Ventovieras

by Joseph Hayes, Inkeri Hämäläinen (Translator)

"Somewhere deep inside of him, Charles Bancroft knew something terrible had happened. But what it was, or who he was and why he was standing damp and disheveled on a street in New York was buried deep in the black, soundless depths of a mind he could not reach. With only a few clues - a driver's license, a photograph - he embarked on the strangest and most dangerous journey of his life - a journey in search of himself."

408 pages, Hardcover

First published June 23, 1963

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, don't let the 1965 movie turn you off of reading the novel. Its plot was changed and simplified, and, not surprisingly, cleaned up some. But the novel is well-crafted and complicated, and well worth your time - though that doesn't mean it will appeal to everyone. The beginning is terrific, but elements appear later which a modern reader might find predictable, and if you don't feel drawn in by hearing every thought that crosses the main character's mind over a three-day period, you could find it maddeningly slow. The amnesiac hero, Charles Bancroft, finds it pretty maddening, so the writing conveys his frustration well.

I loved it. Characters are fully developed, right down to an angry, neglected 9-year-old boy who just might be the first television-addict in fiction; certainly a well-written example of one! That he also resists eating in order to NOT grow strong like the football-hero father who neglects him, is skillfully done.

It works best for a reader who does engage with following the process of a man piecing himself back together through clues and questions, learning his life without the memories that would let him emotionally connect to that life. The circumstances surrounding a murder, the victim both abused and abusive, make it a good mystery.

Charles Bancroft has had to lose himself to find himself. He "comes to" on a street in New York City in the rain, with no memory of his identity, only scattered mental images of his early life, and none at all of the past 11 years. He follows a driver's license in his sodden wallet, and a torn envelope with a New York City address, gathering facts, but he remains somewhat detached from them; he thinks of the man who lived and who hurt people he loves during those missing years as the "other" Charles, and only gradually reintegrates. In the process, that detachment enables him to face hard truth about his reckless and nasty behavior over the past year, things too painful to feel in full force, and to face the consequences with honesty.

The lack of absolute good guys or bad guys, the intelligence of the female characters, the plausible way each person has become who he or she is, make it work like a fine Swiss watch. Published first in 1963, it's more introspective than thrillers of today, and its events more driven by characters' opinions of each other than by lots of action (until you get toward the end), so be forewarned, but as such, it's a great read.

[Kathryn Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good story by an author no one probably knows, let alone, reads anymore.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a mystery fan. This book was a little predictable but as it was a fast read it was o.k.