Pulp Fiction discussion

Two men meet and agree to a tit for tat arrangement that may have horrifying consequences in Highsmith's psychological thriller.

The book has been adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock and inspired numerous other filmmakers. The latest incarnation may or may not be good news - http://variety.com/2015/film/news/ben...

Enjoy the book!

Patricia Highsmith is such a great author but I haven't read Strangers on a Train...wonder if I can find a copy

I plan to read the book first, and then re-watch the Hitchcock movie.

Michael, I managed to find the book fairly cheap at amazon. Used copy. You might also check the local library.

I just got through reading this about a month ago, but my first impression is that the first chapter or so are key in setting up who exactly Guy is and who exactly Bruno is. I think we can see from the outset that Bruno knows exactly what he is doing, even though it seems all innocent at first.

May I suggest reading the novel first and then watching the movie? They are incredibly different. And I won't be reading this (I've read it twice for two groups just lately), but I'll watch the discussion and if anyone has questions, I'll be happy to help answer if I can. I know this book like the back of my hand at this point!

Nancy wrote: "May I suggest reading the novel first and then watching the movie? They are incredibly different. And I won't be reading this (I've read it twice for two groups just lately), but I'll watch the d..."

I'll take your suggestion to heart. I've somehow managed to live to my ripe old age without seeing the movie, so it'll be no problem for me.

Michael wrote: "Patricia Highsmith is such a great author but I haven't read Strangers on a Train...wonder if I can find a copy"

You can surely find this at your local library. If not they can get it for you via interlibrary loan.

I have started on the book today, and I'm already almost halfway through. I get the feeling I need to re-read it if I want to do a proper review: I can't seem to be able to slow down or to take notes, being to interested to follow through on the intricate and chilling arguments the two men are constructing in order to justify murder to themselves.

Algernon wrote: "I have started on the book today, and I'm already almost halfway through. I get the feeling I need to re-read it if I want to do a proper review: I can't seem to be able to slow down or to take not..."

Glad to hear this. It's been a while since I've read something I just can't put down.

Just got my copy today. Very excited to read with the movie just a dim memory. I have to finish yet another Spenser novel first...

I have finished the book almost two weeks ago, but I didn't feel much like writing a review.
You see, some of the enchantment with the clever manipulations of the mind of the characters that I had in the beginning turned sour towards the end of the novel,

I think something similar happened to me when I read the first Ripley book, and I have tracked my source of disappointment to how little I cared about the tribulations of the main character, Ripley first and now Guy. I have no sympathy for his weakness, for his giving in to temptation, to psychological warfare. He is supposed to be smart, but for me the lasting impression I have of him is one of weakness.

Still, a book that evoked strong emotions in the mind of the reader, and one that deserves its place among the classics.

Algernon wrote: "I have finished the book almost two weeks ago, but I didn't feel much like writing a review.
You see, some of the enchantment with the clever manipulations of the mind of the characters that I had ..."

I think that "sympathy" for Guy is out of the question, and Highsmith set it up that way. This is one of the hallmarks of her crime writing, in my opinion. She manipulates the reader so that you lean toward sympathy at first before it clicks in your head that the person you're feeling sorry really isn't worthy of it at all. You get a much clearer picture of this kind of thing in her Deep Water, where you can't help but feel sorry for the main character.

I do plan to read more of her books, but I can't help feeling depressed by her bleak opinion of human nature.

Algernon wrote: "I do plan to read more of her books, but I can't help feeling depressed by her bleak opinion of human nature."

I can relate. I read several of her novels pretty much in a row, and I had to take a break before going into the next one. Too much messing with my head. I think I'm ready to pick up the next one now, though.

Nancy wrote: "Algernon wrote: "I have finished the book almost two weeks ago, but I didn't feel much like writing a review.
You see, some of the enchantment with the clever manipulations of the mind of the chara..."

I like Nancy's perspective on Guy. What Highsmith seems to do is undermine our natural sympathy for the perceived main character and instead shift (some of) our sympathy to the antagonist. Thus, we give Bruno another chance—until we realize how pathetic and amoral he is. And yeah, Algernon, that's bleak indeed.

