom window filling the hours by watching the comings and goings of his neighbors. He noticed that the ill wife of another tenant seemed to be missing. The story takes the reader inside Jeffries' mind as he works through his suspicions about the woman's disappearance. It was an enjoyable short story where the suspense kept building.

[Denisa Ciubotaru · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know what, just stick to Hitchcock's Rear Window. This short story is not even close to the awesomeness of the movie.

[Rasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

العدد العاشر والأخير من سلسلة (هيتشكوك يقدم) وهذه المرة هي رواية واحدة متوسطة الطول وليس 2 نوفيلا مثل كل مرة.

الرواية كلاسيكية قام (ألفريد هيتشكوك) بتحويلها إلى فيلم شهير هو (Rear Window)، وهي رواية تشويق وإثارة تدور أحداثها حول المصور الصحفي (جيفريز) الذي يقضي إجازة إجبارية في منزله بعدما كُسرت ساقه، وفي خمسينيات القرن الماضي حيث لا هواتف حديثة ولا إنترنت ولا أي وسائل تسلية يجعل (جيفريز) تسليته هي مراقبة الجيران القاطنين بالعمارة المقابله لمنزله.

يراقبهم (جيفريز) ويعرف عاداتهم وروتينهم اليومي، ومن مراقبة شقة لشقة يقضي يومه إلى أن يأتي يوم يشك فيه أن أحد هؤلاء الجيران قد قتل زوجته، لكن لأنه لم يرى القتل وليس متأكد من الأمر بالضبط، لا يُمكنه إبلاغ الشرطة بشيء ويستعين بخادمه وصديقه الصحفي لتقصي الأمر ومعرفة الحقيقة.

الرواية متوسطة الطول وممتعة تنتهي في جلسة واحدة تقريبًا.

[Jackson Hamelund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected after watching Hitchcock’s Rear Window but still some relations and again I recommend watching the film first because then you can follow along to the short story. Thank you Hitchcock and Cornell Woolrich!

[gianna 🫂 · Rating 4 out of 5]

he just like me

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I only read the title story, its available for free online so that`s where that came from. I would certainly be interested to read the rest of these stories, or anything else by Woolrich. Also I`m feeling pretty bad that I didn`t even come close to my book readin' goal. Shitty. But what're ya gonna do.

This book though. It was just ok really... I'm not so enamored with his style but if there were other short stories... say in a collection... like some sort of short story collection that I could read... all together... hmmm... Then I might have a greater appreciation for this one. But I don't have that. I just have the title tale from a free pdf that appears if you were to google this. And for what it's worth, this story would be better if it were part of a collection... of other short stories... bound together into one omnibus...

Ahh, really bummed out about not reading more though. I might be able to squeeze in 1 or two more. Maybe three. Probably not. I wish they had real estate books in here. That would bump me up another 4. 5 really by the time the year is done. That would make me feel better. Although... I guess not being able to track them on here doesn't mean that I haven't read them... so I can still ad them to my total and feel a lil' better about myself. but who am I kidding!? It's all about your good reads tally and it's not about how many books you can SAY you've read! It's about that number beside your goddamn name!Always starring at you! Mocking you! Oh man! I guess it's all over.

Thanks for the chat though me. I needed that.

P.S.
Get out of here you! You don't belong here! this wasn't meant for you! Unless it's you. And if it really IS you, I congratulate you for getting this far. You always do manage to pull it off. Usually...

