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by Patricia Highsmith

  • ISBN: 0393322432
  • Category: Fiction
  • Author: Patricia Highsmith
  • Subcategory: Literary
  • Other formats: lit rtf mobi lrf
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (November 17, 2001)
  • Pages: 352 pages
  • FB2 size: 1474 kb
  • EPUB size: 1443 kb
  • Rating: 4.9
  • Votes: 787
Download People Who Knock on the Door fb2

Additional books by patricia highsmith. Published by w. w. norton. Strangers on a Train. Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes. People Who. Knock on the Door.

Additional books by patricia highsmith. norton & company.

People Who Knock on the Door (1983) is a novel by Patricia Highsmith. It was the nineteenth of her 22 novels. Highsmith drew inspiration from the revival of fundamentalist Christianity that achieved notoriety in the late 1970s in the US with the prominence of Jerry Falwell and other televangelists and the organization of its political arm, the Moral Majority.

Start by marking People Who Knock on the Door as Want to Read . In a pitiless story of prying suburban self-righteousness, Patricia Highsmith introduces the Alderman family as they descend into moral crisis

Start by marking People Who Knock on the Door as Want to Read: Want to Read savin. ant to Read. In a pitiless story of prying suburban self-righteousness, Patricia Highsmith introduces the Alderman family as they descend into moral crisis. When small-town insurance salesman Richard Alderman becomes a born-again Christian, his once tight-knit family quickly begins to rip apart at the seams. He and his youngest son, Robbie, embrace their newfound faith, while his elder In a pitiless story of prying suburban self-righteousness, Patricia Highsmith introduces the Alderman family as they descend into moral crisis.

Arthur answered one call around 9. This is Bob Cole, said a rich tenor voice. Eddie Howell called me last night and told me the sad news rthur

Arthur answered one call around 9. Eddie Howell called me last night and told me the sad news rthur. Could I possibly have a word with your mother?. Just a minute, I’ll call he. .Arthur did, and his mother came in from the bedroom. The Reverend Cole now, Arthur said. Arthur went out to the backyard, not wanting to hear what his mother said.

This happens so frequently in People Who Knock on the Door, it comes off as either some sort of running gag or a bizarre example of product placement. Patricia Highsmith wrote this book, right. In any event, that and other similar criticisms aside, People Who Knock on the Door is a very good novel. It centers around the conflict between Arthur Alderman, a bright, amazingly well adjusted teenager and his father, a rigid thinking authoritarian who has recently succumbed to hyper-religiosity of the born again variety. It is a lackluster effort from someone as talented as she.

Patricia Highsmith’s book, one of her last, tells the story of a family pulled into religious fundamentalism through a.

Patricia Highsmith’s book, one of her last, tells the story of a family pulled into religious fundamentalism through a medical crisis- the youngest son is saved from death through the power of prayer. Patricia Highsmith (1921–1995) was the author of more than twenty novels, including Strangers on a Train, The Price of Salt, The Blunderer and The Talented Mr. Ripley, as well as numerous short stories.

Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short story writer best known .

Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short story writer best known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. Highsmith-known as a suspense writer based on her psychological thriller Strangers on a Train-used an alias because she did not want to be tagged as "a lesbian-book writer", and because of the use of her own life references for characters and occurrences in the story.

Highsmith, Patricia, 1921-. New York : Penzler Books. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books. inlibrary; printdisabled; ; china. SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata). Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014).

A writer who has created a world of her own. Patricia Highsmith died in Locarno, Switzerland, in February 1995. Patricia Highsmith is the poet of apprehension - Graham Greene. No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying - Vogue show more. About Patricia Highsmith. Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Her last novel, Small g: A Summer Idyll, was published posthumously, the same year.

"Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing...bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night." ―The New Yorker

With the savage humor of Evelyn Waugh and the macabre sensibility of Edgar Allan Poe, Patricia Highsmith brought a distinct twentieth-century acuteness to her prolific body of fiction. In her more than twenty novels, psychopaths lie in wait amid the milieu of the mundane, in the neighbor clipping the hedges or the spouse asleep next to you at night. Now, Norton continues the revival of this noir genius with another of her lost masterpieces: a later work from 1983, People Who Knock on the Door, is a tale about blind faith and the slippery notion of justice that lies beneath the peculiarly American veneer of righteousness. This novel, out of print for years, again attests to Highsmith's reputation as "the poet of apprehension" (Graham Greene).


