Fall Books to Read Before the Movies Come Out
The
newest crop of blockbusters is headed our way—and there's just enough
time left to catch up on the literary originals.
By Mark Athitakis
6 of 8
Carol
By Patricia Highsmith
304 pages;
W. W. Norton & Company
Girl meets girl; girl loses
girl; girl nearly wrecks her life to win girl back. That's the basic plot of Carol,
which stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as Carol and Therese, two women who
fall hard for each other in 1950s New York but have to keep their love a
secret. The acting in the November 20
film is bound to end up with award
nominations. But remember: Same-sex romance was a provocative topic when
Patricia Highsmith wrote the original novel using a pseudonym. The same
deliciously noirish storytelling that made her Ripley books classics is just as
compelling in this one: "She wished the tunnel might cave in and kill them
both," a smitten Therese thinks, "that their bodies might be dragged
out together."
— Mark Athitakis
Published 10/02/2015