As evidenced by the fact that I started almost two weeks ago and haven't finished yet, I'm not really digging this one.
I took an instant dislike to it which to me says there is something about Highsmith's writing style that irks me. Though I don't care about any of the characters, I am curious enough to see how it ends, so it's looking like a three-star read for me.

Maybe it's just the wrong book at the wrong time. I have some short stories by this author that I'll try at a later date.

I am planning now to see the movie again. I understand Hitchcock made some important changes to the script, but I saw it so many years (decades) ago that the details are hazy.

John wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Algernon wrote: "I have finished the book almost two weeks ago, but I didn't feel much like writing a review.
You see, some of the enchantment with the clever manipulations of the min..."

Another thing about Highsmith, I think, is that she has this uncanny ability to get you immediately into the heads of her main characters so that you can actually see how what they do makes total sense in their own minds. It's really amazing, to me anyway, how she manages to do that. Like Ripley -- you know he's just bad news, but she twists things so that you see his motivations for doing what he does. So far, with the exception of The Price of Salt (which is something else entirely), that's been another one of her trademarks in her novels.

Algernon wrote: "I have finished the book almost two weeks ago, but I didn't feel much like writing a review.
You see, some of the enchantment with the clever manipulations of the mind of the characters that I had ..."

I had a similar reaction to this book. I found myself many times questioning Guy, wondering what in the heck he was doing, saying "no, don't do that" but he had no answer for Bruno's manipulations/mind games.

I left this book thinking as well the over all negative picture of human nature. Very pessimistic in that regard.

At first I didn't care for the book, but the fact that it got so much into the character's heads that it really made you think about their intentions and motivations made me like it more in the 2nd part.

Melki wrote: "As evidenced by the fact that I started almost two weeks ago and haven't finished yet, I'm not really digging this one.
I took an instant dislike to it which to me says there is something about Hig..."

I am having the exact same reaction, stuck at about a third of the way through. I have read several short stories by Highsmith and enjoyed them all. I was looking forward to reading this one and I plan to finish it ...as painful as that may be. I see other readers feedback that it may improve in the second part, fingers crossed.

Am starting to read this again. I read it several years ago and liked it. I remember that it wasn't as good as the Hitchcock film, but go figure. Highsmith's works are something like Joyce
Carol Oates & Shirley Jackson's books.

Frank wrote: "Am starting to read this again. I read it several years ago and liked it. I remember that it wasn't as good as the Hitchcock film, but go figure. Highsmith's works are something like Joyce
Carol O..."

I thought the book was much better than the film. Hitchcock's vision left a lot of stuff out.

Despite the book dragging for me in places, the murders themselves were gripping and frightening. I sometimes feel jaded by the way murders can be described in crime fiction, but these all felt intimate in a very disturbing way. I definitely flipped through those pages more quickly than, say, the chapters when Guy was with Anne (big yawn).

Just read a short story by her, "The Baby Spoon". She definitely had a dark side. I won't spoil it, but the end is so quick & wild. Some of these authors, including the female ones, would make great criminals.

I saw a collection of short stories from Highsmith. I really don't have time to read them all right now. Can anyone recommend a few short stories that have a similar psychological feel to Strangers on a Train/ Ripley?

Nancy, the ending of the film always bugged me. A little over the top, maybe that's why.

Franky wrote: "I saw a collection of short stories from Highsmith. I really don't have time to read them all right now. Can anyone recommend a few short stories that have a similar psychological feel to Strangers..."

I agree with you about the movie. (view spoiler)[ I also hated that whole thing where Anne's sister just happened to look like Miriam, glasses and all. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah, "The Baby Spoon" is pretty dark. "Not One Of Us"
shows the indifference of upper class people for others lives. "Woodrow Wilson's Necktie" rivals some of today's splatter films. "Disagreeable Pigeons" concerns two pigeons in London that have it out for humans. The book is "Selected Novels & Short Stories of Patricia Highsmith" The novels are "Strangers On a Train" & "The Price Of Salt". Every one of the short stories deal with dark subjects. And as for the movie, well that's Hitchcock. Have you ever seen one of his films that wasn't over the top?

