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Phantom Lady
Sentenced to death for murdering his wife, Henderson can prove his innocence only by locating his alibi, a mysterious woman who has vanished without a trace
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1942
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1170 people want to read
About the author
Cornell Woolrich
439 books474 followersCornell 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...]
Source: [http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bi...]
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December 28, 2019
”Time he thought, is a greater murderer than any man or woman. Time is the murderer that never gets punished.”
Cover of the Centipede Press edition painted by Matt Mahurin
The first chapter is titled: The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution. These words usher in a black cloud of impending doom. Color fades and is replaced by the shadowy gray scale of the 1940s noir movies. I can feel my nerve endings start to tingle and the piano wire that holds my skeleton together stretches tight. Cornell Woolrich was already manipulating me before I even had a chance to pour a couple of fingers of bourbon or roll a matchstick between my teeth.
Scott Henderson has a fight with his wife. Not that the evening was going to be pleasant, because he was going to be asking her for a divorce, but he had bought tickets to a nice musical show and had booked a restaurant that had fond memories for both of them. These were plans made with the best of intentions, but the fickleness of fate was vibrating a few strings that would insure that the evening went nothing like he planned.
There were a lot of things he should have done different.
Alan Curtis, who died tragically young, played Scott Henderson in the movie.
The evening with his wife never happens. In fact, after strafing each other with words that leaves hot shrapnel buried deep in his belly, Scott storms out of the apartment and soon finds himself in a bar with a handful of scotch and glass. A woman is there.
”There was something flat about her. The light had gone out; the impact of her personality was soggy, limp. She was just some woman in black, with dark brown hair; something that blocked the background, that was all. Not homely, not pretty, not tall, not small, not chic, not dowdy; not anything at all just plain, just colorless, just a common denominator of all feminine figures everywhere. A cipher. A composite. A Gallup poll.”
She was as memorable as a gray sky except for the hat she was wearing. It was an orange flame of color that draws the eye and somehow elevates her from ordinary to extraordinary.
On a whim he asks the woman in the hat to help him use the tickets. An odd thing to do, but then he works for a living and earned dollars always have more value. He can’t just tear up the tickets to the show.
No names, no shared histories between them, what is the point after all they will never see each other again. They go to dinner, catch a cab, go to the show, and part from each other at the end of the evening knowing next to nothing about each other.
He comes home to a house full of detectives and a dead wife.
I can’t think of a better way to put a man in the frame than to strangle his wife with his own necktie. I have around thirty stranglers in my closet. I hadn’t really thought of my ties as weapons, but in a pair of strong hands a tie becomes a very capable murder weapon.
None of it really makes sense to the cops, but the evidence is strong against Scott. His story is hackneyed and unbelievable. He can barely remember the woman or really even that much about the evening. As the cops follow up on his movements that night everyone who is interviewed remembers him, but doesn’t remember the woman.
The woman has become a phantom.
The cops have their case, after all murder investigations are generally just a matter of following the numbers. They have more than enough evidence to put Scott in the electric chair.
This is the ultimate nightmare, right? You know you are innocent, but all the evidence points to you. You start to question your own sanity and start to imagine the possibility that the tie was gripped in your hands, and death for those crucial seconds must have filled your eyes.
Ella Raines plays Carol Richman in the 1944 movie.
Carol Richman, his girlfriend, otherwise known as his motive for murder, doesn’t believe he killed his wife. His best friend John Lombard is asked to come back from South America to help find something, anything to help stay the execution. You might want to take a moment right now and go through your list of friends and acquaintances and think about who would not only stand by you under circumstances such as this, but who would also actually stretch their neck out to help save you. If your list is short or maybe even nonexistent then your list is a match for mine.
As Lombard and Richman track down each of the witnesses and begin to break down their stories the plot starts to feel like script pages from the movie Angel Heart. Witnesses that finally crack are found dead before they can tell their tale to the cops. The clock is ticking and as the days and the hours count down everyone becomes more and more desperate. After all it doesn’t do any good to prove Scott is innocent after the switch has been thrown.
The atmosphere of the novel is one of tension from the beginning to the end. The helpless terror felt by all the characters is palpable. The witnesses are squeezed. The searchers are overwhelmed by the urgency of their task. The dialogue is boiled and boiled again until it hits the reader like lead weights. If you feel safe, Woolrich will make you feel unsafe. If you are level headed and see the world with clear eyes this novel will wrap your heart in paranoia and strap dirty shot glasses over your eyes.
Many of Woolrich’s novels and short stories were turned into films. The Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window was probably the most famous and best adaptation of one of his stories. The famed French director Francois Truffaut also used Woolrich creations for two of his movies. The director Robert Siodmak filmed Phantom Lady for release in 1944. That year was a marquee year for film noir. They didn’t call it film noir in 1944, but Hollywood was starting to discover that Americans would pay to see dark, gritty mysteries. Ten key films were released in 1944 and those films ushered in an avalanche of great noir films.
Murder, My Sweet
Phantom Lady
Laura
Christmas Holiday
Gaslight
Ministry of Fear
The Lodger
The Woman in the WIndow
Experiment Perilous
I read the Centipede Press edition of this book. This edition included an introduction by Barry N. Malzberg. He knew Woolrich for the last year of his life. ”And there the old man sat, poised, rigid, on a red chair in the red lobby of the Sheraton-Russell Hotel.” Woolrich was beyond lonely, with no significant person in his life after his mother died. He even offered his last editor a deal to move in with him and he would leave his estate to him. The editor decided to pass which I wonder if he realized he was giving up a couple of million dollars. Hollywood had been good to Woolrich’s bank account. Malzberg had his wife meet Woolrich. She makes an assessment of Woolrich which sounds right on the money to me. ”He’s a sad old man.” She pauses. “But he’s a cunning sad old man.”
Cornell Woolrich
A biographer considered him the fourth best crime writer of his day behind Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Erle Stanley Gardner. It’s always been hard for me to place numbers next to writer’s names, but I will say that if you like those writers you should be reading Cornell Woolrich as well.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Cover of the Centipede Press edition painted by Matt Mahurin
The first chapter is titled: The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution. These words usher in a black cloud of impending doom. Color fades and is replaced by the shadowy gray scale of the 1940s noir movies. I can feel my nerve endings start to tingle and the piano wire that holds my skeleton together stretches tight. Cornell Woolrich was already manipulating me before I even had a chance to pour a couple of fingers of bourbon or roll a matchstick between my teeth.
Scott Henderson has a fight with his wife. Not that the evening was going to be pleasant, because he was going to be asking her for a divorce, but he had bought tickets to a nice musical show and had booked a restaurant that had fond memories for both of them. These were plans made with the best of intentions, but the fickleness of fate was vibrating a few strings that would insure that the evening went nothing like he planned.
There were a lot of things he should have done different.
Alan Curtis, who died tragically young, played Scott Henderson in the movie.
The evening with his wife never happens. In fact, after strafing each other with words that leaves hot shrapnel buried deep in his belly, Scott storms out of the apartment and soon finds himself in a bar with a handful of scotch and glass. A woman is there.
”There was something flat about her. The light had gone out; the impact of her personality was soggy, limp. She was just some woman in black, with dark brown hair; something that blocked the background, that was all. Not homely, not pretty, not tall, not small, not chic, not dowdy; not anything at all just plain, just colorless, just a common denominator of all feminine figures everywhere. A cipher. A composite. A Gallup poll.”
She was as memorable as a gray sky except for the hat she was wearing. It was an orange flame of color that draws the eye and somehow elevates her from ordinary to extraordinary.
On a whim he asks the woman in the hat to help him use the tickets. An odd thing to do, but then he works for a living and earned dollars always have more value. He can’t just tear up the tickets to the show.
No names, no shared histories between them, what is the point after all they will never see each other again. They go to dinner, catch a cab, go to the show, and part from each other at the end of the evening knowing next to nothing about each other.
He comes home to a house full of detectives and a dead wife.
I can’t think of a better way to put a man in the frame than to strangle his wife with his own necktie. I have around thirty stranglers in my closet. I hadn’t really thought of my ties as weapons, but in a pair of strong hands a tie becomes a very capable murder weapon.
None of it really makes sense to the cops, but the evidence is strong against Scott. His story is hackneyed and unbelievable. He can barely remember the woman or really even that much about the evening. As the cops follow up on his movements that night everyone who is interviewed remembers him, but doesn’t remember the woman.
The woman has become a phantom.
The cops have their case, after all murder investigations are generally just a matter of following the numbers. They have more than enough evidence to put Scott in the electric chair.
This is the ultimate nightmare, right? You know you are innocent, but all the evidence points to you. You start to question your own sanity and start to imagine the possibility that the tie was gripped in your hands, and death for those crucial seconds must have filled your eyes.
Ella Raines plays Carol Richman in the 1944 movie.
Carol Richman, his girlfriend, otherwise known as his motive for murder, doesn’t believe he killed his wife. His best friend John Lombard is asked to come back from South America to help find something, anything to help stay the execution. You might want to take a moment right now and go through your list of friends and acquaintances and think about who would not only stand by you under circumstances such as this, but who would also actually stretch their neck out to help save you. If your list is short or maybe even nonexistent then your list is a match for mine.
As Lombard and Richman track down each of the witnesses and begin to break down their stories the plot starts to feel like script pages from the movie Angel Heart. Witnesses that finally crack are found dead before they can tell their tale to the cops. The clock is ticking and as the days and the hours count down everyone becomes more and more desperate. After all it doesn’t do any good to prove Scott is innocent after the switch has been thrown.
The atmosphere of the novel is one of tension from the beginning to the end. The helpless terror felt by all the characters is palpable. The witnesses are squeezed. The searchers are overwhelmed by the urgency of their task. The dialogue is boiled and boiled again until it hits the reader like lead weights. If you feel safe, Woolrich will make you feel unsafe. If you are level headed and see the world with clear eyes this novel will wrap your heart in paranoia and strap dirty shot glasses over your eyes.
