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The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Audiobook2 hours

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Written by James Cain

Narrated by Stanley Tucci

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

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.

First published in 1934 and banned in Boston for its explosive mixture of violence and eroticism, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. It established James M. Cain as a major novelist with an unsparing vision of America's bleak underside, and was acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger.

Performed by Stanley Tucci

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateMar 29, 2005
ISBN9780060840778
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Author

James Cain

One of the most celebrated and notorious crime writers of all time, JAMES M. CAIN launched his career with the publication of two back-to-back masterpieces—The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity—selling millions of copies worldwide and inspiring classic movies. Cain continued with an unmatched run of noir novels including Mildred Pierce which inspired both the Academy Award-winning film starring Joan Crawford and the Emmy-winning HBO miniseries starring Kate Winslet. Cain died in 1977.

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Reviews for The Postman Always Rings Twice

Rating: 4.189473684210526 out of 5 stars
4/5

190 ratings66 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've have read the book, and have seen two movie versions. Yet, Stanley Tucci's narration and interpretive rendition offered some new insights into things that I just hadn't grasped before. No wondered this audiobook was the Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2005. If anyone is looking for a classic of a classic, here's one superior audiobook well worth a listen. PS: Plus one of my favorite opening lines, "They threw me off the hay truck about noon."

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A tragic love story where a drifter falls in love with a married woman, they plot to kill her husband, their lust gets in the way of common sense, and it ends in tragedy. A very lurid story of 1930's noir that holds you to the end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A simple novel about two people who set about to murder a woman's husband and the consequences that follow. However, the story does not end there. It is a meditation on murder, with brief touches of eroticism, and legal loopholes filtered with greed. A satisfying read, albeit a short one.3.5
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting. I can see why it was banned in Boston, LOL, and why it's inspired so many adaptations.

