The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)

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After giving up on the train wreck of O Beulah Land, I felt the need for something more enjoyable. I had a copy of The Postman Always Rings Twice sitting on the shelf waiting for me to read it, among the other books in the queue, and decided now was as good a time as any.

It turns out this is a really good read. I finished the whole thing in about ninety minutes. It is brisk, entertaining, and well-crafted. Despite all their faults, I found the main characters easy targets for my sympathies, and I kept hoping for a happy ending for them regardless of what they had done. The most important twists were not in the plot, but in the turnings of the hearts and minds of these characters, and their earnestness comes across clearly when all is said and done.

It is easy to see why this, Cain's first novel, was a success when published in the thirties, and why it is considered a classic now. ( )

I'm more accustomed to noir from an impartial observer's perspective (e.g. private eye), so this took some getting used to. Ended up liking it more than I thought I would. ( )

Reading a classic is always a scary proposition. There is a story and expectation built up in the mind, its easy to fear that the actual reading will be a disappointment.

Luckily I had never seen either of the films made out of this book, so my only expectations were that it was a "classic" and that it sat on the edge of the dark noir crime genre. While much shorter than I anticipated (though fitting for a novel written 80 years ago, granted), it was a fun, quick, titillating read of love, murder, and a hot California summer. ( )

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