jethrien: (Default)
jethrien ([personal profile] jethrien) wrote2015-06-17 09:46 pm
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2015 Book Review #29: Mildred Pierce

Title: Mildred Pierce
Author: James M. Cain
Genre: Noir minus all the detective and murder stuff
Thingummies: 4

Synopsis: Woman during the Depression has her life fall apart, rebuilds it through hard work and gumption for the sake of her daughter...and pretty much ruins it again.

Thoughts: Cain effectively writes a noir novel, complete with gritty cynicism and a femme fatale, in which there is no murder, no hard boiled detective, and the romantic elements are really secondary.

It's actually a really interesting piece--this is more about the relationship between a mother and a daughter than anything else, and is in a lot of ways more progressive than much of what's written today. It's also incredibly depressing.

I'm also not really sure I buy the idea that coloratura sopranos have inborn character traits.