    Sadly, this version wasn't the best. Stanley Tucci doesn't have a ton of voice differentiation for the different characters and the Scribd version is clearly ripped from a CD and has some scratches and distortion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have never seen the movie, nor have I read much (if anything) of noir mystery from 30’s. However, what I can say is that this was an enjoyable read about cheating, lying, and murder.A no-good goes to work in a restaurant where he begins an affair with the owner’s wife. The wife and the no-good conspire to kill the owner. Things go bad, then good, then bad (all defined by who you are rooting for).This quick read is fascinating for the way that it, in so short a time, provides such insight into the characters. There are nice twists and great insight into the minds of the people involved, and, overall, a great little story worth exploring.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A classic crime/fiction story written by James Cain and made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. A short, fast-paced read which I have been enjoying.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Interesting movie, boring book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! Or, more properly, slam bang thank you ma'am. Published in 1934, the violence and sexuality of the book was enough to get it banned in Boston, and still carries a powerful punch. The story-line won't let go -- you may not like the characters, but you have to find out what happens to them, and the plot twists keep you looking first one way and then the other. The style is pared down in the extreme -- mostly dialog -- but still strongly evokes a specific time and place, and specific characters. I've never seen a movie version, but i definitely want to see the Lana Turner/John Garfield version.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    a classic masterpiece that moves a mile a minute. zero fat on this one.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was under the mistaken impression for an embarrassingly long period of time--based on the title alone--that between the cover lay a schlocky romance about an adulteress and her mail deliverer. It is neither schlocky nor romantic and there was nary a postman is in sight, much to my relief.What it is is the tale of an abusive relationship between a tornadic tramp and a listless married innkeeper who is swept up in his path of inevitable destruction. The moral of the story, if I now understand the title correctly, is that there's only so long you can dodge your fate; eventually the mail gets delivered.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic in disguise. James Cain doesn’t come at you with 800 pages of elevated diction and epic themes. Instead, this seminal noir is barely a novella, just over 100 pages long, and it’s deceptively simple and straightforward.A drifter with a hard edge to him washes up at an obscure diner, gets one look (and sniff!) of the proprietor’s smoking-hot wife, and it’s unbridled lust and blockheaded scheming from then on. I won’t recount the plot details, but it’s no spoiler to say that not all goes to plan . . . .Cain’s skill here is remarkable. His description and dialog are spare in the extreme, and he almost totally avoids editorializing. But I challenge you to find a story that exposes and expresses human nature more accurately, or that raises such profound questions of sin, guilt and redemption through so little seeming authorly effort. This is a minor masterpiece, and is highly recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Some books are just straight disturbing – this is one of them.I initially thought it was only a tacky thrill getter – bit of sex, bit of violence and a ‘tough talking dude’ – but once I broke through that (and it did take some breaking through) I realized this is quite a well written book.It is about violence – it is about alienation – it is about deprivation and emotional screw-up: It is about justice and the perverseness of morality.That is a pretty strong cocktail, and the language, of necessity, is harsh, unforgiving and downright brutal at points.So too the plot – with an economy to be admired, there is an attempted murder, a successful murder and an accident resulting in another kind of murder … all in the space of around 120 pages.Women get slapped around – and like it: Men get beaten-up - and don’t. It is the ‘film-noir’ world beloved of the gangster genre. But this is not a gangster book. The chief character is a drifter – he bums around America - scratching a living here, stealing there, spending short periods in jail before moving on.He drifts into a situation where his animal driven lusts and craftiness allow access to what I am tempted to say is a perfect partner for him. There is the problem of her husband – and their attempt to remove him forms the spine of the story.But, ‘As flies to wanton boys … ‘ The God’s agents are the forces of law and order – who are playing a game with lesser mortals. Any sense of justice or basic human decency is soon swept away once we encounter the petty motives fuelling both defence and prosecution.I have to admit, I am reminded of Tess, of Lear and Heathcliffe … pretty strong company for a pot-boiler to evoke.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I don't know what the title has to do with anything, since, as far as I can tell, no postman every rings once, let alone twice. What the book does have is a drifter who takes up a job at a roadside dinner and after about two minutes of meeting the proprietor's wife, launches into a tawdry affair. It thus follows, of course, that drifter and femme fatale, must now murder the husband to be free to have each other. While this was a quick and snappy read, there is virtually no characterization. The story consists of sex and (bungling) murder, which is fine and good, but I there wasn't much for me to care whether they succeeded or got caught or not. I'm not even particularly thrown by the sexism and racism, given the time period and the fact that most of it came out the main character's mouths, both of whom were not very likeable anyway. Things did get more interesting as the story twisted this way and that way, not entirely unexpectedly. It was, I suppose, an entertaining enough story, however, I wasn't invested in it much one way or the other.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read it years ago and for some reason it stuck with me, no doubt because it was about one of my favorite books from one of my favorite authors. Recently, I tried to hunt it down, entering a few keywords that I remembered into Google, to no avail.

    So the other day, I found myself dropping off a bunch of books into one of those book donation kiosks and stumbled upon it, on the inside flap of the Grosset & Dunlap edition of The Postman Always Rings Twice:

    "Mr. Cain has written the most engrossingly unlaydownable book that I have any memory of . . . it is so continuously exciting that if you can put it down before you've finished it, you are not the reader I think you are, and you and I have nothing in common." - Franklin P. Adams

    I think he liked it.

    And what he said.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An ultimately weird book with a brilliant all-american workman narrator that's a pleasure to read. But also pretty heavy - like most of what I would call hardboiled. But unlike Chandler or Hammett it's truly depressing and morbid, and just generally more noir-ish. A great quick and grimy story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Written in 1934 it tells the sexy, gritty tale of Frank Chambers, a drifter who finds himself grounded by Cora Papadakis, a married woman. Cora's beauty and instant mutual attraction leads to Frank's uncharacteristic staying put. Soon the adulterous couple is contemplating murder. The plot is timeless. Desire has led them to the devil's doorstep.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Of course, this is noir. One really shouldn't think too much about noir. It's all about mood and chemistry. The mood is pretty deftly done. The chemistry? I guess the 1930s style of writing just doesn't impart chemistry between our two anti-heroes to me. But it might have to the folks back then.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had no idea of the twists and turns that I would find in "The Postman Always Rings Twice". I had wondered why this thin book still had a reputation today. Now I know why it remains a classic in the noir genre.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice is a structurally sound tent pole of the noir genre. While it inspired an entire generation of crime writers, you’ll be shocked to know that it was met with a fair share of criticism when initially published. Due to a high volume of violence and sexuality (for its time), the book was shunned by critics and even so far as banned in Boston. Despite best efforts to keep the novel out of the hands and minds of American readers, the book’s originality and Cain’s undeniable talent ushered the novel into instant classic territory. It is now widely regarded as one of the most important crime novels of the 20th century.

