Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

On my mind today (and on Thanksgiving fairly often -- I've used this as this blog's Thanksgiving reflection twice before), is the novel Mildred Pierce,  published in 1941, written by James Cain, a writer whose reputation, once considerable, has lately gone into eclipse. As it happens,  Mildred Pierce  was also made into a movie in 1945, and became a television miniseries (HBO) in 2011. The title character has two daughters: Veda (11 years old when the story begins in 1931) and her little sister Ray (7 years). The photo above is of Veda, as portrayed by actress Morgan Turner in that HBO miniseries. The following two-word sentence is not much of a spoiler, by the way, because it happens quite early in the plot, and sets up the rest:  Ray dies. Indeed, that's why I'm thinking of the book right now. Thanksgiving as currently practiced in the US has a lot to do with the sentimentalization of the nuclear family, and  Mildred Pierce  has a lot, in turn, t...

I'm giving myself an easy holiday out by repeating with minor variations, last year's Thanksgiving observation.  On my mind today is  Mildred Pierce,  a 1941 novel by James Cain, set in the ten years leading up to the date of publication. No, I didn't just refer to the movie star best known for playing Sonny Corleone. That's James Caan. I'm thinking now of the   novelist James Cain, born in 1892. Although his reputation is in eclipse now, he was quite well known for a time as a writer of "hardboiled" crime fiction, a peer of Chandler or Hammett. Cain wrote  Double Indemnity  and  The Postman Always Rings Twice. , both memorably adapted into classic Hollywood films.  Mildred Pierce  was somewhat different, an effort at offering a naturalistic portrait of southern California suburbia. As it happens,  Mildred Pierce  was also made into a movie in 1945, and became a television miniseries in 2011. The title character h...

On my mind today is Mildred Pierce, a 1941 novel by James Cain, set in the ten years leading up to the date of publication. No, I didn't just refer to the movie star best known for playing Sonny Corleone. That's James Caan. I'm thinking now of the   novelist James Cain, born in 1892. Although his reputation is in eclipse now, he was quite well known for a time as a writer of "hardboiiled" crime fiction, a peer of Chandler or Hammett. Cain wrote Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. , both memorably adapted into classic Hollywood films. Mildred Pierce was somewhat different, an effort at offering a naturalistic portrait of southern California suburbia. Anyway, Mildred Pierce was also made into a movie in 1945, and became a television miniseries in 2011. The title character has two daughters: Veda (11 years old when the story begins in 1931) and her little sister Ray (7 years). The photo above is of Veda, as portrayed by actress Morgan T...