- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: WW Norton; New edition edition (Jun 14 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0393325679
- ISBN-13: 978-0393325676
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.9 x 1.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 204 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,229,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Patricia Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing...bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night.
Product Description
Rife with overtones of Dostoyevsky, The Glass Cell, first published forty years ago, combines a quintessential Highsmith mystery with a penetrating critique of the psychological devastation wrought by the prison system. Falsely convicted of fraud, the easygoing but naive Philip Carter is sentenced to six lonely, drug-ravaged years in prison. Upon his release, Carter is a more suspicious and violent man. For those around him, earning back his trust can mean the difference between life and death. The Glass Cell's bleak and compelling portrait of daily prison life and the consequences for those who live it is, sadly, as relevant today as it was when the book was first published in 1964.
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First Sentence
It was 3:35 p.m., Tuesday afternoon, in the State Penitentiary, and the inmates were returning from the workshops. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It was 3:35 p.m., Tuesday afternoon, in the State Penitentiary, and the inmates were returning from the workshops. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dont overlook this one, Oct 7 2004
By Suspense Fan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Glass Cell (Paperback)
I'm surprised no one else has reviewed this book, so I am going to put up some comments. If you like Patricia Highsmith's work, you're bound to like this one. Though the mystery is a bit flawed--I don't see why she didn't do more with the thumb injury as a murder clue--the writing and the characterization make this well worth reading. Like all her books, it is much more than a simple mystery, but is also the story of a man who starts out believing in some kind of justice and who gradually becomes corrupted. The hero and his prison experience seem so real that I found my own thumbs aching when he was brutaly tortured by the guards. The book was carried off with a great deal of thought and research about prison life. I also found myself feeling for the hero's sense of injustice and found myself hoping it wouldn't ruin him. But with Highsmith that hope is usually in vain. If you liked The Tremor of Forgery or The Blunderer, I'd recommend this one.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just as good as Ripley, Mar 24 2005
By D. Thorne "book addict" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Glass Cell (Paperback)
I was dissapointed when I discovered that there were no more Ripley books after The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Underwater. The Glass Cell was my first try at P. Highsmiths other books and I was not dissapointed.Phillip Carter is unjustly accused of fraud and committed to prison for six years. This page turner puts you right in his shoes as he succumbs to drug abuse (in jail) and suffers through his unbearable time any way he can. Unfortunately prison is not rehabilitory but fragmenting even to Phil's secure psyche and the prison events are shocking and unfortunately all too close to experiences I've heard about.
Upon release he does his own investigating and finds out his wife had been having an affair even before his arrest and uncovers other life shattering facts. The story is exciting with never a dull moment, many unexpected events.
Ms. Highsmith does an excellent job of making this story believable right up to the ending which is as tragic and happy as the events of the story will allow.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strong, if neglected, Highsmith novel, Jan 16 2010
By Richard Kukan "rkukan" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Glass Cell (Paperback)
This time Highsmith's microscope is trained on the mind of a man subtly corrupted by imprisonment and betrayal. The plot is straightforward and there's not a lot of action, but nevertheless you can't put the book down--you feel as if you are living the protagonist's life along with him, and it's a relentlessly grim experience. Highsmith proves you don't need a lot of gratuitous violence and melodrama to mesmerise the reader.
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