The Glass Cell, Patricia Highsmith, W W Norton, 1964, 249 pp
I have now read six novels by Patricia Highsmith. She was truly a unique and excellent writer. Unique because of her unabashed look at evil and psychological misfits; excellent because her books are shorn of frills while she puts her readers smack inside the heads of her protagonists, whether male or female.
Earlier this year I read Rachel Kushner's prison story The Mars Room. The Glass Cell is also a prison story but in this one a man goes to a State Penitentiary for a financial crime he did not commit. In fact, Philip Carter was framed. He is no hardened criminal. He was a naive guy, madly in love with his beautiful wife and toddler son, and in no way prepared for the brutality of prison.
The book opens in the early months of his six year sentence. Philip's naivete leads him into an incident of extreme prison guard violence, only exacerbating his victim hood. All through the first half of the story, Philip is hoping his lawyers can get a retrial while he tries to hold onto his marriage.
Some months ago I also read An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, another story of a wrongful incarceration, this time due to racism, impacting a young marriage. In The Glass Cell, Philip becomes suspicious that Hazel, his wife, is having an affair with one of his lawyers.
As gruesome as his time in prison is, Philip gets a lot more savvy about life. His easy-going personality goes through change after change. So the true excitement begins when he is finally released after serving the full six years and systematically goes after his enemies. He has learned much about how the criminal mind works and how to get away with criminal activity!
Highsmith came to write The Glass Cell after a fan letter from a prison inmate led to a correspondence between them. It is a perceptive fictional account of what she learned about the psychological trauma caused by imprisonment and an indictment of the failure in rehabilitation by the prison system. It is also a compelling read.
(The Glass Cell is available in paperback by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)
I haven't not read anything written by Patricia Highsmith, but she sounds like an excellent writer. The Glass Cell sounds like an excellent novel as well.
ReplyDeleteSeveral of her books have been made into movies: Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock, 1951), The Talented Mr Ripley (1999), and Carol, last year was based on her novel The Price of Salt. Have you seen any of those movies?
DeleteGreat review. This sounds so good. It also sounds like it might be a little troubling as it seems that very bad things happen to the protagonist.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the prison system does nothing to rehabilitate so this book sounds realistic and relevant.
I suppose you could say that Patricia Highsmith excels in troubling. Yes, there is violence but boy does Philip get his revenge!
DeleteYou make a good case for this novel. I saw The Talented..., at the theater, and Carol, of which I wasn't a fan. I'll search for Strangers on a Train.
ReplyDeleteThe book from which Carol was adapted, The Price of Salt was quite a bit better than the movie. It was just so coincidental that this novel connected with The Mars Room and An American Marriage.
DeleteI need to try this author! Readers seem to enjoy her books.
ReplyDeleteHi Diane! Thanks for stopping by. I was just thinking about you. I think you would find Highsmith interesting.
DeleteMy brother-in-law is a big Highsmith fan and has long encouraged me to read her, but for some reason, I've just never been drawn to her books. However, maybe in 2019...
ReplyDeleteSo many possibilities in 2019! I for one am counting the days.
Deletei'd like to discover this author. Which novel should I start with? knowing her and knowing a bit of my own reading tastes. I did watch Strangers on a Train
ReplyDeleteFor you I recommend The Talented Mr Ripley!
DeleteThis sounds like a wicked read! I'm gonna have to check it out!
ReplyDeletePerhaps it has a little Count of Monte Cristo in it -- revenge! It sounds good. Glass cell, Glass ceiling, and Glass castle. All a bit ominous.
ReplyDeleteHurray for a good revenge tale. I like your ominous trio!
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