The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith

(pb; 1964)

From the back cover:

"Athens, 1962. Rydal Keener is an American expat working as a tour guide and running cons on the side. He is mostly killing time, searching for adventure. But in Chester MacFarland, a charismatic American businessman, and his flirtatious and beautiful young wife, Colette, Rydal finds more than he bargained for. After an incident at a hotel puts the wealthy couple in danger, Rydal ties his fate to theirs. He's compromised. Events spin out of control, and infatuation and sexual tension mount among the dangerous triangle. . ."


Review:

January is a good, mostly suspenseful book whose effective plot twists are brought into being by its key characters' emotions and actions. American readers, used to the black-and-white morality of their birth country's crime novels, may be put off by the moral ambiguities of January's sometimes irrational characters and their circumstances - moral ambiguities that are omnipresent in Highsmith's other works, as well. (This is an observation, not a criticism.)

The cat-and-mouse reversals between Rydal and MacFarland run a few chapters longer than they should, resulting in a solid, if almost banal finish that may prove disappointing to readers who prefer that their entertainment end with a climactic bang.

That minor nit aside, this is a worthwhile, mostly enjoyable read from a consistently distinctive and fearless author.

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This novel has inspired two films.

The first version, Die zwei Gesichter des Januar, was released in West Germany on April 17, 1986. Wolfgang Storch and Gabriela Zerhau co-directed the film from a script penned by Storch and Karl Heinz Willschrei.

This film starred Charles Brauer, Yolanda Jilot and Thomas Schücke, whose roles were not listed on imdb.

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The second film was released stateside on August 28, 2014. Hossein Amini scripted and directed it.

Viggo Mortensen played Chester MacFarland. Kirsten Dunst played Colette MacFarland. Oscar Isaac played Rydal.

Psycho by Robert Bloch

(pb; 1959: first book in the original Psycho trilogy)

From the back cover

"When the Bates Motel loomed up out of the storm, Mary Craine thought it was her salvation. The rooms were musty but clean, and the manager, Norman Bates, seemed like a nice enough fellow, if a little strange. . .

"Then Mary met Norman's mother. And the butcher knife.

"The nightmare had just begun. . ."


Review

Pulp-style writing, crisp prose, succinct characterizations, macabre puns and shocking violence form this familiar landmark work. This, easily, is one of the best pulp novels I've ever read.

Own it!

Followed by Psycho II.

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Psycho resulted in two film versions.

The first version was released stateside on August 25, 1960. Helmed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock and scripted by Joseph Stefano, it starred Anthony Perkins in his career-defining role of Norman Bates.

Janet Leigh played Marion Crane (cinematic stand-in for Mary Craine). Vera Miles played Lila Craine. John Gavin played Sam Loomis. Martin Balsam played Milton Arbogast. Simon Oakland played Dr. Fred Richmond. Patricia "Pat" Hitchcock (daughter of Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville) played Caroline.

An uncredited Virginia Gregg played the voice-role of Norma Bates, Norman's mother.

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The second version, directed and produced by Gus Van Sant, was released stateside on December 4, 1998. Joseph Stefano's screenplay for the original version was used for this almost shot-for-shot remake.

Vince Vaughn played Norman Bates. Anne Heche played Marion Crane. Julianne Moore played Lila Crane. Viggo Mortensen played Samuel "Sam" Loomis. William H. Macy played Milton Arbogast. Robert Forster played Dr. Fred Richmond. Phillip Baker Hall played Sheriff Al Chambers. James Remar played "Patrolman". Rita Wilson played Caroline. James LeGros played "Charlie the Car Dealer".

Appaloosa, by Robert B. Parker

(hb; 2005)

From the inside flap:

". . . the untamed territories of the West during the 1800s. . .

"When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a small, dusy town suffering at the hands of renegade rancher Randall Bragg, a man who has so little regard for the law that he has taken supplies, horses, and women for his own and left the city marshal and one of his deputies dead. Cole and Hitch, itinerant lawmen, are used to cleaning up after opportunistic thieves, but in Bragg they find an unusually wily adversary -- one who raises the stakes by playing not with the rules, but with emotions."

Review:

Like many of the better Westerns I've read, Parker's Appaloosa is lean and mean, with sentence structures that are bare-bones basic (but not simple-minded), and characters whose words and actions effectively echo their personalities and intentions.

Appaloosa follows a familiar plotline, with a few well-placed and highly-effective pseudo-twists to individualize the story. Between these pseudo-twists, Parker's no-frills writing style, and the engaging (or hiss-worthy) characters, this is a must-read for anyone looking for a burn-through, modern-day Western.

Check it out.

Appaloosa became a theatrical film release on October 3, 2008. Ed Harris, who also directed and co-scripted the film with Robert Knott, played Virgil Cole. Viggo Mortensen played Everett Hitch. Jeremy Irons played Randall Bragg. Renee Zellweger played Allison French. Timothy Spall played Phil Olson. Cerris Morgan-Moyer played Tilda. Lance Henriksen (who co-starred with Ed Harris in The Right Stuff) played Ring Shelton. Adam Nelson played Mackie Shelton. Bob Harris, father of Ed, played Judge Elias Callison.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

(hb; 2006)

From the inside flap:

"A father and son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands taht stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food -- and each other."

Review:

McCarthy writes in a stark, often monochromatic way, forsaking apostrophes (can't = "cant") and quotation marks. Aside from a drawn-out, Hollyweird-convenient denouement, this masculine-toned and touching novel hooked me. It has an addictive rhythm to it: you won't soon forget this stripped to the core, quickfire read.

The film version, scheduled for a November 25, 2009 stateside release, stars Viggo Mortensen as "The Man". Charlize Theron plays "The Wife". Guy Pearce plays "The Veteran". Robert Duvall plays "Old Man". Molly Parker plays "Veteran's Wife".

John Hillcoat directs, from a script by Joe Penhall.