The Postman Always Rings Twice: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
(defaultsort, tropelist)
 
(2 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{work}}
[[File:Cain_The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice.jpg|frame]]
[[File:Cain_The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice.jpg|frame]]


''[[The Postman Always Rings Twice]]'' is a 1934 crime novel written by [[James M Cain]].
''[[The Postman Always Rings Twice]]'' is a 1934 crime novel written by [[James M. Cain]].


Frank Chambers, a young drifter, finds himself in a dusty diner in rural California in search of a meal. At the diner, he finds a job and a seductive married woman named Cora. Their attraction is instantaneous, and so starts their passionate affair. Cora's tired of living her life this way, married to an old Greek man named Nick whom she doesn't truly love. She wants to start over but keep the diner. Frank and she come up with the perfect solution and [[The Perfect Crime]]-- to murder Nick. After an unsuccessful first try, they succeed. Too perfect a crime to have really succeeded, lawyers are onto them. Will they be caught, and how will they pay for their actions?
Frank Chambers, a young drifter, finds himself in a dusty diner in rural California in search of a meal. At the diner, he finds a job and a seductive married woman named Cora. Their attraction is instantaneous, and so starts their passionate affair. Cora's tired of living her life this way, married to an old Greek man named Nick whom she doesn't truly love. She wants to start over but keep the diner. Frank and she come up with the perfect solution and [[The Perfect Crime]]-- to murder Nick. After an unsuccessful first try, they succeed. Too perfect a crime to have really succeeded, lawyers are onto them. Will they be caught, and how will they pay for their actions?
Line 8: Line 8:
It was controversial in its day for the violence and the sadomasochistic sexual relations between Cora and Frank. It is considered one of the best novels of modern literature.
It was controversial in its day for the violence and the sadomasochistic sexual relations between Cora and Frank. It is considered one of the best novels of modern literature.


Its most famous adaptation was the [[The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946 (Film)|1946 film noir]], which was [[The Postman Always Rings Twice 1981 (Film)|remade in 1981]].
Its most famous adaptation was the [[The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film)|1946 film noir]], which was [[The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 film)|remade in 1981]].
----
----
{{tropelist}}
==== Tropes used by the novel: ====
* [[Amoral Attorney]]: Katz, who manages to get the protagonists acquitted - though he knows that they're guilty - just to win a bet with the prosecutor.
* [[Amoral Attorney]]: Katz, who manages to get the protagonists acquitted - though he knows that they're guilty - just to win a bet with the prosecutor.
* [[Auto Erotica]]: Early in a novel, Cora and Frank have sex in a car.
* [[Auto Erotica]]: Early in a novel, Cora and Frank have sex in a car.
* [[Beige Prose]]
* [[Beige Prose]]
* [[Betty and Veronica]]: A version that became popularized in [[Film Noir]].
* [[Betty and Veronica]]: A version that became popularized in [[Film Noir]].
* [[The Drifter]]: Frank
* [[The Drifter]]: Frank
* [[Death By Irony]]: {{spoiler|Cora is killed in a car accident, the same way that they managed to kill Nick.}}
* [[Death by Irony]]: {{spoiler|Cora is killed in a car accident, the same way that they managed to kill Nick.}}
* [[Desperately Looking for A Purpose In Life]]: Cora
* [[Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life]]: Cora
* [[Downer Ending]]
* [[Downer Ending]]
* [[Easy Amnesia]]: After the attempt to hit Nick's head and make it look like he drowned in the bathtub, Nick gets retrograde amnesia from the nonfatal blow Frank managed to get.
* [[Easy Amnesia]]: After the attempt to hit Nick's head and make it look like he drowned in the bathtub, Nick gets retrograde amnesia from the nonfatal blow Frank managed to get.
* [[Femme Fatale]]: Cora is a perfect example.
* [[Femme Fatale]]: Cora is a perfect example.
* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: "He used to be a dick, but he's not a dick anymore."
* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: "He used to be a dick, but he's not a dick anymore."
Line 30: Line 30:
[[Category:Crime Fiction]]
[[Category:Crime Fiction]]
[[Category:The Postman Always Rings Twice]]
[[Category:The Postman Always Rings Twice]]
[[Category:Literature]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Postman Always Rings Twice, The}}

Latest revision as of 13:19, 10 October 2017

The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1934 crime novel written by James M. Cain.

Frank Chambers, a young drifter, finds himself in a dusty diner in rural California in search of a meal. At the diner, he finds a job and a seductive married woman named Cora. Their attraction is instantaneous, and so starts their passionate affair. Cora's tired of living her life this way, married to an old Greek man named Nick whom she doesn't truly love. She wants to start over but keep the diner. Frank and she come up with the perfect solution and The Perfect Crime-- to murder Nick. After an unsuccessful first try, they succeed. Too perfect a crime to have really succeeded, lawyers are onto them. Will they be caught, and how will they pay for their actions?

It was controversial in its day for the violence and the sadomasochistic sexual relations between Cora and Frank. It is considered one of the best novels of modern literature.

Its most famous adaptation was the 1946 film noir, which was remade in 1981.

Tropes used in The Postman Always Rings Twice include:
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice?oldid=1556681"