    Frank Chambers rolls into town with nothing more on his mind than his next meal. He finds himself in a quaint roadside diner and after jawing with the owner, he finds himself with a job. Before long, an attraction sparks between Frank and the owner’s wife, Cora. The two conspire to knock off her husband and hit the road but as one knows, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

    Frank and Cora are made for one another; the two are about as rotten as politician’s promises. They’re blinded by desire and consumed with the idea of life on the road and it certainly doesn't do them any favors considering how likable their mark is. In the end, I guess that’s the key to really great noir fiction; you've got to make your protagonists as irredeemable as possible and ain't nothing worth saving when it comes to these two.

    For those like me who were a little bewildered by the meaning behind the novel’s title, there’s an excellent explanation on Wikipedia that made me love the book that much more. Obviously there’s spoilers ahead if you choose to check it out but I recommend giving it a look.

    Also posted @ Every Read Thing
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is really short and the prose is in some ways more spare than Hemingway. The end has the same problem as the movie I remember seeing on TCM where it seemed to end like three different times. I mean first they go to court and you think it'll end. Nope, then something else comes along. Is it over? Nope, then this other thing happens. It was like, just get it over with already! Anyway, it's hard to believe this book was controversial back in its day. Now days there are soap operas on regular network daytime TV that are probably more graphic.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    James M. Cain's first novel is a short, fast thriller that was banned in Boston back when that phrase meant something, and a seminal work in the hard-boiled school of fiction. The story of an ex-convict-cum-knockaround guy in his early 20s named Frank Chambers who blows into a roadside diner/gas station/auto court (read: motel) in Glendale, California one day for a dine-'n'-dash meal but who stays on as a hired hand because he has the hots for the boss's wife, Cora, TPART is the seamy story of how Frank and Cora's animalistic lust for each other will stop at nothing, even murder. But no matter how bad Frank and Cora are, they're just babes in the woods next to the bounders, heels and grifters who wear suits....Keep your eyes peeled for the racism and racial anxiety (particularly Cora's desire to be seen as "white," as she does not see her husband, a middle-aged Greek), the class aspirations (again with Cora, but also with her husband Nick), and the Depression-era signifiers. Cain would recycle some of these elements in what is perhaps his greatest work, Mildred Pierce (which has almost nothing in common with the 1945 movie starring Joan Crawford); one might make the case that Mildred is Cora with her passions redirected towards her kid, and with slightly less motives for murder.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Published 1934. A young vagrant and the sexy bored wife of a restaurant owner plan to murder her husband. Excellent characters, plot and writing. Cain‘s first book was an instant success and made into a movie. I watched the movie for a #booktomovie challenge. #CenturyofMysteryChallenge too! Recommended for mystery lovers.“No one has ever stopped in the middle of one of Cain‘s books.” - Saturday Review
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a fast read! Even the sentences feel choppy and blunt. Don’t ask me why, but I had black & white in my head with mafia men-speak, hat tilted downwards, cigar dangling off the side of the mouth… (Maybe even bugs bunny with the short gangster wearing tall hat character.) Anyway… Frank Chambers is a drifter who enters the life of Nick and Cora Papadakis, who owns a rural California diner and gas station. Frank and Cora quickly grew an attraction to each other and falls into a passionate affair with sadomasochistic tendencies. - Frank’s first thought of Cora – “…her lips stuck out in a way that made me want to mash them in for her.” - At their first embrace, Cora commands Frank, “’Bite me! Bite me!’ I bit her. I sunk my teeth into her lips so deep I could feel the blood spurt into my mouth. It was running down her neck when I carried her upstairs.” - When faking a car accident, Cora yells “’Rip me! Rip me!’ I ripped her. I shoved my hand in her blouse and jerked. She was wide open, from her throat to her belly….I hauled off and hit her in the eye as hard as I could... She was right down at my feet, her eyes shining, her breasts trembling, drawn up in tight points, and pointing right up at me … ‘Yes! Yes, Frank, yes!’ … I had to have her, if I hung for it. I had her. ” Apparently this book was quite a sensation when published in 1934 and was banned in Boston. I can’t say it feels sexy, but more of an “hmm… okay” without hitting the eww level. I can imagine Cora’s character would be considered a femme fatale even though Frank was the primary instigator. Plotting murders, insurance scheming, blackmail, and the closing scenes (let’s not spoil it) made this an innovative crime story when it was released. While the story isn’t fresh or complex by today’s standards, I nonetheless appreciated the brevity of the writing style which was fast-paced and to-the-point yet also told a full, rich tale. Oh, and the title – nifty. If not the first time, the second time will... As strange as it may sound, I didn’t watch either of the movies and didn’t know anything about the story when I bought the book, which was a $3 bargain of a 1945 edition. :)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wow! A superb thriller with a minimal of characters (and really weird ones at that!) and hardly the semblance of a plot. And yet, the story progresses, like a ticking time bomb, till everything comes to culmination. An interesting read, despite the lack of character development, Hitchcockish in a way (the movies), with the final twist being accidental, a point where it deviates from the creations of the brilliant filmmaker.4/5
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was.. 'meh.' The plot is fairly simplistic as is the writing style. It has some meaning about what taking another life can do to the human soul and how it eventually dominates everything else. It's not bad, but it's not good either.