[Andrea Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrilling read. The original inspiration behind Hitchcock's "Rear Window," which was the inspiration for the movie "Disturbia," the story centers around a man, Hal Jeffries, who is confined to his bedroom after an ankle injury. Not being much of a reader, the man spends his time watching and listening to his neighbours' daily routines for entertainment. His attention is drawn to the house of a couple, an out-of-job husband and a sick wife, after he first witnesses a change in their daily routine. The events take place in under a week's time, and the story just kept on getting interesting (good pacing and well edited) even though I knew about the plot, thanks to Disturbia. The title "It had to be..."suits perfectly as it is not clear to the reader until the end of the story what actually happened, and if what Hal supposes is true.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big Cornell Woolrich fan but I'd never read IT HAD TO BE MURDER which is the source story for Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW. Seeing as REAR WINDOW is one of my favorite films it was high time I read the story. It's wonderful story but I have to admit the movie is better than the story. Hitchcock & Hayes (screenwriter) took the story and lifted it thanks to the addition of Thelma Ritter and Grace Kelly's characters and the voyeuristic view of the other apartment block dwellers. Woolrich's story still stands up. If you've not read it, give it a go.

[Lyndon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer - I'm not reviewing Woolrich's short story - I still need to read it.

Here are my thoughts on the movie, Rear Window, which is based on this short story....

Somehow, this movie slipped past me when I was growing up. It always seems like a good idea to try to watch more of these classics, but you just never get around to it, right?

But then I was reading the thriller, "The Woman in the Window" by AJ Finn, and the main character referenced this movie. (Finn's novel, btw, has this classic noir film feel to it, and is recommended.)

So we rented "Rear Window" from Amazon and really enjoyed it. The ending was a bit rushed and unrealistic, but the tension throughout the film was well done, along with the cinematography.

I'd say 4 1/2 stars. I mean, Alfred Hitchcock directing James Stewart and Grace Kelly? Golden era.

[kiho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it, and part of it was better than the movie version. Some changes Hitchcock made are significant though - like adding a few female characters, more neighbors, and giving the protagonist a more pronounced personality and background.

Will have to read the story this one is based on, too - H.G. Wells' short story "Through a Window".

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOT the film, and the film is NOT the short story. Get both of 'em under your belt as you'll enjoy both for very different reasons. The mastery of Hitchcock and that of Woolrich is equally unparalleled.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Inspiration for Rear Window (1954)]

[Cameron Trost · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story that hits the nail on the head when it comes to creating suspense. It's no wonder Hitchcock made it into his legendary film, Rear Window.

[Donia Darwish · Rating 3 out of 5]

قاعد زهقان
رجلك فى الجبس
وممنوع من الحركة لأيام
قعد قدام الشباك
طل طلة على الشارع والجيران
يمكن تلاقى حدوتة تتابعها من ورا الإزاز
وده فعلا الحال
لما ركزت مع شباك حد من الجيران
وتابعت حركة الأشخاص
ولما يختفى حد من السكان
تبدأ ترسم فى حكايات
ياترى راح فين
ولا يكون تعبان
وراقد فى سريره لأيام
ولا يكون ….. مات 🙄🙄

قصة سريعة فى أحداثها مشوقة إلى حدا ما
مع أن الحكاية شبه معروفة وشوفنها كتير فى روايات وأفلام.
بس مايمنعش أنك هتفضل تتابعها بحماس
النهاية جات سريعة شوية كنت حابة تطول اكتر بس كعادة سلسلة هيتشكوك قصصها كده تخطفك خطف 😁

#مكتبة_دنيا
#قراءات_٢٠٢٣

[Jack Herbert Christal Gattanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Delayed action.

I think this is one of those times I much prefer the film adaptation over the source, and that's saying something since this story is very very compelling and the PoV Woolrich draw out implicates the reader (ie would we not do what he does? Cmon). But the Sam character aged like milk and having Kelly and Ritter in the film to do this character's actions is a better idea.

[دينا ممدوح · Rating 3 out of 5]

بعد أن انهيت أعداد هيتشكوك يقدم الماضية حتى العدد التاسع توقفت فترة، والآن وجدت هذا العدد فقلت لما لا أجدد مسيرتي مع هيتشكوك مرة أخرى، فبدأت فيه.

في هذا العدد وعلى عكس الأعداد السابقة من السلسلة فيحتوي على قصة واحدة طويلة. وعلى الرغم من أن مع صفحات القصة الأولى تأكدت أنني أعرفها، إلا أنني استكملتها بكل استمتاع.