Many of Woolrich’s novels and short stories were turned into films. The Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window was probably the most famous and best adaptation of one of his stories. The famed French director Francois Truffaut also used Woolrich creations for two of his movies. The director Robert Siodmak filmed Phantom Lady for release in 1944. That year was a marquee year for film noir. They didn’t call it film noir in 1944, but Hollywood was starting to discover that Americans would pay to see dark, gritty mysteries. Ten key films were released in 1944 and those films ushered in an avalanche of great noir films.
Murder, My Sweet
Phantom Lady
Laura
Christmas Holiday
Gaslight
Ministry of Fear
The Lodger
The Woman in the WIndow
Experiment Perilous
I read the Centipede Press edition of this book. This edition included an introduction by Barry N. Malzberg. He knew Woolrich for the last year of his life. ”And there the old man sat, poised, rigid, on a red chair in the red lobby of the Sheraton-Russell Hotel.” Woolrich was beyond lonely, with no significant person in his life after his mother died. He even offered his last editor a deal to move in with him and he would leave his estate to him. The editor decided to pass which I wonder if he realized he was giving up a couple of million dollars. Hollywood had been good to Woolrich’s bank account. Malzberg had his wife meet Woolrich. She makes an assessment of Woolrich which sounds right on the money to me. ”He’s a sad old man.” She pauses. “But he’s a cunning sad old man.”
Cornell Woolrich
A biographer considered him the fourth best crime writer of his day behind Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Erle Stanley Gardner. It’s always been hard for me to place numbers next to writer’s names, but I will say that if you like those writers you should be reading Cornell Woolrich as well.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
October 21, 2023
This is the story of the countdown to the execution of a man for premeditated murder.
Henderson is on death row for the killing of his wife and he is fighting to keep his sanity, as nobody, first of all the judge and the jury in his case, believed his alibi that he spent the night of the murder in the company of an unknown woman, that he doesn't know her name and he doesn't remember anything about her face or body. Nothing except the fact that she wore a ridiculous and glaring orange hat with a foot long feather on top. Nobody remembers seeing them together - not the barman at the place where they met, not the taxi driver who took them downtown, the usher at the theater, the drummer in the band stand, the beggar that accosted them, not even the lead singer in the revue who wore the exact same model of orange hat. Henderson is about to lose his sanity, starting to doubt his memory about the night he spent with this unknown lady who disappeared right afterward, not even leaving a glass slipper behind like Cinderella.
Woolrich / Irish is in top form as he ramps out the tension for the countdown to the execution, as he sets up an amazing series of scary encounters in the dark between a couple of Henderson'a friends and those witnesses who didn't back up his alibi. These episodes appear to me forced and tacked onto the main story for special effects, but I must admit that the author finds a way to explain the discrepancy between the accounts of Henderson and of the witnesses in a satisfactory and timely manner. By timely I mean the good old fashioned last minute dash to outrun the countdown clock.
The best part of the story for me is the manner in which the author captures the mental anguish of several cast members through action and setting, and not mainly though introspective musings. It's a strongly visual and streamlined style that almost begs for a movie adaptation and also explains some of the success of the Robert Siodmak version. Favorite scenes include a silent confrontation on an elevated train platform and a slightly over-the-top performance by the Latino singer in her boudoir.
Since I mentioned the classic noir movie, I should also mention that I actually liked the screen version better than the book for eliminating some of the most difficult to accept premises of the novel .
"Phantom Lady" may be one of the early efforts of Woolrich, and the plot may be unconvincing, but for me it is clear why the author is considered one of the masters of suspense (wikipedia mentions that "A check of film titles reveals that more film noir screenplays were adapted from works by Woolrich than any other crime novelist, and many of his stories were adapted during the 1940s for Suspense and other dramatic radio programs") and where his later successes (Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black) originated.
I recommend both reading the novel and watching the movie, noting the differences between the two stories and the excellent performance of Ella Raines - a hidden gem for me among the classic Hollywood divas.
Henderson is on death row for the killing of his wife and he is fighting to keep his sanity, as nobody, first of all the judge and the jury in his case, believed his alibi that he spent the night of the murder in the company of an unknown woman, that he doesn't know her name and he doesn't remember anything about her face or body. Nothing except the fact that she wore a ridiculous and glaring orange hat with a foot long feather on top. Nobody remembers seeing them together - not the barman at the place where they met, not the taxi driver who took them downtown, the usher at the theater, the drummer in the band stand, the beggar that accosted them, not even the lead singer in the revue who wore the exact same model of orange hat. Henderson is about to lose his sanity, starting to doubt his memory about the night he spent with this unknown lady who disappeared right afterward, not even leaving a glass slipper behind like Cinderella.
Woolrich / Irish is in top form as he ramps out the tension for the countdown to the execution, as he sets up an amazing series of scary encounters in the dark between a couple of Henderson'a friends and those witnesses who didn't back up his alibi. These episodes appear to me forced and tacked onto the main story for special effects, but I must admit that the author finds a way to explain the discrepancy between the accounts of Henderson and of the witnesses in a satisfactory and timely manner. By timely I mean the good old fashioned last minute dash to outrun the countdown clock.
The best part of the story for me is the manner in which the author captures the mental anguish of several cast members through action and setting, and not mainly though introspective musings. It's a strongly visual and streamlined style that almost begs for a movie adaptation and also explains some of the success of the Robert Siodmak version. Favorite scenes include a silent confrontation on an elevated train platform and a slightly over-the-top performance by the Latino singer in her boudoir.
Since I mentioned the classic noir movie, I should also mention that I actually liked the screen version better than the book for eliminating some of the most difficult to accept premises of the novel .
"Phantom Lady" may be one of the early efforts of Woolrich, and the plot may be unconvincing, but for me it is clear why the author is considered one of the masters of suspense (wikipedia mentions that "A check of film titles reveals that more film noir screenplays were adapted from works by Woolrich than any other crime novelist, and many of his stories were adapted during the 1940s for Suspense and other dramatic radio programs") and where his later successes (Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black) originated.
I recommend both reading the novel and watching the movie, noting the differences between the two stories and the excellent performance of Ella Raines - a hidden gem for me among the classic Hollywood divas.
Want to read
July 21, 2017Book has the following inscription: "To Barry from Cornell"
The book is : Black cloth, green/silver letters/stamp to spine.
Book has the following dedication:
To Apartment 605, Hotel M-
in unmitigated thankfulness
(at not being in it any more)
The book is : Black cloth, green/silver letters/stamp to spine.
Book has the following dedication:
To Apartment 605, Hotel M-
in unmitigated thankfulness
(at not being in it any more)
February 21, 2016
Entertaining but implausible.
Scott Henderson quarrels with his wife and storms out of the house to go cool his heels. Finding himself with two show tickets and no one to use them, he arrives at an arrangement with a woman he meets in a bar. He takes her to dinner and the show, and then drops her off back where they met. No romance. No names exchanged. On returning home, he finds a fatal flaw in his plan. He now needs his nameless escort for another purpose, as an alibi.
Thus begins a race against the clock, ominously portrayed by chapter headings counting down from The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution. As the days fly by, Henderson reaches out to what few friends he has left to enlist their aid in finding the invisible companion that nobody remembers seeing.
Cornell Woolrich, writing as William Irish, spins a tale with all the psychological intensity of Hitchcock’s best movies. Unfortunately, the reader is asked to believe one whopper too many. The story ultimately collapses beneath the weight of the labyrinthine machinations that the killer carries out to keep the plot going. To Woolrich’s credit, he did manage to keep me from figuring out the killer’s identity until the last minute.
Bottom line: Despite its implausibilities, the twists and turns in Phantom Lady will appeal to lovers of noir fiction.
3 stars
FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.
Scott Henderson quarrels with his wife and storms out of the house to go cool his heels. Finding himself with two show tickets and no one to use them, he arrives at an arrangement with a woman he meets in a bar. He takes her to dinner and the show, and then drops her off back where they met. No romance. No names exchanged. On returning home, he finds a fatal flaw in his plan. He now needs his nameless escort for another purpose, as an alibi.
Thus begins a race against the clock, ominously portrayed by chapter headings counting down from The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution. As the days fly by, Henderson reaches out to what few friends he has left to enlist their aid in finding the invisible companion that nobody remembers seeing.
Cornell Woolrich, writing as William Irish, spins a tale with all the psychological intensity of Hitchcock’s best movies. Unfortunately, the reader is asked to believe one whopper too many. The story ultimately collapses beneath the weight of the labyrinthine machinations that the killer carries out to keep the plot going. To Woolrich’s credit, he did manage to keep me from figuring out the killer’s identity until the last minute.
Bottom line: Despite its implausibilities, the twists and turns in Phantom Lady will appeal to lovers of noir fiction.
3 stars
FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.
May 16, 2023
04/2013
My copy of this is in an old book I found called The Best of William Irish - this was a pen name he had in the 40s, maybe because he produced so much. Phantom Lady was pretty good. Amazing suspense, of course, with a strong plot twist at the end. I love Woolrich like no other, but actually I often find him boring about half the time. Only, when he is good - isolated lines even - he is phenomenally astounding. They call him the father of noir, and I can see this, but it's not why I love him.
My copy of this is in an old book I found called The Best of William Irish - this was a pen name he had in the 40s, maybe because he produced so much. Phantom Lady was pretty good. Amazing suspense, of course, with a strong plot twist at the end. I love Woolrich like no other, but actually I often find him boring about half the time. Only, when he is good - isolated lines even - he is phenomenally astounding. They call him the father of noir, and I can see this, but it's not why I love him.
December 26, 2023
3.5 overall.
'PL' is often said to be among Woolrich's best work - but, alas, it just isn't. I'll grant that the earlier half is more effective (it does, after all, have a surefire premise) but, as the novel progresses, it goes out of control in a way that's unsatisfying - becoming over-thought, over-explained and over-baked.
Of course, Woolrich fans (and I'm one of them) come to expect certain excesses in his imagination. They often add to the tension, even if / when they're not wholly believable. They can, at times, be part of the author's particular 'charm'.
But, here, in turning the heat up to the max, Woolrich over-writes. Less would certainly have been more. In particular, the very long final chapter (a major damper), in which CW takes us through a very labored re-cap of 'how the whole thing happened'. Remember that long (some say too long) explanation sequence at the end of Hitchcock's 'Psycho'? The wrap-up of 'PL' is sort of like that - only much longer and more unwieldy.
