James M. Cain
Everyone knows about the 1981 film The Postman Always Rings Twice (TPART) but that did not stop me from reading the novel on which the film was based. James M. Cain’s novel debut novel turned out to be any aspiring novelist’s dream- a roaring success. Cain’s prior experience in journalism and his admiration for writers of the mid 1920s must have influenced him to create novels like TPART which is a simple and yet sophisticated thriller.
The Summary
The story in short is about an affair between a wanderer and an inn owner’s wife. Frank Chambers arrives at The Twin Oaks Inn and is smitten almost immediately with the owner, Nick Papadikas’s wife Cora and wins her over.
They proceed to murder Nick and the rest of the novel tells how that ends (obviously not well). The greatest irony is how characters create a real obstacle by murdering what they think is a real obstacle (you can read that again).
Short and Dark
Cain does not bore our lives with unnecessary details of the characters past lives or loves for which I am extremely grateful. While it is fun reading the complete works of Sherlock Holmes, an occasional divergence into the crevices of the dark side of the human psyche through a one go read like TPART is also surprisingly fulfilling.
Though it may appear light, the motifs are no less serious. Somewhere along the pages, that familiar feeling of reading Shakespear’s tragedy of Macbeth creeps up. Betrayal of trust, ambitions that cloud reality, paranoia and the loss of humanity are some of the major concerns that is shine through all those sparse words.
“But love, when you get fear in it, it’s not love any more. It’s hate.” (63)
Femme Fatale
A major reason why this was easily adaptable as a film noir was the deft portrayal of the ravishing femme fatale. Cora describes herself as a ‘hell cat’ early on. You can’t help but wish to go inside the novel and soothsay to Frank to be beware of cats.
She becomes Frank’s raison de’etre and also the reason for his complete downfall within the span of a few chapters. While Cora aims for a materialistic lifestyle and the comforts that come with it, Frank only wants Cora. And that was his undoing.
Cain does not skip on taking a jab at the judicial system, social behaviors and prejudices. The dialogues are equally entertaining and does most of the heavy lifting in carrying the story forward at sonic speed. The characters are also well fleshed out and rounded. You might find yourselves almost sympathizing with them if you are not careful.
In Conclusion
TPART does not disappoint and can be easily labelled a classic murder thriller. I highly recommend the novel if you do not possess the luxury of time but still want to satisfy some late night enigma cravings. TPART thrills without any frills, hands down.
