A Dog's Ransom

A deceptive start, which seemingly has Highsmith in McBain’s 87th Precinct territory, soon takes an uncomfortable turn. A crime is committed, the criminal identified and apprehended all inside a few chapters, so what can the real story be? In typical Highsmith way, the psychology of the ordinary people brought together by the crime takes them in dark directions. Still an effective read 50+ years on, although, of course, to some extent a period piece of late 60s/early 70s New York, both in milieu and attitudes.

‘Oh, the hell with the money,’ Ed said. He was thinking what a disgusting city New York really was. You had to rub elbows, you did rub elbows with creeps like this one every day of the week, every time you rode a bus or a subway. They looked like ordinary people but they were creeps.

This is the premise of many a good Highsmith thriller, and it really is what is so scary about them - this could be true.

I looked forward to reading A Dog's Ransom, not just because buddy reads with Lillelara are always fun but also because I knew absolutely nothing of the book, which is generally a great way to experience Highsmith - just go with the story and see where the mess becomes so entangled that you can't but keep reading.

And it was the same show more with A Dog's Ransom - we learn from the very first page that something is not right when a nice New York couple receives threatening letters.

Shortly after, the story escalates when their dog goes missing and the story swings into full action.

We meet several other characters, and it actually takes a while to figure out which characters will be the reliable ones and which will be completely bonkers.

With this one, there was more of a sad and creepy edge to the story than with some other Highsmith books, and I cannot put my finger on it, but the characters and story just didn't work as well. Yes, the main characters were complete psychopaths, but the dark, sad, and terrifying aspect in this story was that they - even when open about their deeds - were not held accountable by the other characters. It was hugely disturbing, and yet the story moved at a pace that did not support the character development, and in the end I just wanted the book to be finished.

I still feel raw about the dog.

Not one of Highsmith's best. show less

A mio parere, in letteratura ci sono diversi tipi di durezza.
Ad esempio quella epicamente tragica della Agota (Trilogia della città di K) o quella irriparabilmente nevrotica alla Canetti (Auto da fe) o quella di questo racconto, depressa e deprimente.
Ma tutte, sempre seconde me, derivano dalla entomologica (cioè, distaccata e fredda) vivisezione psicologica che gli autori citati fanno dei loro personaggi e delle situazioni nelle quali li fanno agire.
In questo noir il tratto è la vacuità (la stupidità?) di un movimento di vite senza alcuno scopo apparente; un marasma esistenziale che coinvolge tutti, vittime e carnefici, tanto che alla fine non solo è difficile essere simpatetici con qualcuno dei protagonisti, ma è anche quasi show more impossibile attribuire a ciascuno di essi un ruolo fisso.
Il libro non mi è piaciuto per niente ma, ne ho riconosciuto la potenza davvero singolare

[audiolibro] show less

Tense and gripping novel about NYC in the 70s set in Greenwich Village. I've never been there but Highsmith is known for her exact detail when describing her locales. This is a fascinating book with few characters but great depth to them all. I rushed to finish the book because I didn't want to be wondering what would happen next. Philosophical and existentialist in outlook, this is a hard look at people's motivations in life and how they accept or don't accept what is inevitable from their point of view. Highsmith is a serious novelist who makes reading fiction worthwhile. I've tended to read memoirs of late but I wanted to change up with this book I had found and wanted to read for some time.

Ed and Greta Reynold's French Poodle is dognapped and held at ransom by low life Kenneth Rowajinski. Clarence Duhamell, a rookie cop with a college education, finds the dognapper in a matter of days. Rowajinski manages to to implicate Duhamell in the crime. Duhamell fellow cops side with Rowajinksi which triggers Duhamell to murder Rowajinski. A Dog's Ransom contains classic Highsmith trademarks - sociopath killers, social misfits and plenty of psychological tension.

Lisa, der verhätschelte Pudel eines kinderlosen New Yorker Ehepaars, verschwindet. Der Kidnapper fordert nicht nur Lösegeld. Die Hundebesitzer sollen stellvertretend büssen für alle, die ihn zu dem gemacht haben, der er heute ist. Der Routinefall gerät in die Hände eines blutjungen Streifenpolizisten, den die verschiedensten Motive bewegen, sich seiner anzunehmen. Aus einem fast harmlosen Streit erwächst eine beklemmende und gewalttätige Tragödie um Leben, Liebe und Tod.