And, yes, overall, I thought the business information was depicted very well, even when it got tricky and complicated. I was unbearably excited at the moment when Wally turned on the lights in the display case, knowing what he was about to show Mildred. Mildred had a good idea. And, yes, the car culture was lost, as were some of the lovely details about clothing.
Love and passion can be quite ruinous. Fidelity in and of itself is not a bad thing; I think the Coen brothers did really well by True Grit and while I understand that others prefer the first version, what they like is at odds with the book.
The traditional look of the first one, for example. Mildred Pierce is a very, very dark view of parenthood. I say parenthood, not motherhood, because I think Cain would have been equally adept at telling a story about a warped father-son relationship. Yes, all parents hope their children will have better lives, but Mildred pushes her daughter to greater heights, encouraging her snobbery, even as it punishes her.
MA : Yes, exactly. Or maybe more accurately we swallow them whole. We transform them into the aspects of them that touch us the most. I think that Haynes made Mildred Pierce into a melodrama because he loves melodrama. But, for me as a fellow lover of melodrama, mind you , Mildred Pierce is not remotely a melodrama. As you say, it is not about sacrificial maternal love, which almost all melodramas are, but about the classic Cain theme of unwholesome desires, the opening of the forbidden box.
Love and passion can be ruinous indeed. So I can view it as a separate thing. And he comes, in some ways, so close to the things I love about it, which makes me harder on him. With book we love hopelessly, we are like those vampires in some way, sucking it dry and not wanting anyone else to feed on it. And it feels like a betrayal.
And there is Guy Pearce, pitch perfect, and Mare Winningham and Melissa Leo, both of whom seem to have slipped seamlessly from a pre-Code gem. Keeping the last line of the book, even as think the delivery is all wrong, the tone of it is all wrong. That did it. Making the best of the more-than-five-hour running time, Haynes gives us a much deeper, many-layered reflection on the vicissitudes of desire.
Instead, what about creativity? These scenes are put into dialogue with ones of Veda playing piano or singing. I contend that Haynes forces the question away from a mother-who-loves-too-much construction to the far more interesting question explored also in the work of feminist theorist Luce Irigaray of the possibility of representing mother and daughter outside Oedipal psychologizing—instead as a structure that can produce new and liberating thoughts.
So rather than the question of what these women want, I would prefer to ask: what are they creating both inside the fiction and outside, for the viewer? ROB WHITE : I think that introducing the idea of creativity—or rather a contrast between two kinds of creativity—is fascinating as an alternative to desire.
And for a long time it pays off handsomely. No training, no work is needed. Gold and meat. The psychic economy is inextricably linked to the material economy. In Mildred Pierce everything is a question of economics, exchange, value, cost—whether it be the cost of chickens and piano lessons or the emotional cost of betrayal, separation, loss. This voice lures not only the money grabbers who want to sell cigarettes and bread but also her mother, time and again.
Mildred experiences a sense of intense communication with her daughter when she sings, a passionate desire, an addiction even; she wants to possess that thing inside her daughter that she always knew was there, that talent which gives Veda her inflated value. I love your idea of the gorgon; called a serpent she reveals a whole headful of them.
She closes her eyes as she listens. Can Mildred give her kids the right upbringing financially and emotionally? She certainly has a lot of determination and love but it's not a one sided coin there's the negative forces around this enduring woman. I have seen the movie a while back but really can't recollect much of it, I will be watching the tv adaption soon. Movie and Book update June 6 Still yet to finish the new mini-series and i want to watch the original but i found a good review by The man himself Stephen King will post it below under spoilers and some images until i get round watching it.
The best-actress competition, however, was a horse race. The general consensus was that Joan Crawford probably deserved the Oscar for her portrayal of Mildred Pierce in the film of the same name, but three of the other nominated actresses—Ingrid Bergman, Jennifer Jones, and Gene Tierney—seemed more likely to win.
Crawford was arrogant, overmannered, and difficult to work with. Arrogant she may have been; stupid she was not. Terrified of losing, she pretended to be sick on the big night. Crawford welcomed reporters into her bedroom only after her win was safely in the bag. Um … well … that sort of depends on your sensibilities, Constant Viewer.
Or you could put The Bells of St. Mildred Pierce opens in Glendale, Calif. During the years between, Mildred trudges with grim and not particularly admirable fortitude from one disaster to the next, dragging Veda, her harpy of a daughter, behind her like an anchor.
Mildred survives—somehow—but the viewer is left with the sense that none of her victories mean much, and is apt to greet the credit roll at the end of part five with a sigh of relief. Gee, that must be swell. Mildred, at least, is capable of love. In Veda, love has been annealed to a hard diamond of ambition. Worse, Mildred becomes her willfully blind enabler. Mildred herself is horrified, and that is one of the things that makes her so hard to like. The other is her grim refusal, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, to see that she is nursing a viper in her bosom.
And when Ray dies of a fever, the rattlesnake is the only one left in the nest. Chief among them are excess waste and too many choices. Joan Crawford was not that woman; Kate Winslet is. Mildred expands to three restaurants, experiences giddy success, and then loses everything hence, back to Glendale.
She blames the men who gave her too much credit and too much bad advice, but the real culprit is Veda, who hangs on her like a leech, bleeding Mildred dry until she blossoms as a coloratura soprano something that happens late, with no foreshadowing, and in spite of her nonstop cigarette consumption.