A film version was made in 1944, directed by the wonderful and talented Robert Siodmak. It's usually the case that a book is much better than its screen adaptation - but not this time. Even with its own particular flaws (which are few but, yes, it has them), the film streamlines the story in a way that makes it accessible and immediate. And spooky!
All that said, it's not a terrible book (again, esp. the first half, which has terrific isolated scenes) and other Woolrich fans may be able to overlook the burdensome bulkiness (and uniquely stretched logic) more than I could.
I just had a weird sense that I was 'fighting' this particular novel. I don't recall feeling that way before with a Woolrich book (maybe aside from some of his less-accomplished, early short stories).
... Now I'm starting to feel a bit bad. ~ mainly 'cause I don't want to downplay what *does* work in 'PL'. There's more than a fair amount of Woolrich grittiness within, as well as saucy dialogue and 'romantic' urban angst: good stuff that - as noir lit - unfortunately runs amok.
'PL' is often said to be among Woolrich's best work - but, alas, it just isn't. I'll grant that the earlier half is more effective (it does, after all, have a surefire premise) but, as the novel progresses, it goes out of control in a way that's unsatisfying - becoming over-thought, over-explained and over-baked.
Of course, Woolrich fans (and I'm one of them) come to expect certain excesses in his imagination. They often add to the tension, even if / when they're not wholly believable. They can, at times, be part of the author's particular 'charm'.
But, here, in turning the heat up to the max, Woolrich over-writes. Less would certainly have been more. In particular, the very long final chapter (a major damper), in which CW takes us through a very labored re-cap of 'how the whole thing happened'. Remember that long (some say too long) explanation sequence at the end of Hitchcock's 'Psycho'? The wrap-up of 'PL' is sort of like that - only much longer and more unwieldy.
A film version was made in 1944, directed by the wonderful and talented Robert Siodmak. It's usually the case that a book is much better than its screen adaptation - but not this time. Even with its own particular flaws (which are few but, yes, it has them), the film streamlines the story in a way that makes it accessible and immediate. And spooky!
All that said, it's not a terrible book (again, esp. the first half, which has terrific isolated scenes) and other Woolrich fans may be able to overlook the burdensome bulkiness (and uniquely stretched logic) more than I could.
I just had a weird sense that I was 'fighting' this particular novel. I don't recall feeling that way before with a Woolrich book (maybe aside from some of his less-accomplished, early short stories).
... Now I'm starting to feel a bit bad. ~ mainly 'cause I don't want to downplay what *does* work in 'PL'. There's more than a fair amount of Woolrich grittiness within, as well as saucy dialogue and 'romantic' urban angst: good stuff that - as noir lit - unfortunately runs amok.
November 7, 2019
I read the Chinese translation of Phantom Lady by Cornell Woolrich, and I'm satisfied with the intensive plot, the perfect noir aura, the impossible odds the characters must go up against, and eventually, the stunning final plot twist.
Reading this book is like watching an old-schooled black-and-white Hollywood thriller, and guess what? There is also no annoying romance and stuff, hard-boiled!
My review for I Married A Dead Man: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Reading this book is like watching an old-schooled black-and-white Hollywood thriller, and guess what? There is also no annoying romance and stuff, hard-boiled!
My review for I Married A Dead Man: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
February 10, 2016
In watching the movie last night, I decided that I wasn't in love with the adaptation, and I have to cry foul regarding one huge misstep (in my opinion) that made me want to walk away from the movie, even though the film definitely had some very good moments. Between movie and novel, to me it is definitely a case of book is better. I've written more about this novel (and the film) at my reading journal if anyone is interested. Warning - there are potential spoilers there so don't be so eager to click if you don't want to know.
Cornell Woolrich wastes absolutely no time in throwing out a conundrum and starting this novel on the right foot: the first chapter heading states "The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution," and in doing so sets up the first question. Who are we talking about here, and why is he/she on his/her way to the chair? By chapter five and the Ninety-First day before the execution (and we're still not too far into the novel), it becomes very obvious that what we are looking at here is a virtual race against time -- only some few pages earlier, we were still reading about the "One Hundred and Forty-ninth Day Before the Execution." The tension is set -- time moves faster as the story moves forward, although for the players, things are moving excruciatingly slowly.
Phantom Lady is an interesting and very good read from start to finish. It's much more than the usual "wrong man" scenario -- what really sticks out here are the dangling but slowly-diminishing hopes of not only the main character, but of those battling time in trying to save him, as things just constantly go from bad to worse. It is definitely a book where the reader can't help but to get caught up in the ongoing tension; it is a novel where anguish is split between what's happening on the page and what's happening in the reader's head. And trust me, it doesn't stop until the very end.
Phantom Lady is a novel I would certainly recommend. A lot of people have called it Woolrich's best work, but I can't speak to that since I haven't read much of his stuff; all I know is that I really, really enjoyed this book.
Cornell Woolrich wastes absolutely no time in throwing out a conundrum and starting this novel on the right foot: the first chapter heading states "The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution," and in doing so sets up the first question. Who are we talking about here, and why is he/she on his/her way to the chair? By chapter five and the Ninety-First day before the execution (and we're still not too far into the novel), it becomes very obvious that what we are looking at here is a virtual race against time -- only some few pages earlier, we were still reading about the "One Hundred and Forty-ninth Day Before the Execution." The tension is set -- time moves faster as the story moves forward, although for the players, things are moving excruciatingly slowly.
Phantom Lady is an interesting and very good read from start to finish. It's much more than the usual "wrong man" scenario -- what really sticks out here are the dangling but slowly-diminishing hopes of not only the main character, but of those battling time in trying to save him, as things just constantly go from bad to worse. It is definitely a book where the reader can't help but to get caught up in the ongoing tension; it is a novel where anguish is split between what's happening on the page and what's happening in the reader's head. And trust me, it doesn't stop until the very end.
Phantom Lady is a novel I would certainly recommend. A lot of people have called it Woolrich's best work, but I can't speak to that since I haven't read much of his stuff; all I know is that I really, really enjoyed this book.
March 30, 2018
Ακόμα ένα εξαίρετο Noir, από έναν μεγάλο συγγραφέα του είδους. Καίτοι ο "Μαύρος Άγγελος" του ιδίου δεν μου είχε κάνει ιδιαίτερη εντύπωση, το "Φάντομ Λέιντι", αντιθέτως, μου άφησε μια πλούσια επίγευση.
Και εξηγούμαι: Η πλοκή -ως είθισται στα περισσότερα Noir- δεν είναι το μεγάλο πλεονέκτημα του βιβλίου. Υπάρχουν σημεία αναληθοφανή, τα οποία δεν στέκουν σε ενδελεχή έλεγχο, ενώ η τελική λύση είναι αναμφίλεκτα "τραβηγμένη από τα μαλλιά". Προφανώς αυτό αποτελεί μειονέκτημα για το κοινό που αναζητά αστυνομικά αναγνώσματα με στιβαρή και "αεροστεγή" πλοκή, όπου ο ήρωας (μέσω του συγγραφέα) κινεί στρατηγικά τις ψηφίδες με μέτρο και περίσσεια λογικής.
Συγγνωστό το… αδίκημα, διότι αυτό δεν είναι το Noir. Ίσως είναι τα σύγχρονα εκ Σκανδιναβίας αναγνώσματα, αλλά όχι το Noir. Η καθαρή Μαύρη λογοτεχνία είναι πάντα και μόνο το Ύφος της και δευτερευόντως η πλοκή της. Γι' αυτό και είναι λογοτεχνικό είδος, το οποίο έχει με το πέρασμα των ετών επιδαψιλεύσει τους επαίνους που του αξίζει (αναφέρομαι κυρίως σε χώρες όπως οι ΗΠΑ και η Γαλλία, όπου συγγραφείς όπως ο Woolrich τιμώνται όπως τους αξίζει ως "σοβαροί" λογοτέχνες).
Εν προκειμένω τώρα, το "Φάντομ Λέιντι" είναι ένα εξαίρετο στυλιστικά κείμενο, με λεπτοδουλεμένη γλώσσα, η οποία είναι απολαυστική. Δεν είμαι σίγουρος σχετικά με το πώς έλαβαν χώρα όλα όσα περιγράφονται, και δεν με ενδιαφέρει για να είμαι ειλικρινής. Μόνο η απόλαυση του κειμένου με αφορά και αυτή μου δωρίστηκε αφειδώς. Και τέλος, τι να πω για το 1ο κεφάλαιο… ένα από τα πιο καλογραμμένα που έχω διαβάσει εσχάτως!
Και εξηγούμαι: Η πλοκή -ως είθισται στα περισσότερα Noir- δεν είναι το μεγάλο πλεονέκτημα του βιβλίου. Υπάρχουν σημεία αναληθοφανή, τα οποία δεν στέκουν σε ενδελεχή έλεγχο, ενώ η τελική λύση είναι αναμφίλεκτα "τραβηγμένη από τα μαλλιά". Προφανώς αυτό αποτελεί μειονέκτημα για το κοινό που αναζητά αστυνομικά αναγνώσματα με στιβαρή και "αεροστεγή" πλοκή, όπου ο ήρωας (μέσω του συγγραφέα) κινεί στρατηγικά τις ψηφίδες με μέτρο και περίσσεια λογικής.
Συγγνωστό το… αδίκημα, διότι αυτό δεν είναι το Noir. Ίσως είναι τα σύγχρονα εκ Σκανδιναβίας αναγνώσματα, αλλά όχι το Noir. Η καθαρή Μαύρη λογοτεχνία είναι πάντα και μόνο το Ύφος της και δευτερευόντως η πλοκή της. Γι' αυτό και είναι λογοτεχνικό είδος, το οποίο έχει με το πέρασμα των ετών επιδαψιλεύσει τους επαίνους που του αξίζει (αναφέρομαι κυρίως σε χώρες όπως οι ΗΠΑ και η Γαλλία, όπου συγγραφείς όπως ο Woolrich τιμώνται όπως τους αξίζει ως "σοβαροί" λογοτέχνες).
