Unlock Now Devil Take The Blue-tail Fly Envisioned By John Franklin Bardin Released Through Publication
loved the choice of words on the descriptions of Ellen's mind but things became most predictable at the middle of the story.
Still worth the reading! Se requiere de mucha atención para entender la trama, pero el final sin duda fue una delicia.
En los márgenes más ignotos y extravagantes del género del terror, pululan autores cuyo inmerecido anonimato y falta de difusión hacen de su descubrimiento todo un goce solitario.
De calidad sofisticada e innovadora para su época, el estadounidense John Franklin Bardin es sin duda uno de ellos, Dejando una obra singular que al día de hoy aún sigue cautivando o repeliendo a sus iniciados debido a un estilo refinado que busca de la más difícil y realista consistencia de una pesadilla moderna.
En al salir del infierno, Bardin trastoca nuestras espectivas y tras develar la verdadera historia detrás de éste comienzo tan delirante, su siniestro enfoque va tomando un ritmo salvaje que no deja de acelerar hasta las últimas consecuencias: un final monstruoso y brutal que nos sumerge en el lado más oscuro de las psicopatías.
This was an amazingly "modern" book, considering it was written in, It is difficult to follow but worth staying with until the end, Strange, sad, tragic. ES un libro incomprensible. Tedioso, aburrido, sin un argumento que abra una intriga que atrape al lector, además de ello no compone una trilogía con El Percherón Mortal y el final de Phillip Banter ya que es un libro que no posee ninguna relación con los anteriores.
Lo peor que he leído en mucho tiempo,
Devil Take the Blue Tail Flyis an odd, accomplished noir, almost as effective as Bardins earlier The Deadly Percheron, but this time Bardin draws his inspiration not from the detective thriller but instead from the brooding “womens pictures” of the post WW II period.
It begins its journey in the land of The Snake Pit, where our heroine, the gifted harpsichordist Ellen, waits for her husband Basil the conductor to bring her home from the mental hospital, but it soon takes a detour to the neighborhood of Gaslight as Ellen begins a feverish search for her harpsichord key, convinced Basil is hiding it from her.
But soon Ellen encounters her old lover, the professional folksinger Jimmy Shad his signature song is “The Blue Tail Fly” and Bardins novel takes a darker, crazier turn into a funhouse featuring hallucinatory variations on a few feverish Joan Crawford and Bette Davis themes.
The book is not without flaws, For example, like many of the movies and books of the period, its psychologizing seems naive, its Freudianism outmoded, But in spite of all the twists and turns, all the craziness and flaws, the book is held together by two things: Bardins honest, deeply sympathetic portrayal of mental illness and his vivid writing about music as a craft and an inspiration.
One of the great sorrows of John Franklin Bardins life was that his mother, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, was confined to a mental hospital and remained there until her death.
He never forgot her, though, or her continual obsession with “going home,” which he used as an inspiration for both Percheron and Blue Tail Fly.
His obvious sympathy with the character of Ellen makes this book more than a mere thriller,
The most important factor that unifies Devil Take the Blue Tail Fly, however, are the continual passages about the challenges and joys of music, for it is music that gives Ellens life its shape and meaning:
This was now, here and undeniable, an eternal instant.John Franklin Bardin effectively portrays the disturbed mind of musician Ellen, whose violent alter ego, Nelle, takes over in moments of turmoil with devastating consequences.
Irrevocable, irrefutable, it had a strength and a reality that defied oblivion, With it she was unique, just as it was unique without it she ceased to exist, just as it was nothing, Rthis power to evoke music depended upon her reading of black marks on a ruled page, upon the dexterity of her fingers and her bodys sense of rhythm, upon her knowledge of the way it was, the quality of its sound.
But she depended upon it too, for without it she did not know herself, Outside its orbit she was a bundle of sensations, a walking fear, an appetite, a lawless creature, But when this sound esited, she undertood, her life had meaning, order, morality, This was her end, she was its means,
Ellen, a gifted concert harpsichord player, has suffered a mental breakdown following her seduction as a student by a predatory folksinger, At the start of the novel she has just left the institution in which she spentyears,
This is very much in the mould of Patricia Highsmith, who explores themes of mental health and schizophrenia quite frequently, In fact Bardin decides to pursue the mental health aspect rather than the crime angle, and, as fascinating as it is, that wont be for everyone, especially those seeking more of what they loved about the wonderful The Deadly Percheron .
So, as the novel proceeds, the psychotic Ellen takes refuge from the real world in almost dreamlike sequences of aspects of her life that have affected her so negatively, despite attempts to cure her from those around her.
Her madness gains particular momentum from reappearances of the folk singer, whether real or imaginary, the reader cannot be sure,
This is a novel that was very much ahead of its time I cant imagine it went down very well on publication in, with the expectation being a crime mystery which is touched on, but not pursued there are murders.
Comparisons to Highsmith are inevitable, but not relevant it was to beyears until her first novel Strangers On A Train, whose brought that unique blend of the psychological and mystery.
John Franklin Bardin's most acclaimed work plays a virtuoso performance on music and madness in this unforgettable thriller,
InNew York, Ellen, a worldrenowned musician, is suffering from the effects of her latest mental breakdown, Amongst other challenges, a chance meeting with a folk singer from her past causes her psychological wellbeing to rapidly deteriorate, Over the following terrifying weeks, Ellen finds herself becoming both a criminal and a victim as she attempts to contend with the darkness within.
