The Postman Always Rings Twice.

[SheilaT]

It's very short. The edition I got from my library is only 116 pages.

Back when it came out, I saw the 1981 movie, and can't remember anything about it. I'm going to have to watch it again, and the original version from 1946 to see how close either one stays to the book. Not very, I expect.

I almost didn't stick with it, because the first two chapters I found nearly impossible to make sense of, because of slang and other cultural references that I just could not understand. The novel came out in 1934, and it's very much of its time. Even with the rocky start, I would recommend it to anyone.

[Demoiselle]

1. I like the 1946 version (Garfield/Turner) better.

A little Jack Nicholson goes a long way for me. And there was just too much Nicholson in it.
That said, I've never read the book....you've talked me into it.

[fadedrose]

5. I saw the '46 version as a kid....

I liked it then and I think I even understood it.

The marvelous patriotic WWII movies were just about done with and this was the beginning of the Garfield, Mitchem, Robert Ryan, Hayden and a few others that were just starting...the crime time...with a little of Grable and Gable.

[Demoiselle]

6. The '40's cinema noir thing is very interesting...

we went from films like Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy with their hopeful notes to all those dark cruel flicks. I think that maybe the exposure of so many Americans to the reality and brutality of war suddenly made us all sophisticated cynics.

[murielm99]

2. I have never read the book.

There was a time in the seventies when I went back and read a lot of books that were popular in the thirties and forties. That was because I had to clean out a library that had belonged to an older relative. I read the books and then donated them. Alas, I had no room for everything.

I read a book called "Leave Her to Heaven," which was very popular in the forties. I read a number of mysteries by authors from the golden age. There was a great Aussie author named Arthur Upfield.

Sometimes these books can be dated, as you indicate with The Postman. But it can be a fun insight into the times to read these books, too, can't it?

Thanks for recommending this.

[The Roux Comes First]

3. I Just Checked a Cain Collection Out Yesterday . . .

But it was primarily to try Mildred Pierce on, based on complimentary review I ran across. I read Postman and Double Indemnity years ago and enjoyed both and may go back to them after MP.

I came upon Upfield a number of years ago and believe I have now managed to accumulate all of his Napoleon Bonaparte detective series. I've probably read about half of them. Quirky but entertaining.

[SheilaT]

4. I also like reading books written a while back,

most especially if they take place in the now of when they were written.

Some years ago I read a novel written and set in the mid 1920's, and what was most noticeable about it -- I've forgotten most of the details other than it was about a young career woman of the time -- was that it contained absolutely no foreshadowing of the Great Depression. That alone made it fascinating.

[fadedrose]

7. I saw "Leave Her to Heaven"

and that darned movie still scares me. I remember "her" sitting in the boat waiting to throw his kid out... she was a real nut job...

Trying to think of the dark haired beauty that finally got left to heaven and I can't think of it... Trying to remember who played the wife she killed...

[murielm99]

8. Gene Tierney played the crazy, obsessed woman.

She killed the brother, and also her own unborn child. She killed herself, and tried to frame her sister, played by Jean Crain.

The book seems to be just like the movie. They did not change anything.

[cmkramer]

9. TV remake

It starred Loni Anderson and Patrick Duffy.

Getting back to "Postman", I remember that Cora was supposed to be Mexican not a glacial ice blonde the way she's portrayed in the movies. Although that actually kind of works better in the movie.