Blog 5- It's Just Okay so Far

This week, I’ve begun reading The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain. So far, the book is just okay. I’m only ¼ of the way into it though, and the last two books have only gotten interesting at least half way. However, it has kept my attention, and it’s not predictable at all, so I plan to finish it. It’s about this man named Frank who rolls into a restaurant in California called Twin Oaks Tavern. The Greek man who owns the restaurant offers Frank a job, and he accepts it. The owner’s name is Nick, but Frank refers to him as the Greek. Soon, Frank is eating supper with the Greek and his wife, Cora. Frank instantly feels an attraction for Cora, and she feels the same way for him. One day, while the Greek is in town, Frank and Cora perform fallacious acts. They soon fall in love, and Cora admits that she never loved the Greek. She only married him to get out of the “hash house” she was living in. Then, they fabricate a plan to murder the Greek so that it looks like an accident. That way, Cora can inherit the restaurant, and she and Frank can live there together. However, the plan injures the Greek, but it doesn’t kill him. Because the plan failed, Frank and Cora decide to run away together instead, but Cora starts crying and doesn’t want to live life on the road again, so she goes back to the Greek, who thinks that his injury really was an accident. Then, Frank leaves town for a while, but he comes back to try to see Cora without her knowing it. While he’s in town, the Greek spots him, and he tells him he needs his help at the restaurant now that he’s injured. I’m at the part where he hasn’t decided if he will accept the job again or not. At first, I didn’t like Cora because it didn’t seem like the Greek was that bad of a guy; he didn’t beat her or abuse her in any other way, so I didn’t understand why she hated him so much. However, now I do feel sorry for her because I realize her desperation in marrying him. She just wanted to live a normal life again. I also feel sorry that now, she has found a man that she truly loves, but she can’t be with him because she’s still married to the Greek, and during this time period, getting divorced was almost unheard of. Then again, I also feel sorry for the Greek because he doesn’t seem like a terrible person, but he must be pretty naïve not to know that his wife is cheating on him. I’m just glad that there are no children involved because that would only make the situation more complicated. Then, there’s Frank. He’s the one telling the story, and he doesn’t give much background information on himself, so I have no idea where he came from or what he’s doing working at the restaurant. Also, Frank reminds me of Nick from The Great Gatsby because neither of them express his feelings very in-depth or very often. Now that I’m getting farther into the book, I’m starting to get hooked. It’s still not as captivating as The Catcher in the Rye, but we’ll see how it goes.