ETA: Here's the cover of myMacfadden massmarket edition, which isn't listed here
's Devil Take the BlueTail Fly is a mind/realitybending tale that's unlike anything else of the era, at least that I've read.
It's a combination of noir and psychological horror where the reader is never on solid ground, due to the deteriorating mental condition of the protagonist, a semifamous, mentally disturbed classical harpsichordist newly free of an insane asylum, whose buried and forgotten past may finally be catching up with her.
It's very dreamlike and surreal at times, yet seemingly rooted in reality at others, and while there were a few too many long, hallucinatory passages that can be a little overwhelming, overall this was an intense, trippedout thriller that's at or near the same level as Bardin's more wellknown debut, The Deadly Percheron though quite different.
The closest thing I could compare it to as far as the "feel" of it would be laterperiod David Lynch films like Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr.
, and Inland Empire, yet this prefigured those by half a century,
Recommended for fans of noir, psychological horror, or the aforementioned Lynch films,
.Stars Mental illness and multiple personality disorder are the problems of our concert harpsichordist heroine deranged by child abuse and dreams vs reality confusion.
While the story drew me in, it later became too burdensome to figure out is this the here and now is this a nightmare is this memory Others may like the challenge.
Reading level: challenging,th grade amp up.
Slower moving than The Deadlly Percheron and without the many curveballs the plot of Percheron throws, On the other hand, some of the writing is very intense and surreal, Unique even. Uma surpresa, suspense "psiquiátrico", estrutura narrativa moderna, desenvolta e com final forte e intenso, Ellen Nelle é um personagem que irá inquietar a memória de todos os leitores, Bem escrito e muito perturbador, Uma surpresa mais do que agradável, um verdadeiro thriller psicológico que roça o horror e toca o génio.
Esperaba algo mas fluido Pero se me hizo super densa la lectura, . . uno pierde interés enseguida dando tantas vueltas, . . A veces extiende mucho cosas innecesarias y se vuelve aburrido, No pude terminar de leerlo, . . For my full review click on the link below:
sitelink wordpress Probably JFB's best as it doesn't have a silly Scooby Doo ending, This is stylish, dark, compelling psychological noir, The protagonist is a classical harpsichord player and her world is portrayed very convincingly the scene in which the phoniness of the hangerson at her comeback party becomes apparent is especially well done.
Strange this wasn't filmed with Gene Tierney or Susan Hayward in the lead, Vincent Price as the husband, Robert Mitchum as Jim and Herbert Marshall as the shrink.
No sé ni cómo empezar la reseña, Me ha gustado cómo el autor entremezclaba la realidad con el mundo interior de la protagonista, Ni siquiera me daba cuenta de en qué momento habíamos abandonado la realidad,
A pesar de esto, hay fragmentos que se hacen lentos, los personajes no me gustaban excepto la antigua profesora de Ellen y le faltó emoción.
Lo recomendaría Sí, Depende de lo que estés buscando, Desde luego, no si eres de esos que quiere una historia trepidante que no te d un respiro, Pero si buscas un thriller psicológico más relajado y pausado, relacionado con la música, entonces este es tu libro.
Hasta donde he leído, ésta es una de las mejores novelas del thriller psicológico, esto es, género policiaco sin policías.
Una prosa excelente, propia de los narradores norteamericanos de
mitad del Siglo XX, y luego, cuando todo parece estable y decidido, sobreviene un tremendo latigazo que lo transforma todo.
Por qué se habla tan poco de John Franklin Bardin No tengo la menor idea, ABURRIDO este libro promete ser una de las mejores historias de suspenso sicológico, pero la verdad es que la trama es más bien una historia sobre la depresión y la frustración, dejando de lado el hilo principal que era la locura, de lo que sólo se da un pincelazo al final, en resumen, es como una historia que te encuentras un domingo en la tarde en la tele abierta y no tienes nada más que hacer, pero que sabes que olvidarás en cuanto pases al siguiente programa "Que o Diabo Leve a Mosca Azul" começa com o último dia de Ellen no hospício onde viveu nos últimos dois anos.
Entusiasmada com o seu regresso ao mundo real, rapidamente se apercebe que a mudança não se deu apenas em si, mas em tudo o que a rodeia.
Devo dizer que este livro também precisava de uma grande mudança, Página após página lemos mais do mesmo: viagens que misturam o real com o fantástico, mergulhos em memórias antigas, muitas sombras e nevoeiro.
O texto é demasiado vago e as descrições subtis, A falta de diálogos apenas evidencia o conteúdo, que mal se qualifica como conteúdo, O autor quer contar uma história, mas só sabe fazêlo mais ou menos bem, perdendose em palavras que não nos levam à lado nenhum.
É como se andássemos em círculos e de repente nos apercebêssemos que aquele lugar nos era familiar,
Não é que seja preconceituosa em relação às pessoas mentalmente instáveis, mas a personagem principal, com uma personalidade e comportamento tão invulgares, devia ser minimamente interessante.
Ou pelo menos, suscitar a minha curiosidade, ao contrário de me provocar bocejos e de me fazer revirar os olhos,
Penso que o facto de não apreciar música clássica não me ajudou a sentir empatia pelo enredo, mas não foi por falta de tentativa.
Para compreender a necessidade deste tipo de música, fiz uma comparação com o que a literatura significa para mim mesma.
Não resultou pois o problema não está no que nos é contado, mas sim naquilo que fica por dizer,
A confusão mental de Ellen, a personagem principal, foi transposta para a narrativa, tornando um livro com um inicio interessante, num rascunho de uma má ideia inacabada.
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