Sunday, October 12, 2014

Troubled Narrators, Troubled Times

What do these novels have in common?

Ernesto Sabato's The Tunnel
Albert Camus' The Stranger
James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice
Les Edgerton's The Rapist

They are all first person narratives told by men in prison for murder.  Each book has a distinctly existential tone to it, and in each case, the narrator is self-serving and unreliable.  Fascinating novels, each one, great examples of prison noir.

I wrote a piece about these books, focusing on Sabato's novel, for the Los Angeles Review of Books. You can read the piece in its entirety here:
TROUBLED NARRATORS, TROUBLED TIMES 

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