Εν προκειμένω τώρα, το "Φάντομ Λέιντι" είναι ένα εξαίρετο στυλιστικά κείμενο, με λεπτοδουλεμένη γλώσσα, η οποία είναι απολαυστική. Δεν είμαι σίγουρος σχετικά με το πώς έλαβαν χώρα όλα όσα περιγράφονται, και δεν με ενδιαφέρει για να είμαι ειλικρινής. Μόνο η απόλαυση του κειμένου με αφορά και αυτή μου δωρίστηκε αφειδώς. Και τέλος, τι να πω για το 1ο κεφάλαιο… ένα από τα πιο καλογραμμένα που έχω διαβάσει εσχάτως!
November 25, 2019
Ίσως, το κλασικότερο αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα με στοιχεία ψυχολογικού θρίλερ του Γούλριτς, το οποίο έγινε καί κινηματογραφική ταινία. Η υπόθεση παρουσιάζει αρκετό ενδιαφέρον, ωστόσο, τα περιττά σχόλια και οι επαναλαμβανόμενες περιγραφές αποπροσανατολίζουν τον αναγνώστη, ενώ η πλοκή δεν έχει σταθερή ροή και ιδιαίτερη ουσία. Η αξία του μυθιστορήματος εντοπίζεται στις τελευταίες 20 σελίδες, όπου διαλευκάνεται το μυστήριο. Ένα μυθιστόρημα που, ενδεχομένως, διχάζει!
Βαθμολογία: 3,4/5 ή 6,8/10.
Βαθμολογία: 3,4/5 ή 6,8/10.
June 29, 2020
Mình rất chi là bất ngờ với cuốn sách này, hay hơn hẳn so với những gì mình tưởng tượng. Hay hẳn một bậc so với cuốn Cô Dâu Đen là cuốn đầu tiên mình đọc của tác giác. Cảm giác như tác giả lên tay hơn rất nhiều ở cuốn này ấy.
Một vụ án vợ-chết-chồng-nghi-phạm điển hình xảy ra, dẫn đến Scott Henderson bị buộc tội thành kẻ giết người với những bằng chứng không thể chối cãi, trừ phi gã tìm ra người phụ nữ đã đi cùng hắn vào buổi tối hôm đó. Người phụ nữ này là mấu chốt sẽ lật lại hoàn toàn bản án, giúp gã thoát khỏi án tử hình sắp đến gần. Vì vậy, tầm 1/3 đầu truyện, nhân vật chính là Scott Henderson và những gì người đọc được tác giả hé lộ chỉ thông qua góc nhìn của gã: một người chồng cãi nhau với vợ và sau đó vợ chết. Một motif thông dụng xảy ra ở rất nhiều cuốn thriller về gia đình. Tất nhiên sẽ có những bằng chứng về ngoại tình, càng khép tội Henderson chặt hơn. Sau đó là cảnh sát kiểm tra lại bằng chứng ngoại phạm của Henderson, và người phụ nữ mà gã nói rằng đã đi cùng suốt cả buổi tối, người phụ nữ có thể chứng minh gã vô tội, lại không hề tồn tại! Đến đây, chúng ta bắt đầu nhận thức được tính nghiêm trọng của vụ việc: Henderson nói thật hay nói dối? Nếu Henderson nói thật, vậy người phụ nữ tại sao có thể bị xóa khỏi kí ức của tất cả những người đã gặp gã tối hôm ấy?
2/3 của truyện, tác giả trao câu chuyện cho Lombard - bạn của Henderson, người sẽ đóng vai trò làm thám tử điều tra và toàn bộ phần này được kể từ góc nhìn của Lombard, xen kẽ là những chương được kể với sự tham gia của một nhân vật nữ khác cũng đóng vai trò quan trọng không kém trong việc minh oan cho Henderson (không phải người phụ nữ mà chúng ta đang tìm kiếm). Lombard có một nhiệm vụ vô cùng là quan trọng và cấp bách, đặc biệt là trong tình hình này liên quan đến số mạng con người, và thời gian là rất quý báu. Anh sẽ phải tận dụng mọi đầu mối có thể để xác minh sự tồn tại của người phụ nữ đã đi với Henderson, bắt cô ta lên tiếng chứng thực bằng chứng ngoại phạm của gã. Quá trình điều tra này chông chênh và mọi sợi chỉ mỏng manh nhất đều đ��ợc Lombard để ý. Vũ lực, tiền, lời nói đe dọa được tận dụng hết mức để moi cho bằng được một thông tin, một tiểu tiết, dù nhỏ nhất, liên quan đến người phụ nữ này. Phải nói rằng, lúc này, Lombard quả là một người bạn tuyệt vời, bất kì ai đều mong muốn có.
Cuốn sách này có một trong những cái kết không ngờ, một trong những cái kết làm mình sững sờ nhất. Hóa ra tác giả đã lợi dụng một cái trope kinh điển trong truyện trinh thám, đó là dùng người kể chuyện không đáng tin, biến tấu nó một chút để cho khớp với kì vọng người đọc, rồi đến cuối cùng thì bẻ ngoặt sang một chiều hướng hoàn toàn khác mà ít ai đoán trước được. Đến bây giờ đọc xong rồi mà mình vẫn còn bàng hoàng, mình vẫn không thể tin nổi là thủ phạm có thể làm điều đó, trong khi từ đầu đến cuối truyện lại dễ dàng lừa chúng ta đến vậy. Rốt cuộc thì mình vẫn còn ngây thơ khi đọc trinh thám quá, vẫn để bị mất cảnh giác như thế này. Kết truyện này đã chứng minh một trong những vụ án có cách giật dây lừa người đọc phức tạp nhất mình từng biết, kẻ này lừa kẻ nọ, kẻ nọ giấu lừa lại kẻ kia. Đường dây cốt truyện đã rất lắt léo ở phần thân, khi mình bị cuốn vào vụ truy đuổi tung tích người đàn bà không tên, rồi kết truyện lại ngoặt sang thành một cái nhìn khác, tác giả nhanh chóng chuyển điểm nhìn sang nhân vật chính mới là anh thanh tra phụ trách vụ án vợ Henderson. Kết cấu truyện độc đáo ở việc tác giả xoay chuyển không ngừng qua các nhân vật chính như chia nhỏ thành ba câu chuyện con con nhưng đều có sự kết nối chặt chẽ - nhân vật chính ở đây có hành động, quyết định rất rõ ràng.
Giọng văn ở cuốn sách này vẫn y hệt như cuốn Cô Dâu Đen, thoáng vẻ u ám, báo điềm xấu, nên mình đã dự đoán trước những cái kết không được tốt đẹp lắm xảy ra với Henderson, nhưng mình đã quá bất ngờ trước cách tác giả xử lý câu chuyện như thế này, rất tài tình và điệu nghệ.
Một vụ án vợ-chết-chồng-nghi-phạm điển hình xảy ra, dẫn đến Scott Henderson bị buộc tội thành kẻ giết người với những bằng chứng không thể chối cãi, trừ phi gã tìm ra người phụ nữ đã đi cùng hắn vào buổi tối hôm đó. Người phụ nữ này là mấu chốt sẽ lật lại hoàn toàn bản án, giúp gã thoát khỏi án tử hình sắp đến gần. Vì vậy, tầm 1/3 đầu truyện, nhân vật chính là Scott Henderson và những gì người đọc được tác giả hé lộ chỉ thông qua góc nhìn của gã: một người chồng cãi nhau với vợ và sau đó vợ chết. Một motif thông dụng xảy ra ở rất nhiều cuốn thriller về gia đình. Tất nhiên sẽ có những bằng chứng về ngoại tình, càng khép tội Henderson chặt hơn. Sau đó là cảnh sát kiểm tra lại bằng chứng ngoại phạm của Henderson, và người phụ nữ mà gã nói rằng đã đi cùng suốt cả buổi tối, người phụ nữ có thể chứng minh gã vô tội, lại không hề tồn tại! Đến đây, chúng ta bắt đầu nhận thức được tính nghiêm trọng của vụ việc: Henderson nói thật hay nói dối? Nếu Henderson nói thật, vậy người phụ nữ tại sao có thể bị xóa khỏi kí ức của tất cả những người đã gặp gã tối hôm ấy?
2/3 của truyện, tác giả trao câu chuyện cho Lombard - bạn của Henderson, người sẽ đóng vai trò làm thám tử điều tra và toàn bộ phần này được kể từ góc nhìn của Lombard, xen kẽ là những chương được kể với sự tham gia của một nhân vật nữ khác cũng đóng vai trò quan trọng không kém trong việc minh oan cho Henderson (không phải người phụ nữ mà chúng ta đang tìm kiếm). Lombard có một nhiệm vụ vô cùng là quan trọng và cấp bách, đặc biệt là trong tình hình này liên quan đến số mạng con người, và thời gian là rất quý báu. Anh sẽ phải tận dụng mọi đầu mối có thể để xác minh sự tồn tại của người phụ nữ đã đi với Henderson, bắt cô ta lên tiếng chứng thực bằng chứng ngoại phạm của gã. Quá trình điều tra này chông chênh và mọi sợi chỉ mỏng manh nhất đều đ��ợc Lombard để ý. Vũ lực, tiền, lời nói đe dọa được tận dụng hết mức để moi cho bằng được một thông tin, một tiểu tiết, dù nhỏ nhất, liên quan đến người phụ nữ này. Phải nói rằng, lúc này, Lombard quả là một người bạn tuyệt vời, bất kì ai đều mong muốn có.
