Customer Reviews

Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes

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My only exposure to Highsmith prior to reading this book is Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, which I loved. But somehow I can't believe the same person wrote them, as these stories hardly leave an impression me like Strangers on a Train did. The style reminds me of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller--a sort of mad-hatter of absurdities--which held me initially with a few painful chuckles, but it got old quickly if the story was too long.

Overall, I was not impressed by this particular work, but I am intrigued enough by what I've read to see her talent used in a different direction.

Mystery and suspense writer Patricia Highsmith offers tales of Gothic horror in the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft in a thoroughly modern (and at times, almost futuristic) setting. Most of these stories struck this reviewer as more unpleasant than truly horrifying, and more often than not, the bad guys only got what was coming to them, so no regrets. And as mysteries, these stories were not overly clever, and seemed to go on far too long for the amount of plot. If this was done with the hope of building suspense, it largely failed. Meanwhile, the topics of nuclear waste, plagues of insects, and the struggle for women's rights each figure prominently in more than one story, making this collection seem needlessly repetitive - a little more variety in subject matter probably would have helped. This reviewer's favorite tale was "Sweet Freedom! And a Picnic on the White House Lawn" which at least had a pleasant subplot. Also, "Sixtus VII: Pope of the Red Slipper" was pretty good and at least well-intentioned. The others fall short of being genuinely frightening without being funny, or clever, or presenting any positive message. The author certainly delivers on what the title promises, but this reviewer wonders "to what point?"

This book was classed as Mystery & Suspense, but presumably just because "that's what Patricia Highsmith writes." I'd class it as fantasy. These stories describe completely recognizable worlds, but "gone slightly mad" as one review accurately puts it. Some are enormously disturbing - I tried not to fall asleep in the middle of one because I feared the nightmares it would kindle!

That said, it's far from my favorite Highsmith. The stories just don't grip like most of her work - I couldn't stay awake when I tried. Peculiarly, many of them seem both too short, i.e. sketchy, and too long, i.e.moral/story could have been delivered much more quickly.

Perhaps mostly a good book for Highsmith completists; it's always interesting to read a favorite author's forays into a different genre.

Patricia Highsmith is known for her tightly-woven psychological mysteries, especially where anxiety levels of the accused criminal approach the breaking point. Ms Highsmith has also published many short stories of lesser quality, mostly because she has a shorter runway for building the suspense. Having said this, her short story collection 'Eleven' does have nice juicy bits.

In 'Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes' Paticia Highsmith turns her attention to modern issues (eg, pollution) and writes some rather strange stories where these issues are turned upside-down. I would broadly classify them has horror rather than mystery/suspense, and they are quite readable. Yet one gets the impression that this is all very old hat. And this material relects the general demise of Highsmith's works during the latter part of her career (1980s onwards).

Bottom line: okay, but Highsmith has done much better than this.

These stories are interesting and well-conceived. They are not always what you would expect - but hat's what Highsmith does best. This is not Strangers on a Train or The Talented Mr. Ripley, but it is clever fiction, well rendered.