The Two Faces of January

by Patricia Highsmith | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0802122620 Global Overview for this book
Registered by veleta of Willesden, Greater London United Kingdom on 12/22/2016
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by veleta from Willesden, Greater London United Kingdom on Thursday, December 22, 2016
Chester MacFarland is an alcoholic con artist traveling in Greece with his young wife, Colette. McFarland is wanted by the police back in the U.S. for running a Ponzi scheme. In Athens, a Greek policeman questions McFarland, who accidentally kills him during a struggle in his hotel room. A recent acquaintance, a young American law graduate and poet named Rydal Keener, decides to help them, in part because McFarland reminds him of his recently deceased father, from whom he was estranged. He helps McFarland and Colette hide the body and leave Athens under false passports procured by his friend Niko, a small-time hoodlum.

Bound together for the foreseeable future, the trio take a flight to Crete and install themselves there in a hotel under assumed names. Colette, who seems to have a record of infidelity, flirts with a smitten Keener in front of McFarland, whose jealousy eventually gets the better of him.

[Summary taken from Wikipedia.com]

CRITIQUE: It is an original novel with several twists and shadowy characters who criss-cross all the time. The sides of loyalty and betrayal blur a lot. I really liked the suspense and several points in the book surprised me. All the characters are quite likeable, even femme-fatale Colette. On the other hand, the plot has problems, IMO. So Rydal confuses Chester with his father and Colette with Agnes? That is one too many coincidences for me. And why did Rydal have so many trustworthy friends in Greece?

The book was written in 1964 originally, which explains why it doesn't go any further with the homosexual tension between Rydal and Chester.

An enjoyable and quick read. Not the best Highsmith novel ever, but much better than some crap which gets printed everyday.

Journal Entry 2 by veleta at Tapping The Admiral in Kentish Town, Greater London United Kingdom on Sunday, January 22, 2017

Released 7 yrs ago (1/22/2017 UTC) at Tapping The Admiral in Kentish Town, Greater London United Kingdom

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Today.

Journal Entry 3 by catsalive at Rooty Hill, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Picked up while having lunch at the pub today. I’m hoping I can squeeze this one into my bag for the return down under.

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