Due
to what turned out to be a rather crummy past week, I didn’t get this up yesterday
and am therefore antedating it to August since I'm only one day off.
Title: To Catch a Thief
Author: David Dodge
Genre: Thriller,
Romance
About the book…
Published in 1952, To Catch a Thief opens with retired thief John Robie, formerly
known as Le Chat, receiving a visit from the French police. He, however, is not
in the mood to receive them and escapes out the window determined to clear his
name in a recent slew of burglaries committed in a style similar to his own. Getting
on a bus, though, little does he know that the only other person on it, the
elegantly dressed and very wealthy Francie Stevens will play a key role in his
attempts to make this happen.
In writing this, David Dodge was inspired in
part by true events and his own trip to the French Riviera. This book served as
a basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 movie To
Catch a Thief starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
What I think…
To Catch a Thief is a movie that easily falls into my top favorites of the 50’s (something I mentioned before here) and this book doesn’t disappoint either.
There are differences between the book and movie as is expected, but much of the storyline is the same. One thing that I really like about the book is that it focuses on the backstory of Robie and his relationship with some of the other characters.
The ending is drawn out in a good way, providing a backstory for the thief and wrapping the overall story up in a satisfactory way.
As with other similar novels of this time, in particular the noirs, the writing is somewhat blunt and straightforward. This works well with the pacing of the novel, though, and the build up to the conclusion.
To sum it all up…
A great read whether you’re a fan of 50’s mystery suspense novels, the Hitchcock movie, or books set in the French Riviera.♥
What I think…
To Catch a Thief is a movie that easily falls into my top favorites of the 50’s (something I mentioned before here) and this book doesn’t disappoint either.
There are differences between the book and movie as is expected, but much of the storyline is the same. One thing that I really like about the book is that it focuses on the backstory of Robie and his relationship with some of the other characters.
The ending is drawn out in a good way, providing a backstory for the thief and wrapping the overall story up in a satisfactory way.
As with other similar novels of this time, in particular the noirs, the writing is somewhat blunt and straightforward. This works well with the pacing of the novel, though, and the build up to the conclusion.
To sum it all up…
A great read whether you’re a fan of 50’s mystery suspense novels, the Hitchcock movie, or books set in the French Riviera.♥
Will this sound bad if I didn't know it was a book as well? It's nice to hear they stuck close to the book. You can't say that about many adaptations today. And well, it is Hitchcock, everything he did was spectacular. {I'm a fan of his!}
ReplyDeleteI don't think most people do, so not at all, plus I think it was out of print for a considerable amount of time. You really can't, which, aside from actor who can actually act and lack of need to deafen the audience, is something I really enjoy about the older movies.
DeleteSorry you've had a crummy week. Definitely know what those feel like :/
ReplyDeleteI really need to start reading more "movie" books!
Thanks, everything just seems to be all over the place lately.
DeleteYou certainly should!
I'm deeply sorry that you had a difficult week, sweet dear. {{{Hugs}}}
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely book review. I adore the film and suspect I would the book, too (haven't read it yet). I often find that I like both the book and movie version of older stories, but that with newer fiction or or the other tends to be so much better that it's trickier to say the same thing. Have you encountered this as well?
Big hugs,
♥ Jessica
Thank you. I agree. It seems like many of the novels (and short stories like "Bringing Up Baby", for that matter) adapted during the golden age of Hollywood tend to be as equally likable as the film, even if there's less of a similarity between the two, whereas with newer movies there's more of a focus on how it can be made more entertaining for a modern audience.
Delete