Double Indemnity.DOUBLE INDEMNITY. James M. Cain Cain (kān), in the Bible, eldest son of Adam and Eve, a tiller of the soil. In jealousy he killed his brother Abel and became a fugitive.. 1936/ 2005. Read by James Naughton. 4 cds. 3.5 hrs. Caedmon. 0-06-075668-3. $29.95. Cardboard; plot, author, reader notes. A Done in by lust and then undone by love, insurance agent Walter Huff masterminds the perfect murder of his lover's husband and then helps it go awry in this classic noir thriller with more twists and turns than a rat's maze and an ending that will give listeners gooseflesh gooseflesh, temporary rumpling of the skin into tiny bumps, also called goose bumps and goose pimples, and technically known as cutis ansirina. In response to cold or certain emotional states, such as fear or rage, the smooth muscles of the subsurface layer (dermis) of skin tend to contract, causing the skin to pucker and body hair to stand erect. In furred animals this can serve a dual purpose.. Cain's world is a bleak one of fuzzy values and situational ethics, where nobody is quite what he seems and where love is anything but happy and redemptive. But his plotting is ingenious and his spare, direct prose as effective as a machine gun. That he can grip his readers so, despite a total absence of the graphic violence and profanity on which many modern crime writers rely, should be an object lesson. Naughton has the perfect voice for the protagonist/narrator. His matter-of-fact baritone baritone or barytone (both: băr`ĭtōn), male voice, in a lighter and higher range than a bass but lower than a tenor. The term also designates a bass stringed instrument, fretted, with six or seven bowed strings, and up to 20 sympathetic (i.e., unplayed but freely vibrating) strings. delivery has an undertone that makes us want to believe and trust him, even as we become passive accomplices to his crime. Francine Levitov, Attorney, New York, NY A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries. |
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