The Tremor of Forgery (Highsmith, Patricia) [Paperback]

Patricia Highsmith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Highsmith, Patricia | Publication Date: January 14, 1994

Under the hot desert sun nothing is quite as it seems. Howard Ingham, an American writer, is sent to Tunisia to gather material for a movie, a love story too sordid to be set in America. But his director fails to arrive as scheduled and the erratic mails bring news of infidelities and suicide. Ingham—for reasons obscure even to himself—decides to stay on and work instead on a novel. Gradually, however, a series of peculiar events—a hushed-up murder, a vanished corpse, and secret broadcasts to the Soviet Union—lures him inexorably into the deep, ambivalent shadows of this Arab town; into deceit and away from conventional morality. And when Ingham finds an accomplice to murder, or perhaps something more, what is in question is not justice or truth, but the state of his oddly quiet conscience.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; Atlantic Press ed edition (January 14, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871132583
• ISBN-13: 978-0871132581
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was the author of more than twenty novels, including Strangers on a Train, The Price of Salt and The Talented Mr. Ripley, as well as numerous short stories.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quiet and bizarre tremors, January 1, 2001

By 

Alan DeNiro "alan_deniro" (Oakdale, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tremor of Forgery (Highsmith, Patricia) (Paperback)

The title was the key for me in reading this novel. It's about "tremors"--the little twinges of doubt and guilt that affect everyone. The question that Highsmith poses is whether her protagonist is going to ignore those tremors, and thus lead something of an amoral (even evil) life. The answer to this is very ambiguous, but in a good way. In many ways this novel reminded me of The Stranger by Albert Camus--the same North African dolor, the same detached protagonist with few moral qualms.

The reading was s-l-o-w and a bit dry in places, but oddly alluring and page turning. It propelled me through, even when nothing was "happening". I don't understand why people said the writing was bad; it was clean and understated. All in all, it's worth picking up--if you're in the mood for some existentialist food for thought.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very near perfect, but maybe not a good "first Highsmith.", April 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tremor of Forgery (Highsmith, Patricia) (Paperback)

The two negative reviewers below demonstrate why a lot of Highsmith's admirers don't like her being described as a mystery/thriller writer, a description which often does her a disservice by pigeonholing her too narrowly and misdirecting reader's expectations. This book has few suspense mechanics in the usual manner, but I was gripped anyway; the queasy suspense is like an ominous murmur underneath an ordinary conversation, and you have to listen hard for it. The suspense is generated by the question "Will he do the right thing?", and also, as usual in Highsmith, by the reader's guilty identification with a morally compromised character. And I always find her spare, cool prose a pleasure to read (I like to compare it to the edge of a scalpel, even though those are not a pleasure). This may not be the best Highsmith book to start out with, since it's minimalist even by her standards (try "Cry of the Owl," maybe, since it has a tight thriller storyline). But I have to agree that out of the several of her works I've read so far, this is the best at conveying her theme of quiet evil existing within the mundane. (The five Mr. Ripley books come close.)

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle and superbly written, but won't appeal to everyone, May 24, 2000

By 

C. Colt "It Just Doesn't Matter" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tremor of Forgery (Highsmith, Patricia) (Paperback)

"The Tremor of Forgery" is a superb novel, but it may not be for everybody. If you are in the mood for suspense and clarity, then you probably won't enjoy this book. If you prefer something more subtle, psychological, and mood-oriented then I recommend it.

"The Tremor of Forgery" is sort of a mystery. It lacks the action and denouement of typical mysteries but definitely contains its share of questions and intrigue. In this case, though the mystery doesn't revolve around questions of guilt (who done it) but around character, environment, and identity.

Howard Ingram is an American writer who has been hired to go to Tunisia and write a screenplay. A number of mysterious events destroy his project but he decides to stay on and write a novel. His life in Tunisia essentially revolves around two people of opposite mindsets. Ingram's middle-aged neighbor, Adams is the quintessential naive, optimist and ideologue. He constantly speaks of "our way of life" (which earns him the nickname "OWL") and broadcasts pro-American propaganda to the Soviet Union. Despite living in Tunisia with apparent ease, Adams firmly retains his American identity. Jensen, on the other hand, is a Danish Artist and a homosexual who dislikes Tunisia, but in many ways appears to have gone native. He lives in an Arab section of town with simple clothes and few possessions. Jensen occasionally hires boys for sex, but his only real love appears to be his friendship with Ingram and his affection for his dog.

In the course of preventing a burglary in his bungalow, Ingram kills--or thinks he's killed--an Arab thief. The corpse (if in fact it is a corpse) disappears and Ingram is left to cope with the question of his crime. When Adams deduces what has occurred he pressures Ingram to come to terms with his conscience. Jensen, by contrasts, suggests that Ingram forget about the incident and points out that killing a thief is probably a common occurrence in Tunisia.

Soon Ingram must ask himself who he is and who he has become. Does Ingram retain an inherent set of Western values regardless of where he is, or does he adopt the morality of his environment? While questioning his identity, Ingram must also decide whether or not to marry his girl friend. And in an odd twist, Ingram's crisis parallels that of the hero in his novel.

For many readers the frustrating part of this novel is that nothing is ever resolved. At the end of the novel, Ingram does not comes to terms with his morality or identity, he never passes judgement on Jensen or Adams, and he enters into a relationship that promises trouble. We never learn the fate of the thief or whether Ingram even killed him. In today's shallow television culture, we often crave a definite ending in a story, but the beauty of this novel is that it provides the opposite. The people, places, and morality in this novel are defined to an extent but never completely. This creates a richer and more realistic story.

Highsmith also captures the flavor of third world travel perfectly. Anyone who has gone to a third world country and decided to stay on for awhile will feel at home in this book. The food, the people, the sickness, the ratty apartments, and then the odd and exhilarating feeling of departure all ring true. Like a great painter, Highsmith is more interested in the mood she evokes than in the technical components of her composition. And in this regard, she is one of the great masters of the last century.