Sunday, 25 May 2014

This Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith - A Review (3 Star)

Finding Patricia Highsmith reminded me of when I first discovered Graham Greene - "really! She wrote all that!?"

Author of such classic-book-come-classic-films as "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Strangers on a Train", I decided I would take a plunge with a title I had not heard of before. Boy, did I strike it lucky...?

...No. Unfortunately this was a perfectly average story that although deftly handles the prolonged slip-slide into insanity does nothing with it to really spark any interest. The madness is detectable quite early on in the story and as it presents itself with increasing severity and consequence a certain inevitability seeps into the work. Unfortunately, although a potentially rich idea, the story does nothing to really circumvent the expectation and bring surprise. There is no scene within it that has not been seen in a million different stories and it certainly lacks the originality and edginess of "The Killer Inside Me."

A fine story,
Elegantly told,
With nothing new,
Only old.

Kept my attention,
For a few days,
But it seems,
There are better ways.

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