Eleven

This was a wonderful group of stories. Patricia Highsmith had such an amazing imagination and so well written! Plan to read more of her writing.

Some of these stories will fade out of your consciousness as soon as they are read, others will stick with you for months. No writer has ever equaled Highsmith's genius for portraying highly disturbed people in all their creepy glory. In a few stories here she really finds her stride, but most are just adequate and some good. The snail stories are so incredibly odd, off the wall, and entirely out of context and character, I have no other reaction beyond a kind of bored wonder. I don't tend to like short stories, but I adore Patricia Highsmith. If you're a devoted fan, this is worth reading. However, if you're new to Highsmith, skip this and read her more worthy works. Having already consumed the crème de la crème of her catalogue, I feel I'm scrapping the bottom of the bowl with a collection like this.

There were only 11 short stories, each one carefully crafted with normal enough characters that seem incredibly disturbed at the end. There were many surprises that I won't reveal but it was nice to never know where the stories were going. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I love Patricia Highsmith’s best work. Sometimes I even love her OK work. The problem for me here is that the balance is off. These are short stories. Self contained. And some are creepy and wonderful, sneaking up on you the way her best work does. The two on snails (you were warned) do just that. But a number of others don’t. And since this is only 11 stories and none are particularly long, there’s a value issue for me. But that’s just me. If you are a mega fan and devour her work, check it out.

I really like this author. This is the 5th or 6th book I've read so far. All because she's one of Steven Kings' favorite authors. I especially liked the stories about the snails. A little scary, but funny at the same time. Some of the stories are kind of dark. What a writer! I'd highly recommend it.

"Eleven" is a collection of short stories written by one of the most iconic female authors of the crime fiction genre, the American Patricia Highsmith. The anthology is prologued by another top crime writer, Graham Greene , who juxtaposes the Highsmithian universe with that of the classics, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. He writes: "This is a world without moral endings. It has nothing in common with the heroic world of her peers, Hammett and Chandler, and her detectives (...) have nothing in common with the romantic and disillusioned private eyes who will always, we know, triumph over evil and see that justice is done". This is an accurate description of Highsmith's literary world and characters and this is the most appropriate context to have in mind when reading those dark, often borderline disturbing, short stories. I enjoyed most "The Snail-Watcher", "The Terrapin", and "The Heroine". If you are a Highsmith fan this is a must for you.

I cannot cease to be amazed by the mind blowing characters brought to life by Patricia Highsmith. It is impossible to put down once you start reading her stories and novels.

Patricia Highsmith was an odd character, but boy could she weave a great tale. Here are eleven of them. You will never forget "The Snail Watcher."

This is a wonderful collection of stories from Patricia Highsmith. Each story is compelling and written with the usual excellence we have come to expect from such a brilliant author.

In deze bundel van 11 psychologische thrillers ontpopt zich een heel eigen, absurd-realistische wereld. Patricia Highsmith's macabere horrorverhalen knellen zich aan je vast: Mr. Knoppert wordt door zich uitbundig vermenigvuldigende slakken verstikt en professor Avery Clavering wordt opgeraspt door reuzeslakken én tegelijk verdronken. Patricia hield van slakken, had er naar verluid ook als huisdier en heeft derhalve over deze diertjes een realistisch beeld.

Lo compré por la referencia en la película de Perfect Days, tenía mis expectativas quizá demasiado altas, de las 11 historias solo me gustaron 4, las demás se sintieron muy incompletas y/o simplonas. Probablemente sea mejor leer las novelas completas de la autora, en lugar de estos cuentos cortos.

Recueil de nouvelles très intéressant

Patricia Highsmith is a first rank writer, known for her crime and psychological novels, where she demonstrates a rare understanding of the intricacies of the human mind. Her short stories do not disappoint, revealing other facets of her literary production—and confirming some of her obsessions. The stories are always disturbing, some purely terrifying. And they never disappoint, reaffirming her mastery.