القصة تحكي عن الجار الفضولي الذي قرر مراقبة الجيران في البناية المواجهة له والتي تنقسم إلى عدد من الشقق، لا يجد الجار الفضولي أي وسيلة للتسلية سوى جيرانه وحياتهم.
هل تظن أن الحكاية توقفت عند هذا الفضول؟ على العكس الفضول كان سبب لكشف جريمة ستعرفها مع تفاصيل القصة.

عند قراءة القصة جاء في ذهني كل الأفلام التي تناولت الفكرة نفسها بداية من rare window وحتى الفيلم الأخير الذي كان يعرض العام الماضي عن القصة نفسها the women in the house across the street ، في كل مرة تختلف شخصية الجار الفضولي ما بين رجل كان أو مرأة، وسبب جلوسه في المنزل وعدم استطاعته الخروج ما بين مرض نفسي أو جسدي، ولكن في النهاية وفي جميع الأحوال تجد أن الاحداث تسرقك لمشاهدتها والتعرف على الجريمة.

حتى أن هذه القصة ذكرتني بفيلم عربي قديم اسمه (بستان الدم) واعتبره واحدًا من أفلامي المفضلة ويفوق في حبكته بدرجة كافية القصة المذكورة.

مازالت الترجمة في سلسلة هيتشكوك يقدم واحدة من أفضل الترجمات التي قرأتها ولا تجعلني أشعر بأي خلل في النصوص التي اقرأها.

[JenniferAustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I looked Cornell Woolrich up after reading a quote from Stephen King that indicated he thinks very highly of his work. In comments on Ira Levin, King said, "The only other writer I can think of offhand who had that wonderful ability to totally ambush the reader was the late Cornell Woolrich ... but Woolrich did not have Levin's dry wit.” (Danse Macabre, quoted in the current Wikipedia article on A Kiss Before Dying).
Once I saw that Woolrich had written the story that the film Rear Window was based on, I decided to start there.
This is indeed a very good story. Screenwriter John Michael Hayes made changes that resulted in an excellent film, but the beginnings are here.

[Godly Gadfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story that's the basis of a famous Hitchcock film (2.5 stars)

Hal Jeffries is in a cast and confined to his room, from where he observes the lives of his neighbours through their windows. By a process of deduction, he becomes convinced that his neighbour Thorwald has killed his wife and is covering up. Despite an initial investigation from his police friend Boyne proving nothing, Hal persists with his conclusions. When he starts dropping hidden clues to the apparent killer that he's been found out, a suspenseful conclusion is in store, because surely a murderer won't be afraid to kill twice.

This story from 1942 was the basis of the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window, which apparently adds further layers to the voyeurism of the story, such as more neighbours and characters, and likely improves on it. I found myself doubting the protagonist’s leaps in logic, so the tense finish came somewhat as a implausible surprise, despite the suspense and action. Probably the film is better.

[Abeer Abdelhamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

شخص اصيب بحادث اثر على حركته ووضعت رجله فى الجبس مما اجبره على ملازمة المنزل ولشعوره بالملل فى وقت لم يكن هناك انترنت ولا حتى تليفزيون يقرر التسلية وقضاء الوقت بمتابعة جيرانه من خلال النافذة
مع الوقت اصبح يحفظ روتين كل شقة وساكنيها الا ان زوجين شابين اثارا اهتمامه حتى اصبح يتابعهم فى كل لحظة حتى جاءت اللحظة التى شك فيها بأن الزوج قد قتل زوجته.. وهنا لم يعرف ما الذى عليه فعله

مع بداية القصة تشعر بنفس ملل البطل وبعد ذلك تشعر بتوتره وتتسارع الاحداث عندما يقرر التدخل وعدم الاكتفاء بالمشاهدة

القصة قدمها هيتشكوك فى فيلم
REAR WINDOW

[Esraa El Shakany · Rating 4 out of 5]