    I also don't understand the significance of the title. Anyone care to explain?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a good story. I thought it would be a murder mystery, but it was more like Crime and Punishment. The culprits had their just desert in the end. I didn't see the plot twist in the end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I knew that this book was about a torrid passion, but I hadn't realized just how gritty it is! Frank is a greasy, unscrupulous coward who listens only to his impulses regardless of consequence, as for Cora, she is manipulative and conniving stopping at nothing to get her way: these are not likeable characters! Yet, their destiny is fascinating: how deep into squalor will they sink? Will they get away with their crimes? Is it really love or fear of betrayal that links them together? Quickly enough their fate careens out of their hands, it can only end badly!I can see why the short direct sentences, the dark themes and the dénouement would appeal to Camus. However much man may want to control his existence, his life is actually beyond his grasp.I must admit though: What's with the title?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed this book. Written in the '30s, it is in the same "noirish" genre as such books as "The Big Sleep". Unlike "The Big Sleep", the plot is very straightforward: a drifter and a bored housewife/waitress attempt to murder her husband and almost get away with it, twice.I liked the confessional aspect of the narrative, it makes the ending so much more interesting.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When Cain published this work in 1934 he opened up a new field for writers, and defined a new subgenre .. the hard-boiled noir crime novel.Frank Chambers is a drifter, who gets tossed off a truck on which he had stowed away, and winds up at the Twin Oaks Tavern. It’s a dusty little “roadside sandwich joint, like a million others in California” including a lunch counter, filling station, and a half-dozen “shacks that they called an auto court.” The owner, a Greek named Nick Papadakis, offers him a job, but Frank isn’t interested … at least not until he gets a look at Nick’s wife, Cora.The passion between Cora and Frank is palpable. And I don’t just mean lust. They fight, slinging horrible words at one another, and are even physically brutal. Everything happens at breakneck speed. They coldly plan to murder The Greek, and are “saved” only by a dead cat. The reader gets the sense that despite their professed love, these two are each other’s worst enemy, and one can only keep reading to find out what the final body count will be.It’s a fascinating story, and rapid-paced. The writing is spare and bold. There isn’t a lot of extraneous description or exposition on motives. Emotions are raw and characters act on them without much thought to consequences. Fans of today’s forensic pathology TV series and books may find this simple. BUT, put yourself back in 1934, and just go along for the ride.You can read this slim volume in a day or two … but you’ll be thinking about it much longer.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A drifter named Frank happens upon a diner run by "The Greek". When offered a job he is reluctant at first but then spies the Greeks wife. He stays, begins an affair with the wife, and they eventually turn to murder and crime.This is in the style of a hard boiled detective novel--except there is no mystery, just two people hardened to life who don't seem to care what they have to do to get what they want. It's all described in a matter of fact way with lots of cynicism.