The Cry of the Owl: The classic thriller from the author of The Talented Mr Ripley (Virago Modern Classics Book 198)

Amazingly brilliant plotting, even by the high standards of Patricia Highsmith. This, coupled with the usual complex descriptions of the thoughts and motivations of each of the characters, makes this book a compelling read. Highly recommended.

Well highsmith,what can you say,great read

One has to admit that this sounds creepy and disturbing, as a man becomes attracted to a young woman, living in a rather isolated house. Initially he merely hangs around and watches her through her window but one evening he gets too close and is spotted. Her reaction is strange indeed, as she invites him in. So far, so unlikely. The man, Robert, doesn't put a foot wrong and they get along well, without much in the way of romantic indications, but, quite naturally, Jenny's fiancé is distinctly put out, as she suddenly decides she is in love with Robert. Here is where it all turns nasty. Greg, the fiancé, starts a fight with Robert who has his car forced off the road. Robert overcomes his attacker and flees the scene, after pulling Greg out of the shallows of the river nearby. The scenario heats up as Greg gets in touch with Robert's ex-wife and they contrive to pretend that Greg is missing (presumably drowned by Robert). Greg approaches Robert's ex-wife, a truly awful woman, Nickie, who can't resist causing mayhem and bankrolls Greg's hide-out in New York. But Greg can't keep away and Robert is shot in the arm at one point. Nevertheless though some of his friends stick by him, most of the neighbourhood is convinced that Robert has done away with his rival. It seems that the cops couldn't care less about Robert being in danger seeing as the truth about his voyeurism has slipped out and everyone thinks he's a bit of a pervert. Well, that's what you get by peering into people's windows. The truth gets out and Nickie's wicked plan to make life hell for her ex-husband heats up. By then Jenny has gone distinctly off the boil and is busy deciding to kill herself. One can't feel much about this as she is "half in love with death" anyway. The seething stew of people's motivation is hotter than a furnace, but why? Robert hasn't done anything except look in Jenny's window and then been foolish enough to let her hang around with him. And the motive for all this mayhem? Nothing beyond sheer malevolence. As with many of Highsmith's books she gets her people into terrible dilemmas and when she gets fed up, she just stops writing, as here. In contrast, her Ripley series seems tied up much tighter, but there are weak moments in quite a few of her other books too. This is one is full of terrible anxiety for a relatively innocent victim and one seethes along with it as the plot thickens, but nothing can excuse the lamest of lame endings.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book although I found the ending very strange. It just stopped without any conclusion.

Moral ambiguity is what Patricia Highsmith excels at and this book encapsulates her skilled manipulation of her readers' emotions. The main character is a creep, an expert at self delusion and unable or unwilling to face up to the consequences of his actions. She plays with the reader as she tries to get us to sympathise with him - and I nearly fell for it a couple of times.

Strange ending

Think of This Sweet Sickness and if you liked that particular Highsmith book, you'll love this one.Robert, newly divorced is depressed and had taken to prowling a young ladies house. when she sees him Robert expects the worst, but a friendship evolves.What comes next is twist after twist as the original prowling story comes back to haunt Robert.A real page Turner.

Having enjoyed the Ripley books, Strangers on a train,and other Highsmith novels, I was really disappointed with this book. It starts off quite promisingly, but loses all credibility early on (a lone woman is hardly going to ask a peeping tom in for coffee and a chat!). I lost all interest in the book from then on. Read 'This sweet sickness' instead if you want a great Highsmith chiller.

thanks

I'm gradually getting through Highsmith's novels. I started 25 years ago with the Ripley books. Suffice to say I'm never disappointed. You never know which direction the story is going or where it is going to end.

"Do you believe in strange encounters?" He looked at her face. "What do you mean?" "I mean—accidents, I guess. Like my meeting you tonight. They're in all great books. Well, not all, I suppose, bug a lot of them."This book was such a ride! I had no idea where it was going, but I always felt impelled to read one more chapter after I'd promised myself I'd turn in early. I read it in 4 days, and basically in 3 large chunks of time. That's not usual for me; I like to ease into my books.If you're brave, you'll jump into this mystery thriller without reading too many spoilery reviews or synopses. But even if you do, nothing will prepare you for the ride or the abrupt ending.I read Highsmith's Strangers on a Train in 2016, and I wasn't too impressed. The characters annoyed me, and I was of the opinion that it could have been 100 or so pages shorter. It made me apprehensive about picking up another of her thrillers, but I happened to purchase The Cry of the Owl for my Kindle in 2014, and was looking through it to decide if I wanted to keep it when I read this paragraph in the opening pages:"The girl was in the kitchen again. Its two squares of light showed at the back of the house, and now and again her figure crossed one of the squares, but stayed mostly in the left square where the table was. To Robert's view, the window was like the tiny focus of a camera. He did not always go closer to the house. He was very much afraid of being seen by her, of being hauled in by the police as a prowler or Peeping Tom. But tonight was a very dark night. He moved closer to the house."How creepy is that? I love the themes Highsmith explored in the book, like the passive victim (which drove me bananas), fate and predestination, and the claustrophobic judgment and xenophobia of small Mideastern towns. I also loved the setting! Patricia wrote this between 1961 and 1962. Highly recommend! I'll have to check out more of Miss Highsmith's work, because she really has a wonderful way of filling in the mundane day-to-day details that make you feel like you're a fly on the wall. I experienced a similar feeling when I was reading Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Other Stories.

I liked the Ripley movies and have always wanted to read a book by Patricia Highsmith. This was offered as a Kindle discount deal, and as I've been trying to get used to reading on the Kindle, I took my chance to try one of her books. The characters and story were interesting enough to keep my attention, and a lot of crazy things happened rather quickly. But where was the ending? I kept thinking there was something wrong with the kindle version and the ending was cut off. There was no ending! It just stopped, thud, like a screeching train come to a quick stop. I would still like to read another of hers though, as maybe this wasn't one of the better. Maybe I'll try the Ripley series.Someone here mentioned that it was the worst book they had ever read. Apparently they haven't read "Gone Girl". Ha ha.

Curiously enough, Patricia Highsmith considered this to be one of her least successful novels but I think that it one of her more accessible works for the reader who is approaching her for the first time.The story centers around three, on the surface, of the most prosaic characters you could meet: Robert, a lonely man going through a divorce, Jenny a nondescript working girl and Greg her betrothed or so he thinks. How these three manage to evolve into a mystery concerning attempted murder, lust, obsession, voyeurism, is a testament to Highsmith's craft.This book like all of her work must be read with particular attention (miss a key sentence and the paragraph loses its depth). You may ask yourself "Why is she writing about this?" and find that the entire section comes together thematically at a certain point.Patricia was writing psychologically deep novels before that style became a genre and was turned into narcissistic pap or . popularized sensationalism. Hopefully a new generation will discover a great talent that the older generation forgot. She wrote about the common man and small towns and suburbia with the acute observations that the Didions or Updikes missed.