من أجمل القصص التي قرأتها في السلسلة
رجل ذو قدم مكسورة يجلس طوال اليوم على كرسي في غرفته لا يستطيع الحركة من مكانه بمفرده استطاع بذكائه كشف جريمة قتل تمت في شقة في بناية مواجهة له..
اضطراره إلي الجلوس لفترات طويلة دون الحركة دفعه ليتابع حيوات جيرانه من نافذته حتى أدرك اختفاء إحدى جاراته المريضة وقيام زوجها بعدد من التصرفات العجيبة الغريبة
حاول الاستعانة بزميله الشرطي ولكنه لم يجد منه نفعًا لذا استخدم عقله ورسم بذكائه سيناريو لكشف جريمة القتل بمساعدة صديقه سام وعلى الرغم من أن ذلك قد أوشك أن يودي به للهلاك ولكنه لم يتخلى عن هدفه حتى تمكن منه
قصة جميلة جدًااا

[Kevin Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was delighted to listen to a reading of this, in its entirety, as a bonus episode of Secret History Of Hollywood. It’s a fun little tale, and especially interesting to cinema fans who want to find out the source material that Rear Window was based on. Some ridiculousness stops it from being an outright classic, but the premise is so strong, and Woolrich writes so well (duh), that it’s a very entertaining and breezy short story every thriller fan should enjoy.

[Demetrius Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading "It Had to Be Murder" you can imagine Hitchcock, after finishing it thinking "If I can keep up the suspense in this suspenseful short story in a movie, I could have a hit."
Of course a short story always has fewer characters than a novel or movie and so there's no Grace Kelly Blonde. There is, however, the basic elements and set up that made Rear Window a suspenseful thriller, and although the protagonist seems incredibly foolish near the end, It Had to be Murder is a great story that I can recommend.

[رضوى أحمد عيد · Rating 3 out of 5]

:قصة قصيرة تتلخص في 3 كلمات
😄 الفاضي يعمل قاضي
بس حلوة ومشوقة

المشكلة في الأخطاء الإملائية واللخبطة في الجمل اللي خلتها غير مفهومة في بعض الأحيان ومعرفش إذا كانت دي حاجة خاصة بالنسخة المجانية على أبجد ولا هي كده لأن واضح من الريفيوهات إن مفيش مشكلة !!

فيبدو إن الدار عشان تتيح إصداراتها مجانًا نزلت نسخ من الكتب أقل ما يقال عنها إنها "معيوبة" لأن ده 3 كتاب مترجم ألاقيه مليان أخطاء بالشكل ده ودي حاجة مش حلوة في حقها..أعتقد إن كان من الأفضل يا الكتب تنزل مظبوطة يا متنزلش مجانًا من الأساس !

[Maha · Rating 4 out of 5]

هيتشكوك يقدم عدد مميز فعلا هذه المره تشويق و قصه واحده لكن اكبر احببت هذا العدد
الترجمه احترافيه للغايه كالعاده و هذا العدد يحتوي علي مزيد من التفاصيل ادركت انها صعبه في الترجمه لكن في النهايه وصلت لنا بهذه الاحترافيه كانك تقرأها ب لغتها
و في انتظار المزيد من الاعداد المميزه ان شاء الله
تقييمي للعدد ٤ / ٥
تقييمي للترجمه ٥/٥

[Rodney Haydon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read the inspiration to this story Through a Window, before reading this one. Hard not to see Jimmy Stewart in my mind's eye while reading.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. 13 A4 pages. So, very short. Not exactly like the movie. Hitchcock expanded everything a little bit, but as a story on it's own it worked in my opinion. Now on to reading the movie script 😁

[Maddy Walock · Rating 4 out of 5]

True rating: 3.5

This short story does a great job at revealing information when we need to know it, when it will be most impactful. Rear Window is a wonderful adaptation, I think it does this story well!

[ViAViA · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unimpressive, standard detective mystery book. The concept is interesting but it is better as a movie. The writing is decent, I'll say, but besides that there were no moments I felt I gained something out of reading it.