Strangers On A Train - Patricia Highsmith

First Published - 1950

My Edition - Virago Modern Classics Hardcover

     I've had Strangers on a Train on my shelves for several years and for whatever reason I have just now taken the time to read it. This may partly be due to already having watched the movie from Alfred Hitchcock a few years ago. I find it nearly impossible to get motivated to read a novel if I've already seen the film adaptation, which is, I'm sure, due to already having the major plot points made known to me.

     In any case, I have finally brought down this beautiful volume from my shelves and cracked it open. Honestly, I was left feeling a little let down. Having read and fallen in love with the first Ripley novel (also by Highsmith), I had come to expect a much greater sense of suspense which I found lacking from Strangers. The plot of the thriller centers around Charles Bruno and Guy Haines, two strangers who have a life-altering meeting one night on a train. After unloading the circumstances behind his visit to his estranged wife, Guy is startled at Bruno's suggestion that they swap murders. Guy is unhappy in his marriage and is wanting the freedom to marry another, while Bruno is battling his ill father who keeps a tight fist on Bruno's inheritance. In theory, this should make for an interesting read. However, there were a few things that were difficult to love.

     Highsmith has an amazing ability to get into the heads of the criminals, which were the parts of The Talented Mr. Ripley that I loved best, but seemed an aspect that was less of a focal point in Strangers. More of the book was from the point of view of Guy, or so it seemed, with a focus on how he felt trapped into committing the murder of Bruno's father. I missed not having more from Bruno's point of view. Secondly, but closely tied in to the previous point, I felt that Bruno comes across as more cloyingly irritating than the psychotic criminal he obviously is. Perhaps in seeing a greater portion of his thoughts, we would have seen just how his brain was pushing him towards the creepy things he was doing. This might have turned something that was just uncomfortable and cringy to read into something far more in the vein of a thriller.

     Normally, the phrase "the movie was better" never gets uttered from my mouth. However, this is a case where Hitchcock improved on an average book and made it into a good movie. Faster paced action and less psychological analysis along with a different twist at the end, made what should have been a great thriller actually into an a great thriller.

     Unless you are just determined to clear your shelves of unread books as I was, my suggestion would be to skip the book and sit down with a bowl of popcorn and good ol' Alfred Hitchcock.