Cuốn sách này có một trong những cái kết không ngờ, một trong những cái kết làm mình sững sờ nhất. Hóa ra tác giả đã lợi dụng một cái trope kinh điển trong truyện trinh thám, đó là dùng người kể chuyện không đáng tin, biến tấu nó một chút để cho khớp với kì vọng người đọc, rồi đến cuối cùng thì bẻ ngoặt sang một chiều hướng hoàn toàn khác mà ít ai đoán trước được. Đến bây giờ đọc xong rồi mà mình vẫn còn bàng hoàng, mình vẫn không thể tin nổi là thủ phạm có thể làm điều đó, trong khi từ đầu đến cuối truyện lại dễ dàng lừa chúng ta đến vậy. Rốt cuộc thì mình vẫn còn ngây thơ khi đọc trinh thám quá, vẫn để bị mất cảnh giác như thế này. Kết truyện này đã chứng minh một trong những vụ án có cách giật dây lừa người đọc phức tạp nhất mình từng biết, kẻ này lừa kẻ nọ, kẻ nọ giấu lừa lại kẻ kia. Đường dây cốt truyện đã rất lắt léo ở phần thân, khi mình bị cuốn vào vụ truy đuổi tung tích người đàn bà không tên, rồi kết truyện lại ngoặt sang thành một cái nhìn khác, tác giả nhanh chóng chuyển điểm nhìn sang nhân vật chính mới là anh thanh tra phụ trách vụ án vợ Henderson. Kết cấu truyện độc đáo ở việc tác giả xoay chuyển không ngừng qua các nhân vật chính như chia nhỏ thành ba câu chuyện con con nhưng đều có sự kết nối chặt chẽ - nhân vật chính ở đây có hành động, quyết định rất rõ ràng.
Giọng văn ở cuốn sách này vẫn y hệt như cuốn Cô Dâu Đen, thoáng vẻ u ám, báo điềm xấu, nên mình đã dự đoán trước những cái kết không được tốt đẹp lắm xảy ra với Henderson, nhưng mình đã quá bất ngờ trước cách tác giả xử lý câu chuyện như thế này, rất tài tình và điệu nghệ.
January 4, 2023
This is a creepy novel about friendship/betrayal told through the disturbed, paranoid, neurotic lens of Cornell Woolrich. Captured here are the smoky bars, the shadowy (now demolished) Elevated trains, the trashy grandeur of Broadway, the endless rows of apartment houses and stubby sidewalks of NYC. The urban labyrinth is embedded with psychosis, dread and endless anxiety as strangers, lovers, friends hide behind subversive masks. Raymond Chandler gave us the social history of southern California, but Woolrich kept his eye on the circus of horrors that he found in NYC. (Would you be surprised to learn that Woolrich spent most of his life living in NYC hotel rooms with his mother?)
The finale section is 30 pages, a novella unto itself, and, yes , far too long, but it hits a swervy turn at the same time. And where is the phantom lady who can prove a doomed man did not kill his wife? Maybe...she's in a mental hospital... (A 1944 film version, despite nice details, dumps a chunk of the plot as did Truffaut w "The Bride Wore Black" and ruins ripe Woolrich, wherein vulnerability clashes with deceit). Woolrich is the Daddy of Film Noir.
The finale section is 30 pages, a novella unto itself, and, yes , far too long, but it hits a swervy turn at the same time. And where is the phantom lady who can prove a doomed man did not kill his wife? Maybe...she's in a mental hospital... (A 1944 film version, despite nice details, dumps a chunk of the plot as did Truffaut w "The Bride Wore Black" and ruins ripe Woolrich, wherein vulnerability clashes with deceit). Woolrich is the Daddy of Film Noir.
January 18, 2015
Well-written, fast-paced mystery about a man falsely accused of killing his wife. Sentenced to be executed, he gets help from a police detective (who thinks he's innocent) to find his only alibi that'll save his life. And that is the "phantom lady" he met at a bar at the time his wife was murdered. That's easier said than done, however, and requires the additional assistance of a friend and a would-be girlfriend to search for this mystery woman. Many obstacles are encountered, as the day of his execution gets closer and closer. Will they find her in time? The author had me quickly turning the pages of this book to find out. A terrific read!
March 15, 2023
Mình đặt kỳ vọng vào cuốn này khá cao nhưng nó chỉ dừng lại ở mức ổn , được cái twist khá hay
July 14, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 95 (of 250)
Woolrich is consistently compelling: what a dark universe there must have been for him from which to write. More on this author later. I want to note that every book/work I read was available through my local library system. As I wrote my reviews, I received a note from a goodreads member that went something like "you MUST include this crime novel in your readathon..." So then I put a few more holds at the library. I started with a goal of 25 authors and 50 books. That turned into 50 authors and 100 books. BUT...there is just so much great work in this time period (1922-1972). Why start at 1922? More on that later also!
HOOK - 3 stars: The first sentence 3 lines here are as follows: "The night was young, and so was he. But the night was sweet, and he was sour...that sullen look on his face. It was one of those sustained angers..." Is he to be executed? Someone else? Readers learn shortly, but not immediately, that a murder has already been committed.
PACE - 3: Woolrich goes deep into his character's minds, as here: "It was happening to him now, and it was slowly unnerving him, fraying him. He was defenseless against it, both because he was confined within the semi-circle of the bar, couldn't walk away from it, and also because of its (the stare from a strange woman he's never met) very nature. The control of it rested with her. A beam, a ray, there was no way of warding it off, shunting it aside." This reads much like a passage in a Patricia Highsmith: these 2 authors dig deep into psychological states of mind. If you're looking for thrills (Mickey Spillane, Jim Thompson are just 2 examples), you won't find many action/thriller scenes in Woolrich or Highsmith. But you'll be chilled to the bone.
PLOT - 3: A young man, Scott Henderson, leaves his apartment in a 'sour' mood and goes to a bar. Beside him is a young woman he has never met but he can't avoid noticing her huge, odd, orange hat. He and she both reach for a bowel of pretzels on the bar: they touch. A conversation starts and we learn neither has any plans for the evening. However, Henderson has reservations for 2 at an upscale restaurant and 2 front-row tickets for a show. The couple strike an agreement: they will not exchange names or addresses, there will be no personal talk, and at the evening after a nightcap at the bar at which they met, they will part and that's that. Both have nothing else to do, neither is particularly interested in started a relationship. After all, he's wearing a wedding band, she notices it, and both agree the situation calls for no personal disclosures. Later that night they part, Henderson goes home and finds the room full of cops as his wife has been strangled to death. But Henderson has an alibi. But...no lady. How could NO ONE have never seen his date? Great "high concept" idea, but there are plot holes, thus the 3-star rating.
CHARACTERS - 4: As I said, Woolrich goes deep into his characters head. Henderson is totally stunned that 1) his wife is dead and 2) there is no trace of his date and 3) even a cop involved believes Henderson and 4) his friend Lombard takes a leave of absence from his job in South America to help him and 5) Scott's own 'on-the-side' girl, Carol, believes him. The world-famous actress on stage is a bit of stereotypical, overwrought Latina, but she has some fascinating characteristics including a pet monkey, Bibi, who takes an immediate liking to Henderson. Lombard and Burgess are also deeply studied by the author.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: The feeling of being along in a bar is pitch-perfect. The feeling of meeting a stranger is just right. The feeling of jail-time is uncomfortable. Each chapter title reveals the number of days left until the execution: The title of Chapter 22 is "The hour of the execution." The author reminds us, with every chapter title, that time is dwindling fast.
SUMMARY - 3.4 stars. Woolrich consistently delivers: there are far better works from this author coming up!
BOOK 95 (of 250)
Woolrich is consistently compelling: what a dark universe there must have been for him from which to write. More on this author later. I want to note that every book/work I read was available through my local library system. As I wrote my reviews, I received a note from a goodreads member that went something like "you MUST include this crime novel in your readathon..." So then I put a few more holds at the library. I started with a goal of 25 authors and 50 books. That turned into 50 authors and 100 books. BUT...there is just so much great work in this time period (1922-1972). Why start at 1922? More on that later also!
HOOK - 3 stars: The first sentence 3 lines here are as follows: "The night was young, and so was he. But the night was sweet, and he was sour...that sullen look on his face. It was one of those sustained angers..." Is he to be executed? Someone else? Readers learn shortly, but not immediately, that a murder has already been committed.
PACE - 3: Woolrich goes deep into his character's minds, as here: "It was happening to him now, and it was slowly unnerving him, fraying him. He was defenseless against it, both because he was confined within the semi-circle of the bar, couldn't walk away from it, and also because of its (the stare from a strange woman he's never met) very nature. The control of it rested with her. A beam, a ray, there was no way of warding it off, shunting it aside." This reads much like a passage in a Patricia Highsmith: these 2 authors dig deep into psychological states of mind. If you're looking for thrills (Mickey Spillane, Jim Thompson are just 2 examples), you won't find many action/thriller scenes in Woolrich or Highsmith. But you'll be chilled to the bone.
PLOT - 3: A young man, Scott Henderson, leaves his apartment in a 'sour' mood and goes to a bar. Beside him is a young woman he has never met but he can't avoid noticing her huge, odd, orange hat. He and she both reach for a bowel of pretzels on the bar: they touch. A conversation starts and we learn neither has any plans for the evening. However, Henderson has reservations for 2 at an upscale restaurant and 2 front-row tickets for a show. The couple strike an agreement: they will not exchange names or addresses, there will be no personal talk, and at the evening after a nightcap at the bar at which they met, they will part and that's that. Both have nothing else to do, neither is particularly interested in started a relationship. After all, he's wearing a wedding band, she notices it, and both agree the situation calls for no personal disclosures. Later that night they part, Henderson goes home and finds the room full of cops as his wife has been strangled to death. But Henderson has an alibi. But...no lady. How could NO ONE have never seen his date? Great "high concept" idea, but there are plot holes, thus the 3-star rating.
CHARACTERS - 4: As I said, Woolrich goes deep into his characters head. Henderson is totally stunned that 1) his wife is dead and 2) there is no trace of his date and 3) even a cop involved believes Henderson and 4) his friend Lombard takes a leave of absence from his job in South America to help him and 5) Scott's own 'on-the-side' girl, Carol, believes him. The world-famous actress on stage is a bit of stereotypical, overwrought Latina, but she has some fascinating characteristics including a pet monkey, Bibi, who takes an immediate liking to Henderson. Lombard and Burgess are also deeply studied by the author.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: The feeling of being along in a bar is pitch-perfect. The feeling of meeting a stranger is just right. The feeling of jail-time is uncomfortable. Each chapter title reveals the number of days left until the execution: The title of Chapter 22 is "The hour of the execution." The author reminds us, with every chapter title, that time is dwindling fast.
