Those Who Walk Away

Rating:
Summary: Done Just Right
Review: "Those Who Walk Away" is a concise, fast reading novel of low-keyed suspense. The background is an appropriately gloomy wintertime Venice. Ray, the key character, has lost his wife to suicide. Ed is the unforgiving, not to mention self-centered, father in law who blames Ray for his daughter's death and tries to kill him. Ray pursues Ed through the canals, back streets, cafes, gondola rides and fancy hotels of Venice to clear his conscience and calm Ed down. The embittered Ed has none of this and chases Ray in the same fashion. Both find atmospheric Venetian "hiding places". To use a movie term, Highsmith makes use of an excellent supporting cast: Signor Ciardi, Inez, Luigi the gondolier and Elisabetta almost steal the show from the main characters. Highsmith also pulls the reader into the plot quickly, a talent of hers. We are involved from page one! The ending, which no reviewer should reveal, is smooth and satisfying. To fully enjoy the tale, the reader must surrender credibility on 2 points: 1) Those "meetings" between Ed and Ray are truly coincidental and 2) The Venetian police, as personified by Detective Dell'Isola, ask few questions and press few charges. I would give the author her license on those points and enjoy "TWWA" on its own merits. A closing question: Did Ray really let a nice Italian girl like Elisabetta get away? Did he ever go back to Venice to see her just once more?

Rating:
Summary: Done Just Right
Review: "Those Who Walk Away" is a concise, fast reading novel of low-keyed suspense. The background is an appropriately gloomy wintertime Venice. Ray, the key character, has lost his wife to suicide. Ed is the unforgiving, not to mention self-centered, father in law who blames Ray for his daughter's death and tries to kill him. Ray pursues Ed through the canals, back streets, cafes, gondola rides and fancy hotels of Venice to clear his conscience and calm Ed down. The embittered Ed has none of this and chases Ray in the same fashion. Both find atmospheric Venetian "hiding places". To use a movie term, Highsmith makes use of an excellent supporting cast: Signor Ciardi, Inez, Luigi the gondolier and Elisabetta almost steal the show from the main characters. Highsmith also pulls the reader into the plot quickly, a talent of hers. We are involved from page one! The ending, which no reviewer should reveal, is smooth and satisfying. To fully enjoy the tale, the reader must surrender credibility on 2 points: 1) Those "meetings" between Ed and Ray are truly coincidental and 2) The Venetian police, as personified by Detective Dell'Isola, ask few questions and press few charges. I would give the author her license on those points and enjoy "TWWA" on its own merits. A closing question: Did Ray really let a nice Italian girl like Elisabetta get away? Did he ever go back to Venice to see her just once more?

Rating:
Summary: An intense psychological thriller!!!!!
Review: First Off.. I must state: I LOOOVED THIS BOOK!!! Why? Well because I've read loads of novels and only a few in my life time ( So far, of course) have held me in such suspense near the end, that I find myself reading every two words at a time. LOL!! If you're looking for action and mayhem, don't read this book. However, if you're looking to be subtly entrance in a wonderfully orchestrated character driven thriller of two men playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse across Rome and Italy, then this is the novel for you! Patricia Highsmith is an author I hadn't heard much of before, but after recently reading The Talented Mr. Ripley and viewing the film, I was more than tempted to read other novels by her. She was such a gifted writer who must've traveled a lot because you get the feeling ( while reading ) that you're actually there, with the characters, in Rome and Venice constantly sipping on sweet bourbon and cognac. Though, for all it's great narrative techniques, it's also a suspensful tale that raises questions about revenge!! Should we let our loathsome feelings get in the way of our friendships? How far should we go to prove our innocence? If these are questions you'll willing to ask and willing to find the answers too, then this exceptional-character-study-of-a-novel will be the ticket to an orginal concept. ORDER IT NOW! ASAP!!

Also recommended: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith and Expendable by James Alan Gardner!

Rating:
Summary: Great Thriller
Review: Highsmith is my favorite author, and this is one of her best books -- second only to "Strangers on a Train," among the 11 Highsmiths I've read. Yes, it's a fairly suspenseful tale -- in places a real page-turner (though for sheer, unvarnished terror you can't beat "Strangers on a Train" or "The Cry of the Owl"); but it's really a book about relationships: about identity, isolation, and forgiveness, one so profound that it could be read and discussed almost endlessly.

Highsmith's ability to make readers care for flawed and even sinful characters is astonishing; there simply is NO ONE who compares to her. The ending of this book is so deeply compassionate it made me weep -- something I do very rarely with novels of any kind.

Help me, please -- is there anyone out there who feels the way I do about Highsmith, or have I lost my mind? If I have, I hope I do not find it again until I have read all of her books.

Thanks, Atlantic Monthly Press, for making these books available in the United States; how about putting "Strangers on a Train" and "This Sweet Sickness" back in print as well? For anybody who's curious about Highsmith, "Those Who Walk Away" is an excellent place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: I have just read this novel and I must admit that Highsmith's good reputation is justified. Even if it isn't comparable with first class literature, for example a S. Maugham's novel with a really valuable background, P. Highsmith's detective novels collection is praiseworthy. I would say that 'Those who Walk Away' is worth reading. She is able to transform a simple story into a thrilling plot. Here it is the question of an breath taking pursuitbetween a revengeful father and a despairing widower in the obscure lanes of Venice. I would value it as one of the best second class literature.

Rating:
Summary: Why aren't there more books and authors this good?
Review: I recently "discovered" this author after seeing the movie "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Since then, I've been raiding the library searching for more of her titles. All I can say is that she has created a number of masterpieces of suspense. I found this book particularly touching. It had it all--setting, characterization, good plot. Some of her books are not as well-balanced as this one, but they all offer a fine writing style and excellent characterization. I am amazed by her talent. She was recommended to me by someone who knew I enjoy Ruth Rendell, aka Barbara Vine. I think others who read Rendell/Vine will also like Highsmith's works if they aren't familiar with them already.

Rating:
Summary: Why aren't there more books and authors this good?
Review: I recently "discovered" this author after seeing the movie "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Since then, I've been raiding the library searching for more of her titles. All I can say is that she has created a number of masterpieces of suspense. I found this book particularly touching. It had it all--setting, characterization, good plot. Some of her books are not as well-balanced as this one, but they all offer a fine writing style and excellent characterization. I am amazed by her talent. She was recommended to me by someone who knew I enjoy Ruth Rendell, aka Barbara Vine. I think others who read Rendell/Vine will also like Highsmith's works if they aren't familiar with them already.

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: OK, I am a true Patricia Highsmith fan. I've read most of her books and short stories. When she is good she is great. When she is bad she is so-so. 'Those Who Walk Away' is not amongst her best works.

On the surface, the story is simple. A woman commits suicide, leaving a grieving (and confused) husband and a completely distraught father. The woman's father blames his son-in-law for the suicide and wants to take revenge (in the form of violence). Despite this the husband has nothing but empathy for his father-in-law and continues to try to console him. And so a chase of sort is played out (in mysterious Venice).

What I found unplausible about this story is the husband's continued insistence on "working things out" with his father-in-law despite the obvious physical danger this placed him in. Compassion is one thing, stupidity is another.

Bottom line: a marginal thriller in a lovely setting. A perfect book for those on vacation in Venice, and perhaps for dedicated Highsmith fans as well. Otherwise I can't really recommend it.