Frank wrote: "Yeah, "The Baby Spoon" is pretty dark. "Not One Of Us"
shows the indifference of upper class people for others lives. "Woodrow Wilson's Necktie" rivals some of today's splatter films. "Disagreeable..."

I don't mind over the top but take his "The Birds" for example. Scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it. Then much later I read Du Maurier's story that the movie was based on and a) it was twice as creepy as the movie, and b) the subject matter wasn't even close to the film.

Frank wrote: "Yeah, "The Baby Spoon" is pretty dark. "Not One Of Us"
shows the indifference of upper class people for others lives. "Woodrow Wilson's Necktie" rivals some of today's splatter films. "Disagreeable..."

Just FYI : The Price of Salt is not one of her dark novels; at its heart it is a love story.

I haven't read "Salt"yet.

Thanks for some of the recommendations Frank. I'll have to check out some of those. I was looking at the blurb on the cover of one of her collections, and some seemed to go into the supernatural/horror realm, which is not really what I'm looking for.

Not to question the great Hitchcock, but don't you think he COULD have made the film closer to the book, and still have been a Hitch-like film? I think the book is right in line with his films.

Y'all got me curious about "Baby Spoon," so I read that one today. Though a little predictable, it was pretty good. I'll be reading more of Highsmith's short fiction.

Nancy I agree with your comment about "The Birds". But DuMaurier's story could have been filmed as a ten minute short. Hitchcock took her idea and made a two hour film. I think there are copyright problems even if you expound on and use someone else's idea. Most Hollywood films deviate from the books, either their plot lines are expanded or exagerrated or the endings are changed. For instance did Popeye Doyle really kill an FBI agent? Weren't Nancy & Betsy prostitutes? Only in the recent Ben Kingsley version of Oliver Twist. And my favorote.'why don.'t Esmeralda & Quasimodo die in most versions of " Hunchback"as in Hugo's book? That's the movies for you.

Frank wrote: "Nancy I agree with your comment about "The Birds". But DuMaurier's story could have been filmed as a ten minute short. Hitchcock took her idea and made a two hour film. I think there are copyright ..."

I'm such a book purist that adaptations tend to bother me sometimes. However, I think if someone did a movie adapted directly from "The Birds," they could do an excellent job -- showing normal life before, then a growing tension as the birds start to appear, the characters' lives and then the realization of what's happening dawning slowly on the characters and the audience. The key would be in that awareness of isolation.

I suppose you can argue that Hitchcock did that in his own modern way, but I'm talking using the setting of DuMaurier's actual story. If it wasn't screwed up in the making, it would be a true horror story.

Read this a while back so I skipped it last month. While it left me feeling itchy and like I needed to wash my hands, I can certainly admire the author's artistry. I despised both characters, but I knew that was the intent by the end. It's emotionally draining reading a book and hunting for someone to sympathize or relate to - and finding nothing.

Bobbi wrote: "Read this a while back so I skipped it last month. While it left me feeling itchy and like I needed to wash my hands, I can certainly admire the author's artistry. I despised both characters, but..."

Itchy, wanting to wash my hands. That's a great way to put the characters in this book. Very well stated. They definitely are not likeable.

I've never read the book. Loved the old Hitchcock film! I don't know about a remake reteaming the star and the director of Gone Girl - didn't care much for that film at all.

Think I'll track down a copy of the book and read it rather than see the new film.

Franky wrote: "I saw a collection of short stories from Highsmith. I really don't have time to read them all right now. Can anyone recommend a few short stories that have a similar psychological feel to Strangers..."

I'd recommend Mischief by Charlotte Armstrong. Completely different topic, setting, and author, but gave me the shivers in a similar way.

I read this a few years ago, and if I hadn't brought it on vacation along with little else, I might have put it down and not picked it up. This relationship between the main characters is so intimate in such a repulsive way, and by our witness we are implicated in the muck and the murk of their respective weakness and facile, infantile violence. Chilling - and the author does a fantastic job with it. But I wouldn't want to spend much more time inside her head.

Thanks for the recommendation Bobbi, I'll check that one out.

I think you nailed it when you said "intimate in a repulsive way" with regard to the characters. There is something that definitely gets "under your skin" with the way Highsmith presents characters and situations.