SUMMARY - 3.4 stars. Woolrich consistently delivers: there are far better works from this author coming up!
January 6, 2020
Reading this novel made me think of a thing: what if novelists re-wrote other people's novels the way that directors re-make other auteurs' films?
If one did such things, Phantom Lady would be the first novel that I would re-write. The events of the story itself are solid, creepy, interesting. So many passages are beautifully written--these I would leave intact. I loved the typical wacky offbeat noir characters, such as the reefer-mad paranoid/homicidal drummer, the ultra-temperamental Argentine diva with the pet monkey, the Irish tenement moll who shrewdly worked herself into the world of haut couture, the lost rich girl going out of her mind in flea-bag hotels and anonymous park benches in an indifferent and aloof New York City--they can all stay, each drawn as sharply and wittily as they are here, but probably in greatly shortened scenes.
The story-telling itself, however, the novel's narrative structure, is entirely annoying and unduly difficult to read for such a tale. The double point of view--switching from one protagonist to another about a third of the way through the story is an off-putting bore. (I set the book down at that point and it languished and gathered much dust on the nightstand as I read any number of other novels, tried twice(!) to jump-start myself into its story again, failing to keep momentum/interest either time, until finally gathering my fed-up-looking-at-your-cover-and-feeling-incompleteness into a tightly wound ball this afternoon, I unraveled its energy on the last 100 pages. Phew!)
The cliched final chapter in which the detective rehashes the whole story of the plot's fateful opening night and consequential events (for the third time!), whilst filling in every detail and plot hole, seemed ENDLESS!!!! Instead of running over the events and characters of a single evening three times at various speeds, each losing the reader's interest more and more, bit-by-bit, annoyance by annoyance, repetition by repetition, somehow, through the magic of narrative form (and perhaps some heavy cutting--300 pages, really?), someone needs to save this story and these characters from this botched novel. Please. Someone. I'm just not up to it--although I do think that it would be fun to try.
Sadly this is my first Woolrich--he's too popular, I'm assuming, not to be better than this so I will try another. I do own a collection of his scary stories. Any recommendations?
If one did such things, Phantom Lady would be the first novel that I would re-write. The events of the story itself are solid, creepy, interesting. So many passages are beautifully written--these I would leave intact. I loved the typical wacky offbeat noir characters, such as the reefer-mad paranoid/homicidal drummer, the ultra-temperamental Argentine diva with the pet monkey, the Irish tenement moll who shrewdly worked herself into the world of haut couture, the lost rich girl going out of her mind in flea-bag hotels and anonymous park benches in an indifferent and aloof New York City--they can all stay, each drawn as sharply and wittily as they are here, but probably in greatly shortened scenes.
The story-telling itself, however, the novel's narrative structure, is entirely annoying and unduly difficult to read for such a tale. The double point of view--switching from one protagonist to another about a third of the way through the story is an off-putting bore. (I set the book down at that point and it languished and gathered much dust on the nightstand as I read any number of other novels, tried twice(!) to jump-start myself into its story again, failing to keep momentum/interest either time, until finally gathering my fed-up-looking-at-your-cover-and-feeling-incompleteness into a tightly wound ball this afternoon, I unraveled its energy on the last 100 pages. Phew!)
The cliched final chapter in which the detective rehashes the whole story of the plot's fateful opening night and consequential events (for the third time!), whilst filling in every detail and plot hole, seemed ENDLESS!!!! Instead of running over the events and characters of a single evening three times at various speeds, each losing the reader's interest more and more, bit-by-bit, annoyance by annoyance, repetition by repetition, somehow, through the magic of narrative form (and perhaps some heavy cutting--300 pages, really?), someone needs to save this story and these characters from this botched novel. Please. Someone. I'm just not up to it--although I do think that it would be fun to try.
Sadly this is my first Woolrich--he's too popular, I'm assuming, not to be better than this so I will try another. I do own a collection of his scary stories. Any recommendations?
March 26, 2016
“We’ re just companions for an evening. Two people having dinner together, seeing a show together. No names, no addresses, no irrelevant personal references and details…”
Scott Henderson is a condemned man. Time is of the essence. His wife, a victim of apparent foul play; yet Henderson maintains his innocence. All clues point to him, and now he awaits his death sentence. A woman who he was with could prove an alibi, but where is she? She’s a phantom: no one knows her, no one has seen her. It’s as if she has literally become invisible.
Above all things, I think Phantom Lady is an effective mystery in that it excels in holding us in suspense for the majority of the plot. Part of the mystery is uncovering bits and pieces that could possibly give credibility to Henderson’s case, but there is also a bit of a mystery figuring out why everyone involved is so hush-hush about this ill-fated night. As we get further into the case, and as Henderson awaits the days until his execution, Woolrich pushes us closer with hints and clues, careful not to reveal too much. Moreover, there is an unexpected event, a twist that definitely threw me for a loop.
Phantom Lady is my first read from Cornell Woolrich, and it won’t be my last. Woolrich has a way of putting the average individual in very dark and seemingly unmanageable situations, and then we see if they can worm their way out. There is an aura of fatalism that seems to grip the narrative as well, something that reminded me a bit of a David Goodis work.
If there is one knock on Phantom Lady, it is the meticulously detail by detail explanation in the conclusion (after the final big reveal). We are beat over the head ad nauseum with how it went down.
Other than that, I was very impressed with Phantom Lady, and looking forwards to more reads from Woolrich.
Scott Henderson is a condemned man. Time is of the essence. His wife, a victim of apparent foul play; yet Henderson maintains his innocence. All clues point to him, and now he awaits his death sentence. A woman who he was with could prove an alibi, but where is she? She’s a phantom: no one knows her, no one has seen her. It’s as if she has literally become invisible.
Above all things, I think Phantom Lady is an effective mystery in that it excels in holding us in suspense for the majority of the plot. Part of the mystery is uncovering bits and pieces that could possibly give credibility to Henderson’s case, but there is also a bit of a mystery figuring out why everyone involved is so hush-hush about this ill-fated night. As we get further into the case, and as Henderson awaits the days until his execution, Woolrich pushes us closer with hints and clues, careful not to reveal too much. Moreover, there is an unexpected event, a twist that definitely threw me for a loop.
Phantom Lady is my first read from Cornell Woolrich, and it won’t be my last. Woolrich has a way of putting the average individual in very dark and seemingly unmanageable situations, and then we see if they can worm their way out. There is an aura of fatalism that seems to grip the narrative as well, something that reminded me a bit of a David Goodis work.
If there is one knock on Phantom Lady, it is the meticulously detail by detail explanation in the conclusion (after the final big reveal). We are beat over the head ad nauseum with how it went down.
Other than that, I was very impressed with Phantom Lady, and looking forwards to more reads from Woolrich.
January 30, 2025
me gusta mucho Irish así que sabía que no me iba a defraudar. el plot twist es medio cualquiera, pero la disfruté mucho por la cuenta regresiva, por la cuota de romance y porque el verano existe para leer un séptimo círculo.
March 9, 2020
Cuộc chạy đua với thời gian để tìm một phữ nữ bí ẩn nhằm cứu một con người thoát khỏi án tử hình. Nhưng mỗi khi tìm được đầu mối thì nhân chứng then chốt lại chết đầy bí ẩn, mọi thứ lại bếtắc. Khi thời hạn trôi dần, truyện càng thêm hồi hộp gay cấn ở đoạn cuối.
Kết thúc thật bất ngờ ngoài dự tính. Có lẽ là một trong những truyện hay nhất của Woolrich.
Chấm cá nhân 8/10
Kết thúc thật bất ngờ ngoài dự tính. Có lẽ là một trong những truyện hay nhất của Woolrich.
Chấm cá nhân 8/10
March 14, 2015
"Φάντομ Λέιντυ", εκδόσεις Μέδουσα.
Δεύτερη επαφή με το έργο του Κόρνελ Γούλριτς, μετά το κλασικό Η νύφη φορούσε μαύρα που διάβασα πέρυσι τον Ιούλιο. Μου φάνηκε το ίδιο ενδιαφέρον και ευκολοδιάβαστο, αν και πάλι οι χαρακτήρες είχαν προβλήματα και κάποια σημεία της πλ��κής μου φάνηκαν μη ρεαλιστικά. Όπως και να'χει απόλαυσα μια αγωνιώδη νουάρ ιστορία.
Έχουμε τον Σκοτ Χέντερσον, ο οποίος πρόκειται να εκτελεστεί για τον φόνο της γυναίκας του. Ο Χέντερσον δεν σκότωσε την γυναίκα του, μιας και την ώρα του θανάτου της βρισκόταν έξω με μια άγνωστη κοπέλα που γνώρισε τυχαία. Το θέμα είναι ότι δεν έμαθε ποτέ το όνομά της κοπέλα αυτής, δεν θυμάται και πολλά από την φυσιογνωμία της και όσοι τον είδαν εκείνο το βράδυ (σε εστιατόριο, θέατρο και μπαρ) θυμούνται τον ίδιο αλλά όχι την συνοδό του! Η μέρα μέχρι να κάτσει στην ηλεκτρική καρέκλα και να ψηθεί πλησιάζει και πρέπει πάση θυσία να βρεθεί η κοπέλα ώστε να σωθεί.
Σαν αστυνομικό νουάρ έχει όλα τα καλούδια του είδους, μυστήριο, φόνους, ανατροπές και φυσικά τρομερή ατμόσφαιρα. Οι χαρακτήρες βέβαια μου φάνηκαν κάπως επίπεδοι και κάποια γεγονότα ήταν κάπως τραβηγμένα, αλλά δεν έχει και τόση σημασία, η ιστορία είχε σασπένς και αγωνία μέχρι το τέλος οπότε χαλάλι οι όποιες ατέλειες. Η γραφή από την άλλη, σίγουρα ικανοποιητική, βοήθησε πολύ στην γρήγορη και ξεκούραστη ανάγνωση.
Γενικά ένα αντάξιο της φήμης του αστυνομικό νουάρ που θα ικανοποιήσει τους φανατικούς του είδους, όχι όμως και όλους τους φίλους των αστυνομικών. Το βιβλίο έγινε και ταινία το 1944.
