I’ve been wanting to read Cornell Woolrich’s “Rear Window,” the story Hitchcock based his film on, since I found a copy of this collection years ago, and finally got around to it. (Apparently, the other four stories in this collection were filmed as episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents…”) Hard Case Crime reissued his novel Fright back in the early days of their imprint, but there hasn’t been a full-blown Woolrich revival yet. This volume contains 5 Woolrich stories:REAR WINDOW. The story/novella is just as gripping as the movie. Woolrich tells the tale in very tight first person, and you can feel Hal Jeffries’ initial boredom and building frustration, and even a bit of claustrophobia developing, throughout. Jeffries is a bit of a judgmental jerk, but that doesn’t mean his suspicion that his neighbor has committed murder is unfounded. The key difference from story to movie is the story’s lack of a female character; in the story, it’s Hal’s “houseman” Sam who does the legwork Hal can’t accomplish on his own. There’s just enough physical description to set the scene, but Woolrich doesn’t waste words describing any part of the alley scenery or other houses that won’t have an impact on the story progression, and that includes Hal’s own house.POST MORTEM. A recently widowed woman and her new husband discover she has won an Irish Lottery ($150,000) thanks to her late husband having purchased a ticket – but they can’t find the stub that will allow them to collect. An enterprising reporter helps the widow figure out where the stub is. Of course, there’s more to the story: her good luck uncovers a mystery that Woolrich unfolds with several fun twists before the final reveal. This one has the feel of a “locked room” mystery without actually taking place in a locked room. The downside to the story is that the widow is the main character but not the main actor, a complaint modern readers can lay on much classic noir. Still, I felt she was a roundly-developed character within that context. (Adapted as Season 3, Episode 33 of Alfred Hitchcock Presents)THREE O’CLOCK. Woolrich manages to combine the “jealous husband” and “home invasion/captive” tropes in an interesting and almost surreal story that feels the most different from the other stories in the collection. The narration is not first person but is still an extremely limited one character POV; this heightens the tension, allowing the main character’s paranoia to flow convincingly into panic, despair and perhaps insanity. It’s one of two stories in the collection that include a strong “dark humor” aspect. (Adapted for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1985 revival as Season 1, Episode 22, and also adapted as an episode of the tv series Suspicion)CHANGE OF MURDER. Brains Dunleavy plans to kill a guy who has done him wrong, and goes to his friend Fade Williams for help in pre-arranging a suitable alibi. Both men’s plans sound flawless, so of course things go wrong. This one is absolutely dark humor all the way, and the patter and character names reminded me of Damon Runyon. If any story in this collection can be called “fun,” given all the murders and attempted murders and such, it’s this one. (Adapted for Season 1 episode 15 of Alfred Hitchcock Presents)MOMENTUM. Paine, about to be evicted with his wife, goes to see his former employer about his past due pay. He waits out the employer’s current visitor, then decides to rob the man’s safe rather than risk being turned down. That’s the set-up for a story that lives up to its’ title, as Paine encounters one complication after another over the course of twenty-four hours. Again, not first person but very limited POV, and again that heightens the main character’s paranoia. It’s the fastest moving story in the collection, an interesting counterpoint in pacing to “Three O’Clock,” the other story that delves into paranoia in limited POV. (Adapted for Season 1, episode 39 of Alfred Hitchcock Presents)
I have made an in-deph study of the works and life of Cornell Woolrich (usually pronounced wool-rich but some pronounce in wool-rick in a more Germanic way) since around 2000 and I think the only person who has taken a closer look, up to this point in time at least, is his property lawyer Francis M. Nevins. I will be covering all these things but will start out with the book review itself :Here is Rear Window, a great introduction to this not-so-simple prose writer, who very well may be one of the greatest writers in the history of the art. If you're not familiar with the term NOIR, then familiarize yourself before reading any further (my approach for this review being primarily an educational one). This is the 2001 I Book pictured. Then there is this book's title which more are familiar with from the Hitchcock movie. And then there is the Nevins-edited Ballentine collection Rear Window And Four Short Novels which is pictured in the other editions, and which most of the reviews here are for, but it is not the same book (maybe Goodreads will correct this later). This was my introduction to Woolrich but I would not recommend it to a new or young Woolrich reader since the handful of of stories Nevins selected are almost all hyper-paced suspense hurricanes, unlike the I Book which has a better balance of stories as well as a greater number of them, all but a couple late in the contents accepted suspense-crime classics.An author of 230 or so short stories, including many novellas, I've read them or Nevins' synopses of them and can assure you that fully half of them are quality items. A feat very uncommon in publishing history let alone today. Many are simply not available anymore, maybe will be, but any collection you can find at present will be absorbing. He wrote primarily crime fiction after he realized it was a lucrative market (in the pulp era), and after having written some Roaring Twenties novels that, believe it or not, were second inpopularity only to those of F. Scott Fitzgerald (but I think it is very important to note that neither Fitzgerald, Woolrich, nor Hemingway were top-selling writers in the entire decade of the 1920s - and only Hemingway ever was later in the 1940s/50s).Francis Nevins Jr. has done a great service by reprinting much Woolrich, but sometimes has reprinted the same story when others beg to see the light again. His Woolrich bio-review-biblio entitled Fist You Dream, Then You Die contains all the data on Cornell, and especially his works, that anyone could want but some of his assessments of, and taste in, Woolrich's oeuvre is lacking in perception (or I could use the phrase Woolrich's canon, but you can consider that an inside joke for now.) Well, you can't expect everything from a lawyer.Cornell Woolrich is also the not-so-proud author of some 25 books, not all of them attaining that gray area between the timely and the timeless to the same degree, or eternal appeal, and some probably better in their original story form (these stories in particular are the ones most in need of a reprint). Below are what I would consider his best novels, in a chronological order, if you care to follow up. Here I will point out that no reader should assume the rest of an author's books should be sought out just because that reader really liked one book -- but Con is close enough to an exception for us fans. These books are of a wide variety, not all are crime : Cover Charge Children Of The Ritz The Doom Stone (missing Ch.4 at unz.org) The Bride Wore Black (noir) Phantom Lady (noir) The Black Path Of Fear (noir) Hotel Room (skip Black Bargain and seek intended story The Penny-A-Worder) Death Is My Dancing Partner (in the noir zone) Blues Of A Lifetime (autobiographical stories for the most part) Do not expect P.I. stories antwhere because he only wrote one.
Do You like book Rear Window - Story Collection (2001)?
Cornell Woolrich was a true original - a man who apart fromvisits to the local bar and a sojourn in Hollywood, whichproved disastrous, spent most of his life in a rundown apartment living with his mother but whose vivid imaginationcaused him to create some of the most chilling and thrillingtales ever. This selection is linked to Alfred Hitchcock."Rear Window" is every bit as thrilling as the movie - thestory becomes a war of wits between Hal Jeffries and LarsThorwald who may or may not have kill
—Diane
I bought a whole bunch of them, primarily because of the Truffaut movie adaptations being so bleak but haven't read any yet. Based on the movies I'd say calling them Thompson-esque is pretty accurate too.
—Tfitoby
Wanda wrote: "The film adaptation has been running off-and-on for over a month now. I believe it is due to repeat later today. Great stuff!"I fancy a watch too - M will track it down for me:O)Happy weekendsies
—Bettie☯
