Jan 3, 2010

The Postman Always Rings Twice | Techniques

Cain is best remembered for his prose style, and this was his most effective technique. A master of the well-paced story, Cain eschews dramatic exposition, ignores the past histories of his characters, and places the reader into the action of the story in the very first paragraph. The Postman Always Rings Twice is a brilliant example of this technique. From its tantalizing first sentence, "They threw me off the hay truck about noon," the story line never sags. By the end of the second chapter, Cora and Frank have slept together and therefore willingly chained themselves to the...