Δεύτερη επαφή με το έργο του Κόρνελ Γούλριτς, μετά το κλασικό Η νύφη φορούσε μαύρα που διάβασα πέρυσι τον Ιούλιο. Μου φάνηκε το ίδιο ενδιαφέρον και ευκολοδιάβαστο, αν και πάλι οι χαρακτήρες είχαν προβλήματα και κάποια σημεία της πλ��κής μου φάνηκαν μη ρεαλιστικά. Όπως και να'χει απόλαυσα μια αγωνιώδη νουάρ ιστορία.
Έχουμε τον Σκοτ Χέντερσον, ο οποίος πρόκειται να εκτελεστεί για τον φόνο της γυναίκας του. Ο Χέντερσον δεν σκότωσε την γυναίκα του, μιας και την ώρα του θανάτου της βρισκόταν έξω με μια άγνωστη κοπέλα που γνώρισε τυχαία. Το θέμα είναι ότι δεν έμαθε ποτέ το όνομά της κοπέλα αυτής, δεν θυμάται και πολλά από την φυσιογνωμία της και όσοι τον είδαν εκείνο το βράδυ (σε εστιατόριο, θέατρο και μπαρ) θυμούνται τον ίδιο αλλά όχι την συνοδό του! Η μέρα μέχρι να κάτσει στην ηλεκτρική καρέκλα και να ψηθεί πλησιάζει και πρέπει πάση θυσία να βρεθεί η κοπέλα ώστε να σωθεί.
Σαν αστυνομικό νουάρ έχει όλα τα καλούδια του είδους, μυστήριο, φόνους, ανατροπές και φυσικά τρομερή ατμόσφαιρα. Οι χαρακτήρες βέβαια μου φάνηκαν κάπως επίπεδοι και κάποια γεγονότα ήταν κάπως τραβηγμένα, αλλά δεν έχει και τόση σημασία, η ιστορία είχε σασπένς και αγωνία μέχρι το τέλος οπότε χαλάλι οι όποιες ατέλειες. Η γραφή από την άλλη, σίγουρα ικανοποιητική, βοήθησε πολύ στην γρήγορη και ξεκούραστη ανάγνωση.
Γενικά ένα αντάξιο της φήμης του αστυνομικό νουάρ που θα ικανοποιήσει τους φανατικούς του είδους, όχι όμως και όλους τους φίλους των αστυνομικών. Το βιβλίο έγινε και ταινία το 1944.
February 8, 2021
La mujer fantasma libro clasificado en el género policíaco, un hombre casado pasa la noche con una desconocida que encuentra en un bar, no sabe su nombre, ni otro dato sobre ella, y al ser una mujer nada extraordinario, solo recuerda que llevaba un sombrero naranja bastante peculiar.
Aquí partimos para una historia que al principio pensé que sería muy predecible, pero que conforme fue transcurriendo se fue tornando llena de giros inesperados, misterios y un ritmo frenético, los personajes aparecen y desaparecen en los momentos justos, el personaje principal solo se muestra como una sombra proyectada sobre los demás, el verdadero protagonista de la historia es un sombrero naranja.
Gran historia, con elementos conocidos pero también otros sorprendentes que completan y redondean la trama.
Primer libro de este escritor y pretendo leer muchos más.
Aquí partimos para una historia que al principio pensé que sería muy predecible, pero que conforme fue transcurriendo se fue tornando llena de giros inesperados, misterios y un ritmo frenético, los personajes aparecen y desaparecen en los momentos justos, el personaje principal solo se muestra como una sombra proyectada sobre los demás, el verdadero protagonista de la historia es un sombrero naranja.
Gran historia, con elementos conocidos pero también otros sorprendentes que completan y redondean la trama.
Primer libro de este escritor y pretendo leer muchos más.
January 30, 2021
Damn. Cornell Woolrich knows how to write a suspenseful mystery thriller that will truly keep you on the edge of your seat.
I found this book on a list of "psychothrillers." I wouldn't exactly call it a psychothriller, but even so, it's terrific.
I found this book on a list of "psychothrillers." I wouldn't exactly call it a psychothriller, but even so, it's terrific.
September 24, 2016
After having a fight with his wife, Scott Henderson fumed into New York, stormed into a bar for a few drinks, and propositioned the first woman he saw for a night on the town—ostensibly the night on the town his wife refused. Together, Henderson and this mystery woman have a fancy dinner, saw a Broadway show, and shared a cab ride home. That’s the point where Henderson’s life begins to unfurl, as he returns to find his wife strangled to death in their bedroom with his own necktie. The police are eager enough to accept his alibis… but nobody can place Henderson in town at the time of the murder. Not the bartender, not the waiter, not the doorman, not the cab driver. The discovery of Henderson’s mistress and failing marriage put him as the prime suspect, and without any evidence of his innocence, the panicked man finds himself cast in the ultimate nightmare: an innocent man rotting on death row, counting down the hours until his execution.
But Henderson is offered the slimmest ray of hope by one of the detectives on the case, having a hunch of Henderson’s innocence born from years of working similar homicides. Reaching out to the imprisoned man, he prods Henderson to find somebody, anybody, who can continue the investigation and clear his name. There are two people Henderson trusts beyond all others: his friend John Lombard, who begins the tedious task of investigating every possible angle, and Scott’s mistress Carol, who would (and will) walk into hell for him. Such is the life of Scott Henderson, condemned to die for a crime he didn’t commit, a man without hope save for his best friend, one curious detective, and the woman who’d do anything to save him. All that’s left to find is this phantom lady, a wisp in Henderson’s memory: a woman nobody knows and nobody saw, whose only defining feature Henderson can remember is her striking orange hat…
In the pantheon of noir authors, Woolrich stands as another underrated master. He didn’t have Raymond Chandler’s razor-edged street-smart prose, or David Goodis’ desperation and crushing existential angst, or the stylish gritty flair of James M. Cain. In fact, while Woolrich’s prose can be quite good, it’s often peppered with leaden phrases and forced exposition; in particular, his dialogue comes across as clunky and unnatural. The last chapter is a pure Golden Age trope, unadulterated exposition where the detective explains how every clue fell into place to reveal the murderer. I found that finale dull and tedious, as it comes after several chapters of Woolrich doing what he excelled at: creating raw, unending tension. He is relentless as he batters his characters—and by proxy, the reader—into submission, with the characters edging close to Henderson’s salvation and falling short time and time again. The chapter headers ram home the race against time, beginning with Chapter 1 (“The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution: Six P.M.”) and continuing all the way to Chapter 22 (“The Hour of the Execution”).
Perhaps his lack of stylistic grace has contributed to Woolrich’s anonymity while Chandler and Goodis live on in the Library of America. It’s not exactly fair, as Phantom Lady ranks up there with some of noir’s best; even taking Woolrich’s technical flaws into account, he more than succeeds at penning a suspense masterpiece—the novel is brutal in all the right ways, a panicked death-spiral of fear and isolation. You suffer along with Henderson, feel the helplessness and terror of an innocent man whose life is ticking down towards an inglorious and unwarranted end. Woolrich was a master of the art of darkness, capturing loneliness and fear like few other authors of his era. Phantom Lady is intense and gripping, and if you’re into this sort of thing, it’s hard to put down without seeing it through all the way to the end. A must for fans of David Goodis, Jim Thompson, Dorothy B. Hughes, Charles Williams, and other purveyors of dark and downward spirals.
But Henderson is offered the slimmest ray of hope by one of the detectives on the case, having a hunch of Henderson’s innocence born from years of working similar homicides. Reaching out to the imprisoned man, he prods Henderson to find somebody, anybody, who can continue the investigation and clear his name. There are two people Henderson trusts beyond all others: his friend John Lombard, who begins the tedious task of investigating every possible angle, and Scott’s mistress Carol, who would (and will) walk into hell for him. Such is the life of Scott Henderson, condemned to die for a crime he didn’t commit, a man without hope save for his best friend, one curious detective, and the woman who’d do anything to save him. All that’s left to find is this phantom lady, a wisp in Henderson’s memory: a woman nobody knows and nobody saw, whose only defining feature Henderson can remember is her striking orange hat…
In the pantheon of noir authors, Woolrich stands as another underrated master. He didn’t have Raymond Chandler’s razor-edged street-smart prose, or David Goodis’ desperation and crushing existential angst, or the stylish gritty flair of James M. Cain. In fact, while Woolrich’s prose can be quite good, it’s often peppered with leaden phrases and forced exposition; in particular, his dialogue comes across as clunky and unnatural. The last chapter is a pure Golden Age trope, unadulterated exposition where the detective explains how every clue fell into place to reveal the murderer. I found that finale dull and tedious, as it comes after several chapters of Woolrich doing what he excelled at: creating raw, unending tension. He is relentless as he batters his characters—and by proxy, the reader—into submission, with the characters edging close to Henderson’s salvation and falling short time and time again. The chapter headers ram home the race against time, beginning with Chapter 1 (“The Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution: Six P.M.”) and continuing all the way to Chapter 22 (“The Hour of the Execution”).
Perhaps his lack of stylistic grace has contributed to Woolrich’s anonymity while Chandler and Goodis live on in the Library of America. It’s not exactly fair, as Phantom Lady ranks up there with some of noir’s best; even taking Woolrich’s technical flaws into account, he more than succeeds at penning a suspense masterpiece—the novel is brutal in all the right ways, a panicked death-spiral of fear and isolation. You suffer along with Henderson, feel the helplessness and terror of an innocent man whose life is ticking down towards an inglorious and unwarranted end. Woolrich was a master of the art of darkness, capturing loneliness and fear like few other authors of his era. Phantom Lady is intense and gripping, and if you’re into this sort of thing, it’s hard to put down without seeing it through all the way to the end. A must for fans of David Goodis, Jim Thompson, Dorothy B. Hughes, Charles Williams, and other purveyors of dark and downward spirals.
