98. The Postman Always rings Twice, by James M. Cain

I gave up on “The Ginger Man” and moved on to “The Postman Always Rings Twice” a book written in a genre that I don’t usually enjoy. It is considered to be a seminal work in crime/mystery fiction. It’s called Roman Noir, Noir Fiction or Hard-boiled; dark and deep. The book is violent, brash and pretty smutty.

It was banned all over the place for its violence and sexuality. The two main characters commit murder and then have sex on the ground next to their victim, imagine reading it for the first time in 1934?

Unlike a lot of other books in this genre it is not a detective story or a mystery. The reader knows right up front the crime that is going to be and gets committed. The only thing the reader doesn’t know is whether Frank Chambers, the protagonist, will get away with it. Frank Chambers is just as much of a jerk as Sebastian Dangerfield is in The Ginger Man, more so because he’s a murderer, but I find I can get passed it somehow and can be okay with it.

I don’t know how that works or how to explain it any better. Perhaps it is James Cain’s writing style that appeals to me more. It is simple, to the point of being blunt but very intriguing. He follows some similar style to Donleavy, especially with Dialogue, not a lot of ‘he said’ and ‘she said’, but following the story is easy and there is a lot more description of action and setting.

The violence in the book is pretty tame for today’s standards, but I enjoyed imagining I was reading it back in the 30’s and trying to envision how shocking reading such a book would be. I liked that about this book.

I watch Law & Order and CSI, so this book appeals. The difference is that on those shows the watcher cheers from the crime fighters, the cops and the lawyers, in “The Postman Always Rings Twice” I find myself rooting for Frank and Cora. I sorta want them to get away with it.
A sure sign of a good book.

The book is short and moves at a very fast pace. It reminds me of Television Crime Dramas with its pacing and even the staging of the scenes. This pace makes the book a little tricky though; it’s very easy to miss important key phrases in the dialogue because everything rushes past so fast. There were a few chapters I reread just to make sure I had it all straight, especially leading up to and during the first trial.

This isn’t a book or genre that I would normally choose to read. I haven’t ever been very interested in crime novels but this book is the seed of all future crime novels and pulp fiction which makes it worth reading regardless of the genre.

I spent most of the book wondering about the title. There’s no postman in it, there’s never even a reference to it. This has been a problem for critics, readers and other writers.

There are a couple of theories about the title. The first is from Cain himself in the preface to his book “Double Indemnity” he talks about a conversation with Vincent Lawrence, a play write. During the conversation Lawrence talks about waiting to hear back from a producer about a play he had sent in. He was a nervous wreck waiting to hear back, pacing the house waiting for the postman. Finally he remembered he didn’t need to sit around sweating, because the Postman always rang twice. Cain thought this was great because, “He rang twice for Chamber, didn’t he?... on that second ring, Chambers had to answer, didn’t he? Couldn’t hide out in the backyard anymore.” (Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias

There are a series of doubles in the book. Frank attempts the murder twice (not having been successful the first time –duh), there are two women, one who is involved in the murder and first trial and a second who indirectly sets in motion the events that will bring about the second trial. It is in the second trial that all that Frank is trying to avoid becomes apparent. He can no longer avoid or hide from the postman (fate) – he always rings twice.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t amazing or ‘tell your friends about it’ great. It hasn’t won me over to crime fiction, but I am glad that I read it.