'Strangers on a Train' by Patricia Highsmith
'Strangers on a Train' by Patricia Highsmith

The good

  • Brilliant premise.

  • Dark, disturbed, neurotic, unpredictable characters.

  • The combination of the premise and the characters makes this a fun book to discuss.

The not so good

  • The characters are interesting, but they act so weirdly, that you can’t identify with them. I had the same feeling with The Talented Mr Ripley. This is likely intentional, as these characters are supposed to be antiheroes, so you’re not exactly supposed to love them… But I found them fairly repulsive, and often found myself reluctant to pick up the book, and have to be stuck reading about their neuroses.

  • This is a famous book, and for some reason, I assumed it would be a mystery story, where the central premise would be uncovered at the end by a detective. Instead, this story reveals the premise right up front. That felt like a waste of what would’ve made for a terrific mystery.

  • I found the ending weird and unsatisfying.

Rating: 3.5 stars