The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain; narrated by Stanley Tucci | 2005; originally published 1934 | HarperAudio | Audiobook $ 15
An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one, grisly solution; a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve.
Here’s a classic of the… uh, thriller? noir? mystery? genre. The book was considered outrageous when it was first published back in the 1930’s; it was first banned for obscenity, then in the next decade provided to military servicemen during WWII, and was made into an equally controversial film. With a history like that, I knew I had to read it.
I was expecting something dark and gritty à la The Maltese Falcon. In reality, this book could be described as being significantly darker and grittier than that one. This is perhaps not very surprising, given that this story is told from the point of view of the criminal.
This is one of those books where the main character is just overall a terrible person, and the reader is compelled to keep following the story just to find out what terrible thing they’ll do next. In many cases I have enjoyed stories told from a villain’s point of view. It can be fun to read a story about someone being bad! But in this case, the narrator and his accomplice have no redeeming qualities. By that I don’t just mean that they don’t justify their actions with some compellingly twisted morality, or that they don’t get a redemption arc. I mean that he just wasn’t a very interesting or sympathetic villain, nor was his partner in crime.
I will say that the narration of the audiobook was perfect — and after all, I’d expect no less from Stanley Tucci.
I think based on my experiences with the genre so far, it’s safe to say that early-20th century crime fiction is just not my thing.
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Publication information: Cain, James M. The postman always rings twice. New York City, NY: HarperAudio, 2005. Audiobook.
Source: Public library, via Hoopla.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.