Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Postman Always Rings Twice

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

12 reviews

e_r_q's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The Postman Always Rings Twice is famous for being "scandalous". However its famed violence is laughably juvenile, and its "iconic" eroticism is clunky and awkward. Even worse, the writing is bland, the characters are poorly written and dislikeable, and in the end, the actual plot feels really inconsequential. Also, the crude objectification of its female characters makes it evidently clear that this novella was written by a man.

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gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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meowrilena's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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noonjinx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A quick read but a great one. It was written nearly a century ago but rattles along like a modern thriller. The dialogue is terrific and the prose is wonderfully bare and straightforward. It’s a noir tale of sex, murder, betrayal, love, redemption, tragedy and justice. The main characters are thoroughly weak and immoral but I ended up rooting for them.

Spoiler

They come tantalisingly close to a happy ending before it is torn away from them.

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mbichaela's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0

SK
trošku som ostala rozhodená, čo vlastne sa všetko stalo v tejto knihe.

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kiyaah's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Spoiler

i enjoyed it but hate how frank and cora instantly fell in love, overall a good book; i liked the storyline and plots.

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lorees_reading_nook's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Crime is not generally a genre that I read frequently but this book has something of a cult status and was banned in some places when it was first published so I couldn't pass it by. It is easy to understand why the heady mixture of sex and violence caused a sensation in 1934 but, by today's standards, both are very mild and definitely far from shocking.

I am having a very hard time reviewing The Postman Always Rings Twice. It's main characters, Frank and Cora, are despicable and unlikable, which they have to be, and only Nick Papadakis gives the story someone we can identify with. I found the American slang a bit hard to follow sometimes (but that's probably just me as I am not very familiar with it), the plot was quite predictable and the dialogue a bit corny in places. The ending is not exactly unexpected but completely satisfying in that justice is served in a convoluted sort of way.

I am glad that I read this book which ventured into topics that were considered taboo at the time it was written but I cannot say that I enjoyed very much.

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