BOOK REVIEW : PATRICIA HIGHSMITH - "STRANGERS ON A TRAIN" (1950)

I broke my book-buying moratorium a couple of months back and decided that I needed some shorter works to balance out the big heavy tomes which seemed to be the only things left to read on my shelves.

I hit upon the idea of delving into crime fiction, a genre I’m fairly ignorant of, and promptly grabbed a handful of early twentieth century representative classics. 

First I read George Simenon’s ‘The Saint-Fiacre Affair.’ This was touted as a classic of the genre, but to be honest I kept falling asleep while reading it, and what I do remember has not left a lasting impression. I gave it a rather generous 8/10 - it was enjoyable, but nothing special.

‘Strangers on a Train’ is infinitely better, in my opinion. Well-written and psychologically deep, the tale was made famous by an Alfred Hitchcock film version, which I hear took some severe liberties with the plot. I haven’t seen it, so I came to the story with an open mind.

The following contains some mild spoilers, but nothing more explicit than the blurb on the back of the book. However, if you’re like me, and don’t even want to read that, then stop here.

The eponymous strangers on a train are a drunken rich young layabout and an up and coming architect. Getting into conversation, the architect reveals that he is trying to secure a divorce from his wife, while the drunk has issues with his father. The drunk then proposes they each murder the obstacle to the other’s happiness, since there would be nothing to link them to the acts. The architect is disgusted, and soon forgets about this encounter. However, the drunk has enough clues to find the architect again, and so begins a psychological drama in which the two begin to merge as one and the unthinkable becomes a reality.

I must confess the milieu of 1950s America isn’t very appealing to me - I’m much more at home in Victorian England or Central Europe between the wars - but despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and couldn’t give it anything other than 10/10. Gripping, original and excellently written, Highsmith’s work does much to make up for the disappointment over Simenon. I can only hope that the remaining crime classics I’ve bought are as good as this.