missing dust jacket

book of the week (and the weeks inbetween): carol by patricia highsmith

Was life, were human relations like this always, Therese wondered. Never solid ground underfoot. Always like gravel, a little yielding, noisy so the whole world could hear, so one always listened, too, for the loud, harsh step of the intruder's foot.

I'm sorry I haven't posted about books for a while, and I'm sorry this isn't even going to be a proper post. My reading pile for work keeps toppling off my shelves it's so tall, but as soon as I've got through it and consigned it either to the recycling pit or the acquisitions meeting I promise I'll post again. But for now, Patricia Highsmith's Carol is well worth the time and trouble, even if its surprise ending may have you scratching your head for weeks afterwards.

"Caviar. How very, very nice of them," Carol said, looking inside a sandwich. "Do you like caviar?"
"No. I wish I did."
"Why?"
Therese watched Carol take a small bite of the sandwich from which she had removed the top slice of bread, a bite where the most caviar was. "Because people always like caviar so much when they do like it," Therese said.
Carol smiled, and went on nibbling, slowly. "It's an acquired taste. Acquired tastes are always more pleasant - and hard to get rid of."

posted by raspberry beret @ 8:06:00 PM