The Tremor of Forgery

I am a big Patricia Highsmith fan and started this book with high expectations. She set the mood right away. Heat, strangeness, a cultural chasm, a hint of mystery and sex. Then a possible murder but…was it murder? Did someone die? Unfortunately for me, she couldn’t quite keep the tension up after the first 3/4 of the book and it seemed to get stuck in the ever present sand. The ending was a let down. I’ve had friends who read this book twice so maybe it’s just me but once was more than enough.

First time reading Highsmith. Perhaps after seeing the film The Talented Mr Ripley, and reading other reviews of this book that felt this might be her best book, I had high hopes. Admittedly my hopes were much higher than what became reality. I enjoyed the story but not amazing no my favorite reads. Kept waiting for something to happen that never did. An enjoyable read but don't expect to be swept away

A very well written book! An author travels to Tunisia to work on a movie script and finds some adventures (and misadventures). This book really drew me in with the descriptions of the country and its customs and the details about the time in which it is placed. And I liked the unveiling of the character Adams, or OWL as the main character names him! My only "issue" was that I was expecting a story of mystery and suspense, and this read, for me, more like a travel adventure. Still, I'm glad I read it, because Patricia Highsmith sure spins one heck of a yarn!

This is a more introspective novel by Mrs. High Smith.The plot and the characters are well defined, yet., it lacks the thrust of her other novels. Worth reading

"The Sea of Doubt" is the title of this book in Italian, which, in my opinion, should've been its original title. Why? Howard is an interesting character in crisis to read about until he starts constantly changing his mind as to whether or not he loves Ina. Besides, after chapter 20, I started to feel a bit bored, like Jensen, everytime Abdullah's murder came up. I understand that Abdullah's murder is "the excuse" to address the moral issues in the book, but since such murder was more like an accident, I couldn't help thinking "let it go and move on!" whenever they went back to it. In the end, the only character I ended up liking was Jensen. OWL's preaching, along with Ina's hypocrisy, couldn't be more annoying and easy to dislike. However, the book atmosphere is hypnotizing and enthralling, and I loved reading it even though much wasn't happening in some chapters.I can understand why Graham Greene and The New Yorker considered this to be Highsmith's finest novel, but she's written better books filled with aprehension, suspense and existentialism issues such as "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Strangers on a Train". The political, religious, moral and even sex issues addressed in this book make it worth reading, but I would've liked more depth about them. I'd define this book as an existentialist travelogue, because the descriptions of what it's like to be in Tunisia are very thorough. All in all, and despite the unexpected but disappointing ending, it's worth reading, specially if you're a Highsmith's fan. If you've never read Highsmith, don't start with this one, because it's certainly not a "mystery and suspense" book.

There are no spoilers in this review: As a fledgling Highsmith fan, I looked forward to reading the novel that Graham Greene considered to be her best. Indeed, compared to the two other novels by Highsmith that I've read so far, the writing is both tighter and subtler. The atmosphere and plot are foreboding, but not in obvious ways. As a college English teacher, however, I would find it difficult to teach this novel in my noir fiction classes. The dismissive attitude toward Arabs by Americans and Europeans visiting post-colonial Tunisia, although to be expected, pervades the novel at every point. Even Camus' The Stranger took such racism head-on. Unless the ending, which I have not reached, holds a back-at-you surprise, the novel will remain unteachable and frustrating.

Patricia Highsmith manages a near impossible feat: the trivialities of the author rise to the level of earthshaking importance. Howard, a New York City writer, is suddenly cast adrift in a strange foreign country, (Algiers) and learns a thing or two about his own back-sliding morality. Never a dull moment!

This book is a cinematic masterpiece. The characters are fully fleshed out, the exotic local is written in a way that makes one feel they are there and the plot, while suspenseful is almost secondary to the characters as they intertwine with each other in really intense and sometimes surprising ways. i felt almost hypnotized by Highsmith while reading this novel and although her signature murder does come, it is the reactions of the murder by the characters that make this book so breathtaking.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere in this novel which captured 1960s Tunisia and the lives of some American and European travellers there. The interweaving of these personalities, out of their depth in an Arab country, was compelling, the relationships well-drawn, the sense of danger constant. The ending was convincing but not quite as dramatic as one might have expected. A good read and a fascinating glimpse of travel before the package tour took over. All written in Highsmith's taut, elegant prose.

I have read almost all of Patricia Highsmith's novels and this is one of my favourites. It is set in Tunisia in the late 1960s, shortly after the Arab-Israeli conflict and this is mentioned several times. The story involves an American writer who is missing his girlfriend and becomes embroiled in some deeply unsettling events. He befriends another American who is living nearby and a gay man from Denmark who loses his dog. The plot is fraught with tension and I was constantly (typically of Patricia Highsmith), expecting something to happen and second guessing what the final outcome was going to be; in the end I was quite surprised, it was not what I expected. Enjoyed it and recommend it, but you will need patience to read it.

Patricia Highsmith is a superb wordsmith and has the ability to create atmosphere with brevity. She is able to subtly create a sense of fear and malevolence while the reader has no idea where the story is going. Anything is possible with Patricia. Her characters are interesting and believable. The Tremor of Forgery is a story of relationships and murder and how where we are affects how we deal with certain situations. A thought provoking well written book.

Future read.

A really enjoyable story, suffused with the sunshine and atmosphere of where it is set- so well written. This is what makes P. Highsmith such a brilliant crime writer.