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Cargando... El Hechizo de Elsie (1986)por Patricia Highsmith
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Amena, inquietante, El hechizo de Elsie es una obra maestra del suspense y un análisis del lado oscuro del deseo y del enfrentamiento entre las fuerzas ultraconservadoras y las liberales en la sociedad norteamericana. El escenario de la narración es el Greenwich Village de Nueva York, captado aquí en toda su riqueza de detalles y contrastes, desde la sofisticación yuppie a la sordidez de los mundillos marginales. Cada año llegan allí miles de jóvenes provincianas en busca del éxito; Elsie es una más: guapa, ambiciosa, sexualmente ambigua aunque inocente. Pero tiene algo especial, un endiablado atractivo erótico que cautiva por igual a hombres y mujeres. Tres personajes caerán víctimas de su hechizo. Por un lado, el chiflado Ralph, un cincuentón puritano que decide seguirle los pasos para librarla de los peligros que, según él, la acechan por todas partes. Por el otro, Jack, un ilustrador exitoso, y Natalia, su esposa, que lograrán hacerla triunfar como modelo. Pero poco a poco la pesadilla y la tragedia se ciernen sobre Elsie. Un asesinato irracional e inexplicable dará un vuelco a la historia, de acuerdo con la personal versión del género de intriga que tan bien conocen los numerosos lectores de Patricia Highsmith."-- No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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This particular 'crank', Ralph Linderman, starts off as sympathetic enuf by returning a lost wallet to its owner w/ a substantial amt of cash in it untouched. He informs the astonished recipient of the wallet of his philosophy of honesty & goes on to talk about his atheism. So far, so good - he's someone I can relate to. But he immediately becomes suspect to the wallet's owner, Jack Sutherland, as a bit of a nut to be avoided. Things develop from there as Linderman's revealed to be considerably more out of touch w/ 'reality' than this intro to him might imply.
What's interesting, for me, is the way Highsmith slowly develops the relations between the characters. Most of the main people manage to have what might seem to most to be difficult relations w/ a fair amt of reasonableness - except for a few fringe characters like Linderman who don't quite have what it takes to cope. Linderman's just enuf 'off' to be a 'failure' - but where he's failed, at a psychological level, isn't necessarily completely obvious.
When the 2nd of the 2 deaths happens, who's eventually caught for the crime is almost of no consequence in the overall scheme of things. What's important is the relationships of all the characters not so much to the crime but to the overall social circumstances. Highsmith, w/o making it too obvious, seems to be making a case for sensible attitudes, as personified by the Sutherlands, & for an understanding of the banal grating delusions, trials & tribulations of the 'crank' Linderman. As usual, she does it w/ a depth of development & finess that makes Highsmith worth reading over & over again & makes me happy that she wrote enuf to keep me busy for yrs to come.
Unlike most crime fiction, there's no genius detecting or great leaps of deductive reasoning by the hardboiled protagonist - & this is precisely what makes Highsmith so special. She's not a hack writer pumping out stories revolving around a likable eccentric detective that's capable of great insight & survivalism. Instead, the perpetrator, in this novel, is fairly easily caught by a combination of a character's common sense & fairly routine police work - both revolving around experience w/ human nature. SO, instead of sensational heroes we have a social milieu & various outcasts. ( )