MADreads

Two by Cain

October 5th, 2009 Katie H.

There are some books that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, inspired by the goodness of humanity and hopeful for the future.  And then there are James M. Cain’s novels.  Written in the 1930s and 1940s, Cain’s terse, bleak crime novels portray people as hard as the times in which they live.  But for all the darkness at the heart of Cain’s tales, it’s hard to deny the brilliance of his writing and the deep seated humanity it invokes in his people.  In a scant paragraph, Cain can sketch out a drifter’s wariness, a housewife’s prejudices or an insurance salesman’s patient plotting.  Dialogue takes on a distinctive rhythm, with slang and attitude masking characters’ distrust and vulnerabilities.  When the betrayal comes, it is as sharp as a stab.

In his first successful novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Cain tells a simple story:  Frank, a drifter, comes upon a California roadside diner run by a Greek immigrant and his wife.  Cora and Frank fall in love, but their efforts to dispatch the Greek prove difficult (for all their cool plotting, the two prove to be rather nervous when it comes to the actual deed).  While the murder of an endearing figure (one that even Frank says he liked) is disturbing enough, it is the mix of violence and sexuality in Frank and Cora’s relationship that riled enough critics to have the book tried for obscenity in Boston.

In his later (1943) novel, Double Indemnity, Cain’s narrative feels a little more polished, as does the murder methodology.  Insurance salesman Walter Huff pays a sales call on an oilman’s wife.  But Phyllis has a special purpose for her husband’s new life insurance policy, and Walter willingly goes against his better judgment in plotting a convenient accident that will allow them to collect a sizeable settlement and run away together.  Based on a true story, most people are familiar with Cain’s novel through the classic 1944 Billy Wilder-Raymond Chandler film adaptation.  It’s worth reading the book even after seeing the film, as Cain’s ending is more satisfyingly ambigious.  Of course, Walter and Phyllis may get exactly what they want, but is it really love when it’s bound up with murder and greed?  Cain isn’t read as often today as his comporaries Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, but his style is the sort that continues in today’s books by authors like Walter Mosley and James Ellroy.  Just the perfect sort of cozy writing to curl up with before bed.

Entry Filed under: Recreational Fiction, Thriller