Reviews about People Who Knock on the Door (7):
Fani
Good, thank you
M
Adrierdin
This is possibly Highsmith's best work (I am reading her novels in chronological order, and have two more to go), and continues along a trajectory that she started with "Edith's Diary", where the occasional murder or violence takes a back seat to developing (for once) realistic characters who also evolve through the story. I was in college in Indiana in the late 70's and early 80's, and got caught up (directly and indirectly) in the fundamentalist revival that took off at that time, and can attest to the authenticity of her treatment of this subject and how it affected families, individuals, and communities.

What struck me most was the realism of the main character Arthur's odyssey, through first jobs, dorm life, campus parties, interaction with professors and other students, even the quarry (or closest stand-in for one; sometimes just a lake) and its role in structuring social life. I felt like I was right back in Bloomington Indiana and the dorm I lived in, and the secondary characters had very familiar faces. The reason I am emphasizing this aspect of the novel is that others have said it is unrealistic, so I wonder if any of them came of age in Southern Indiana like I did?

Highsmith's other novels have struck me as contrived, and completely unbelievable in terms of characters and situations, even though taking place in locales I am familiar with or have lived in. She began to change her approach with "Edith's Diary". But even so, this novel suffers from her blatant racism that permeates all of her work, and I was offended at how cavalier she was in dismissing the value of the life of an unborn child. It has no place in the story-telling and comes off as cruel and arrogant.

As with all Highsmith novels, the ending was quite weak, but I didn't mind. The book went along at a much faster pace than most of her books, where I tend to get bored at times, so it was a page turner from start to finish. So much suspense, in spite of predictability, and way more positive vibes than in her other novels. Good things occasionally happen in this one.
MrDog
A few things are a little off kilter in Chalmerston, the small midwestern town in which the narrative to People Who Knock on the Door unfolds. Perhaps Highsmith's long, self-imposed exile to Europe left her ill equipped to accurately portray life in America's heartland. For example, when did underage high schoolers start regularly tossing back gin and tonics like old pros under the approving eyes of parents and adult neighbors? This happens so frequently in People Who Knock on the Door, it comes off as either some sort of running gag or a bizarre example of product placement.

In any event, that and other similar criticisms aside, People Who Knock on the Door is a very good novel. It centers around the conflict between Arthur Alderman, a bright, amazingly well adjusted teenager and his father, a rigid thinking authoritarian who has recently succumbed to hyper-religiosity of the born again variety.
Arthur's mother and maternal grandmother both side with Arthur but they refuse to act on his behalf in order not to upset Dad. Younger brother Robbie, whose life heretofore has been directionless, adopts his father's new found religious zealotry.

People Who Knock on the Door is a solid example of storytelling featuring characters whose actions are entirely consistent with the well defined personalities bestowed upon them by the author. Highly recommended.
Hanelynai
Patricia Highsmith wrote this book, right. . . ? It is a lackluster effort from someone as talented as she. This book seems like more of a rant on Christianity and organized religion, which would be fine if something else interesting were going on. What confused me most initially was the setting, in terms of time. Was this family "Leave it to Beaver" or "Six Feet Under". . . ? Everyone seemed so stereotypically '50s, without any of the true dysfunction that would seem to have been exhibited by a family in the '80s, particularly the main character. Maybe I just don't remember the '80s well enough. Despite the differences in opinions and viewpoints of various family members, little tension--implied or otherwise--develops.
Am I having sex with my girlfriend? Sure, but it's all secret, implied, and hush-hush--sounds more '50s-ish than '80s-ish.
Does she get pregnant? Sure, but I don't care all that much, and I'm really not all that panicked about it.
Are her parents ready to kill me? No, they don't seem to care much either--more '80s than '50s.
Do my parents care all that much? Not really, since they're not even sure I have a girlfriend. Despite their initial reaction--or lack thereof--I get kicked out of my house. Rather quietly. I don't resist, either. I don't even yell back when my dad tells me. In fact, I seem to care very little. . . .
Do I hate my brother? I guess, but not all that much.
Et cetera.

The result is that the reader doesn't care that much, either. I love Highsmith's sublety and implied nature of the conflict and violence that lies within. Her pacing is immaculate. I have never been bored. Until now. She just doesn't build the tension in the early pages enough to carry through subsequent chapters. The result is that I finished simply out of inherent loyalty to Highsmith--not concern or interest in the plot or characters.

I am not used to being "bored" by Highsmith, and I have truly enjoyed and anticipated each of her novels that I've read. If you're new to the club, you might want to start elsewhere. If you're fiercely loyal, you still might want to go somewhere else. If you run out of other titles, give it a run. At least it's relatively short. . . .

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