April 23, 2020
Es mi primera novela de Cornell Woolrich (está escrita bajo el seudónimo de William Irish), un autor del que aunque no había leido nada, si que me sonaba muchísimo, porque la mayoria de sus novelas han sido adaptadas al cine, sobre todo en la época dorada del cine negro, los años 40, 50; y concretamente la adaptación que llevó al cine de esta novela Robert Siodmak, es una de mis peliculas de cine negro favoritas, así que le tenia muchas ganas a esta novela.
Tras una bronca con su mujer, Scott Henderson sale de su casa y se refugia en un bar, allí conoce a una mujer con la que se bebe un par de copas, la invita a cenar y la lleva al teatro para aprovechar las dos entradas que tiene. Cuando vuelve a casa aquella noche se encuentra que la policia le está esperando: se mujer yace muerta en el dormitorio, estrangulada. Desde el primer momento Scott es el primer y casi único sospechoso de su asesinato, pero él tiene una coartada: ha estado acompañado por la misteriosa desconocida aquella noche. El problema surge cuando se da cuenta de que no sabe nada de ella, ni siquiera su nombre. Scott es condenado a muerte por el asesinato de su mujer, y a partir de ahí comienza una carrera contrarreloj para encontrar a la “mujer fantasma” y demostrar su inocencia.
Tengo que admitir que la novela se me ha hecho eterna, no me ha convencido ni la resolución que me ha parecido totalmente inverosimil, por rápida y por la falta de profundidad, y porque por otra parte todo el tema de la investigación para demostrar la inocencia del protagonista es muy poco sólida, tanto que me ha aburrido soberanamente. El argumento es por si mismo muy interesante incluso tiene un par de escenas atmosféricas estupendas, pero creo que Cornell Woolrich llegado un punto puso el piloto automático, y le importaba un comino desarrollar a sus personajes. Los personajes femeninos están esbozados muy por encima y de forma superficial, pero el resto de los personajes, los masculinos, no es que sean muy profundos tampoco. Tópicos y tópicos que a mi no me han convencido nada y el desastre más absoluto es cuando el policia en el último capitulo se dedica a explicar de nuevo todo el libro dando explicaciones y más explicaciones sobre la resolución del caso, que eso parecía que no se iba a terminar nunca. En fin, que es de esos pocos casos en los que la pelicula me parece una obra maestra y la novela una mediocridad.
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2020...
Tras una bronca con su mujer, Scott Henderson sale de su casa y se refugia en un bar, allí conoce a una mujer con la que se bebe un par de copas, la invita a cenar y la lleva al teatro para aprovechar las dos entradas que tiene. Cuando vuelve a casa aquella noche se encuentra que la policia le está esperando: se mujer yace muerta en el dormitorio, estrangulada. Desde el primer momento Scott es el primer y casi único sospechoso de su asesinato, pero él tiene una coartada: ha estado acompañado por la misteriosa desconocida aquella noche. El problema surge cuando se da cuenta de que no sabe nada de ella, ni siquiera su nombre. Scott es condenado a muerte por el asesinato de su mujer, y a partir de ahí comienza una carrera contrarreloj para encontrar a la “mujer fantasma” y demostrar su inocencia.
Tengo que admitir que la novela se me ha hecho eterna, no me ha convencido ni la resolución que me ha parecido totalmente inverosimil, por rápida y por la falta de profundidad, y porque por otra parte todo el tema de la investigación para demostrar la inocencia del protagonista es muy poco sólida, tanto que me ha aburrido soberanamente. El argumento es por si mismo muy interesante incluso tiene un par de escenas atmosféricas estupendas, pero creo que Cornell Woolrich llegado un punto puso el piloto automático, y le importaba un comino desarrollar a sus personajes. Los personajes femeninos están esbozados muy por encima y de forma superficial, pero el resto de los personajes, los masculinos, no es que sean muy profundos tampoco. Tópicos y tópicos que a mi no me han convencido nada y el desastre más absoluto es cuando el policia en el último capitulo se dedica a explicar de nuevo todo el libro dando explicaciones y más explicaciones sobre la resolución del caso, que eso parecía que no se iba a terminar nunca. En fin, que es de esos pocos casos en los que la pelicula me parece una obra maestra y la novela una mediocridad.
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2020...
December 23, 2022
Cuốn này khá hay trong dòng tiểu thuyết kinh điển. 3,5☆
Mình từng đọc Cô Dâu Đen và Ám Ảnh Đen của tác giả và thấy đây là cuốn xuất sắc nhất. Nhịp truyện không quá nhanh nhưng cũng không hề lê thê. Tất cả đều vừa đủ. Tuy nhiên với mình cái kết có chút khiên cưỡng. Hay là tại vì hung thủ nằm trong "tập đán án" của mình rồi nên mình mới thấy thế nhỉ.
Với cả mình không thích nhân vật chính. Người đàn ông có người phụ nữ khác ngoài vợ thì không nên được tha thứ hoặc được tự do sống hạnh phúc về sau.
Mình từng đọc Cô Dâu Đen và Ám Ảnh Đen của tác giả và thấy đây là cuốn xuất sắc nhất. Nhịp truyện không quá nhanh nhưng cũng không hề lê thê. Tất cả đều vừa đủ. Tuy nhiên với mình cái kết có chút khiên cưỡng. Hay là tại vì hung thủ nằm trong "tập đán án" của mình rồi nên mình mới thấy thế nhỉ.
Với cả mình không thích nhân vật chính. Người đàn ông có người phụ nữ khác ngoài vợ thì không nên được tha thứ hoặc được tự do sống hạnh phúc về sau.
September 17, 2024
Ανέκαθεν λάτρευα τα old school noir μυθιστορήματα και φυσικά τις αντίστοιχες ταινίες. Τόσο οι ιστορίες όσο και η αισθητική τους με γοητεύουν πολύ.
Το μυθιστόρημα "Η γυναίκα φάντασμα" είναι ένα κλασικό δείγμα noir μυθιστορήματος, γεννημένο στη χρυσή εποχή του είδους, τη δεκαετία του 1940. Μια πλοκή που από τις πρώτες σελίδες τρέχει χωρίς φιοριτούρες και περιττές σκηνές, κάνει τον αναγνώστη να μην μπορεί να αφήσει το βιβλίο απ' τα χέρια του.
Σίγουρα, κάποια πράγματα δεν είναι 100% ρεαλιστικά, αλλά σε συνδυασμό με κάποια ακίνδυνα τυπογραφικά λαθάκια και τη μυρωδιά του χαρτιού, εντείνεται η pulp αισθητική και γοητεία του βιβλίου αυτού.
Το μυθιστόρημα "Η γυναίκα φάντασμα" είναι ένα κλασικό δείγμα noir μυθιστορήματος, γεννημένο στη χρυσή εποχή του είδους, τη δεκαετία του 1940. Μια πλοκή που από τις πρώτες σελίδες τρέχει χωρίς φιοριτούρες και περιττές σκηνές, κάνει τον αναγνώστη να μην μπορεί να αφήσει το βιβλίο απ' τα χέρια του.
Σίγουρα, κάποια πράγματα δεν είναι 100% ρεαλιστικά, αλλά σε συνδυασμό με κάποια ακίνδυνα τυπογραφικά λαθάκια και τη μυρωδιά του χαρτιού, εντείνεται η pulp αισθητική και γοητεία του βιβλίου αυτού.
March 16, 2008
The kind of suspenser Cornell Woolrich excelled at, a woman's race against the electric chair to clear her boss' name for a murder he didn't commit. Many of his books used the format of the black widow drawing up a list of men she has to confront, just like in "The Bride Wore Black" and "Rendezvous In Black".
Woolrich had excellent touch of suspense in his novels (he wrote "Rear Window" among others). If you can catch the movie starring Ella Raines on TCM don't miss it!
Woolrich had excellent touch of suspense in his novels (he wrote "Rear Window" among others). If you can catch the movie starring Ella Raines on TCM don't miss it!
October 7, 2009
phantom lady is a fun little romp with excellent pacing. woolrich loves enhancing the harrow of a piece by marrying it to a schedule: this one counts down toward an execution: will the phantom lady be found in time to clear henderson's name before he makes it to the chair? and who the hell is she anyway? nobody seems to remember her, which is surprising considering she had a giant orange pumpkin hat on. a bit dated yes, but if you like william irish woolrich books, you won't be disappointed.
December 13, 2016
Πραγματική ατμόσφαιρα νουάρ όπως στις ασπρόμαυρες ταινίες που έβαζαν παλιά τα κανάλια. Επίσης το φινάλε είναι ενδιαφέρον.
June 27, 2023
Một câu chuyện khá thú vị và lôi cuốn thuộc thể loại án mạng-trinh thám. Người chồng cãi nhau với vợ nên ra ngoài mời người phụ nữ đầu tiên gặp để cùng đi ăn tối và nhà hát với chỗ đã đặt trước, nhưng thoả thuận là không đưa nhau bất kỳ thông tin cá nhân nào. Khi người chồng về nhà, người vợ đã chết, và người duy nhất có thể làm chứng chính là người phụ nữ bí ẩn đã cùng đi ăn tối ấy. Nếu không tìm được nhân chứng này, người chồng sẽ bị tử hình.
Cốt truyện như vậy khá hay, cách xếp đặt tình huống cũng ổn, và vài cú twist cuối truyện. Tuy nhiên nhịp điệu khá trầm, và tổng thể không bật lên được tính lôi cuốn đặc sắc, do vậy dừng ở mức hay trung bình. Một vài chi tiết hơi cưỡng ép khi giải thích lại mọi việc.
Dù vậy, với những ai thích thể loại trinh thám-án mạng, truyện này có thể là 1 nguồn tham khảo thú vị và giải trí.
Cốt truyện như vậy khá hay, cách xếp đặt tình huống cũng ổn, và vài cú twist cuối truyện. Tuy nhiên nhịp điệu khá trầm, và tổng thể không bật lên được tính lôi cuốn đặc sắc, do vậy dừng ở mức hay trung bình. Một vài chi tiết hơi cưỡng ép khi giải thích lại mọi việc.
Dù vậy, với những ai thích thể loại trinh thám-án mạng, truyện này có thể là 1 nguồn tham khảo thú vị và giải trí.
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