Customer Reviews

Eleven

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Highsmith is noted for her novels of odd (read: neurotic) individuals who often exhibit some sort of criminial behaviour. I am certainly a Highsmith devotee. 'Eleven', a collection of 11 short stories, is my first taste of Patricia Highsmith in smaller doses.

As with most collections of short stories, 'Eleven' is a hit-and-miss affair. The stories are at minimum competent, with a couple being quite interesting (, creepy, weird, et al). Unfortunately unlike with her novels, these compact stories do not play to Highsmith's strengths - that is, dissecting her characters and their phobias.

However I do recommend 'Eleven' for those who simply don't have the time or patience to read Highsmith's novels. It certainly makes for excellent commuting reading material.

A couple of so-so stories in this collection, but most are extraordinary. "The Snail Watcher" is her most well-known story, and it is truly bizarre, but the best stories are more quietly unsettling, such as "Another Bridge to Cross" (which has an almost Hemingway feel to the writing), "When the Fleet Was In at Mobile," "The Herione," "Mrs Afton, among Thy Green Braes."

My two favorite stories are "Cries of Love," and "The Empty Birdhouse."

I've read a couple of critics and several readers who have suggested she was not as good a writer of stories as novels, but from this collection, at least, I would have to disagree. Now I prefer her novels, but these stories were as good as any writer's. A few times the reader is given the character's past in a lump dose that hurts the strength of the story, such as "The Heroine," and "The Empty Birdhouse," but that is an inherent obstacle of the short story format. I still had a good feel for those characters, and I still felt the overall impact of the story. Some truly great stories.

Patricia Highsmith is a wonderful story teller, and with Eleven she masters the short story genre. Her tales are not easy; its a world of strange and obssesive people who always push their obsessions to the limit, and you as a reader will feel involved in this claustrophobic world. So beware when you're reading it, you may feel someone strangely breathing on your neck.

Patricia Highsmith has enjoyed a higher profile recently almost entirely due to the film adaptation of her novel "The Talented Mr Ripley".

This collection of 11 short stories show why she is considered by many to be a mistress of chilling suspense. All of the stories begin innocently enough, but an air of expectation is always just around the corner. Often the payoff comes in the last few lines, but what a payoff indeed! The outstanding story has to be "When The Fleet Was In At Mobile" with it's horrific revelations. Do not read these late at night, as your dreams will become nightmares.

I must confess at the start that this is not a totally objective review as this book will always be special to me in that it was the first book I have even managed to get my mother to enjoy! I cannot express how happy that makes me because my mother never reads, and as reading has always been my largest pleasure in life, there has always been that gap between us. But imagine my delight (and her delight) when she actually read a story that fascinated her, the first story in Eleven, about the man who kept snails as pets. In my mother's words, she enjoyed the story because the author was very good at writing about emotions and how people react in situations. That is exactly what I love about Highsmith's books. She makes the intricate emotional linkages that are usualy unanalysed and obscured very clear. In a way she is also pointing out to us how WE act, and feel, and making that clear - reading her books always makes me feel as though I was reminded of an emotion. Anyway, mum's just finished the fourth story about the terrapin (which is an award winning story) and joyfully telling me about each story as she goes along. Hope you enjoy it as much as she does.

I first became aware of Ms. Highsmith through her wonderful book, "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Although I am not a big fan of short stories, I decided to take a chance on this book, as I so admired the author's talent. I am delighted that I did so, as this book contains a veritable treasure trove of literary gems.

Her stories range from the macabre to the suspenseful. What makes them particularly chilling is that many of them take place in otherwise mundane everyday settings with people who may be either quite ordinary or slightly bizarre, but to whom something extraordinary happens. These are stories that will capture the imagination of the reader. Some even reminded me a little bit of the stories of H. P. Lovecraft, as some of them contain a strong element of horror, crafted, however, in a most delicate, sublime fashion.

These eleven compelling short stories will keep the reader turning the pages of this marvelous little book. It is a book well worth having in one's personal collection. Bravo!

Some of these stories will fade out of your consciousness as soon as they are read, others will stick with you for months. No writer has ever equaled Highsmith's genius for portraying highly disturbed people in all their creepy glory. In a few stories here she really finds her stride, but most are just adequate and some good.

The snail stories are so incredibly odd, off the wall, and entirely out of context and character, I have no other reaction beyond a kind of bored wonder.

I don't tend to like short stories, but I adore Patricia Highsmith. If you're a devoted fan, this is worth reading. However, if you're new to Highsmith, skip this and read her more worthy works. Having already consumed the crème de la crème of her catalogue, I feel I'm scrapping the bottom of the bowl with a collection like this.

This is a collection of 11 Patricia Highsmith stories written over a 25 year period. The stories originally appeared in a diverse sampling of publications running the gamut from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine to Harper's Bazaar. The best story in this collection is "Mrs. Afton, among Thy Green Braes" and the second best is probably "The Empty Birdhouse".

Potential readers should be aware that two of the stories, "The Snail-Watcher" and "The Quest for Blank Claveringi", are about snails (a long time Highsmith obsession) and would be better suited for inclusion in an anthology of science fiction.

Most of the selections included in Eleven illustrate the author's recurring theme about seemingly ordinary people being capable of horrendous acts. Patricia Highsmith possessed a real knack for manipulating her readers so as to elicit very visceral reactions. In the extreme, such manipulations can be uncomfortably cringe inducing. The two stories in this collection which go the farthest in demonstrating this point are "The Birds Poised to Fly" and "The Cries of Love". Both stories feature characters who display inexplicable cruelty to others in order to satisfy inchoate urges emanating from deep within.

I am a hardcore Highsmith fan, having read almost every book. This collection is among my favorites. This book has it all... suspense, action, mystery, some confusion, and tragedy. An all-time favorite among the 11 stories is The Heroine. Wow! I reread this story over again and again. It tells of a troubled woman who applies as a nanny for a wealthy family. Concerned about her own psychological status, she doubts that she is "worthy" of taking care of such wonderful kids. As in every Highsmith story, the character becomes obsessed with the role as caretaker and wants to become their "Herione". Anyway, this is a PERFECT first taste of Highsmith. Of course, there are always the bizzare stories, like The Snail Watcher, but I find those most enjoyable. Read the book-- I know you'll love it.

Patricia Highsmith has enjoyed a higher profile recently almost entirely due to the film adaptation of her novel "The Talented Mr Ripley".

This collection of 11 short stories show why she is considered by many to be a mistress of chilling suspense. All of the stories begin innocently enough, but an air of expectation is always just around the corner. Often the payoff comes in the last few lines, but what a payoff indeed! The outstanding story has to be "When The Fleet Was In At Mobile" with it's horrific revelations. Do not read these late at night, as your dreams will become nightmares.