Veda leaves for New York, but not before committing one final act far too shocking for the version of Mildred Pierce to even contemplate—hence the trumpery murder plot. Nudity has rarely looked so evil. Or so enticing. If for no other reason, you may want to tune in to see two actors at the height of their creative powers and physical beauty. All the same, there are problems here. In words of one syllable? In his memorable introduction to three of James M. The Depression-era set decoration is perfect, and you get to appreciate all of it because Haynes lingers on each stucco bungalow, each deserted seaside road, each overdecorated Beverly Hills manse.
There are soporific panning shots and at least one dolly-track sequence that seems well-nigh endless. Mildred and her friend, Lucy, are at the seashore, and I began to think they were going to walk all the way to San Diego. Perhaps even Mexico City. There are enough shots of a pensive Winslet seen through rain-beaded windshields to make you feel like screaming. The original paperback version of Mildred Pierce was only pages.
You could read the whole thing aloud before the miniseries finishes. I think Cain would marvel at the acting and production values, but roll his eyes at the plodding pace.
And yet Mildred Pierce has a visceral, snake-farm fascination. Veda is, after all, what she has, and Mildred fights for it, tooth and nail. How Joan Crawford would have loathed her. View all 9 comments. After being challenged in ways I have never expected in , I decided was going to be the perfect year to also get out of my literary comfort zone and take some risks. What the heck!! For me the only really sordid things about this novel were the number of pages I had to read about mortgages, other bureaucratic procedures and too many unrealistic characters playing the business type; gosh, how sordid can that be?!
Also very sordid was the number of times the story conveniently jumped forward only to get to a very predictable ending. Bureaucracy kills. View all 32 comments. Aug 24, Alex rated it really liked it. And he does, leaving her and their children behind.
Alone and jobless, Mildred has to find a way to feed her young girls but the social status she once owned pulls her back from working as a maid or waitress. In the end she is forced to work as a waitress at a restaurant. Her ambition and talent makes her a successful businesswoman. But Mildred has two weakness: an obsession to her eldest almost diabolic daughter Veda and se 3. But Mildred has two weakness: an obsession to her eldest almost diabolic daughter Veda and secondly her affinity towards cheating, manipulative men.
They will be her downfall. I liked most of the book although some parts of it were so boring, I was thinking of not completing it. I did not like any of the characters. All were selfish and controlling. I couldn't understand why Mildred loved Veda so much and I cannot stress out how much I disliked Veda.
But these are the same things that kept me interested. I have not read any other books about such mothers and daughters. There are so many finer points to be discussed about these characters, this book can be used for character study.
View all 7 comments. Jul 10, Julie rated it really liked it Shelves: mommie-dearest , california-dreaming , book-club. If ever a book screamed, "You need a book club," it was this one. You need group support and discussion for this cast of characters! Jul 24, James Thane rated it liked it. James M. While Mildred Pierce was turned into something of a crime story in the movie starring Joan Crawford, the book is the fairly straight-forward story of a California woman who struggles to make a life for herself and her daughter, Veda, during the years of the Great Depression.
As the book opens, Mildred throws her lazy, unfaithful husband out on his ear and become the single mother James M. As the book opens, Mildred throws her lazy, unfaithful husband out on his ear and become the single mother of two young daughters. Forced to fend for herself, she becomes a pie maker.
She later takes a job as a waitress and through hard work and grim determination parlays the skills she learns on the job into owning her own restaurant. However, Veda, Mildred's elder daughter, has nothing but contempt for her mother's efforts and is embarrassed that her mother is so declasse.
Veda, who is most certainly the daughter from Hell, aspires to higher things and never stops to appreciate the sacrifices that her mother makes on her behalf. Nor does she apparently ever stop to wonder how she, her sister and their mother would survive save for Mildred's efforts that Veda so casually mocks. The amazing thing is that Mildred is totally enchanted by this ungrateful urchin and bends over backwards to please her.
Mildred constantly ignores and forgives the hateful things that Veda says and sacrifices her entire life to pleasing the little snot until, in the end, a serious crisis results. Cain has created here two of the most memorable characters in American fiction and has woven around them a gritty story of Mildred's struggle to survive and succeed, both in business and in her plaintive attempt to win her daughter's favor.
I admire what he has done, but I can't say that I really enjoyed this book all that much. I simply could not identify or empathize with any of the characters, and my patience with Mildred Pierce ran out very early on.
As terrible a thing as it is to say, were I Mildred Pierce, by the third or fourth chapter of this book, her darling Veda would have been in traction and I would have been in jail. But that, of course, would have made for a much shorter novel. May 13, Alex Gradet rated it liked it. I want Veda Pierce to become real. So that I may punch her. Aug 07, Mary rated it really liked it Shelves: , fiction , mother-issues. This was fun. Mother-daughter dysfunction at its finest.
View 2 comments. If there's one thing I'm taking away from reading this, it's that bad things happen to good people. Unfortunately, that goes both ways. I was surprised by how this novel just sucked me in, even though there was so much to get frustrated about.
Mildred Pierce is the tale of a woman living during the Great Depression who is trying to provide for her two daughters after getting divorced from her cheating husband. The problems don't end there, as there is money to be earned and some proper family is If there's one thing I'm taking away from reading this, it's that bad things happen to good people. The problems don't end there, as there is money to be earned and some proper family issues to deal with.
On the one hand it's interesting to see a woman doing her thing in the s. Mildred Pierce was brave enough to get rid of her husband, but earning money afterwards turns into an entirely different issue. There are limitations to what she can or is expected to do and in addition to that she has also got her own pride to overcome before taking on the job as a waitress.
Later that turns out to bring valuable and prosperous knowledge, making her a great example of a self-sufficient woman of that time period. The main charm of this book lies in the relationship between Mildred and her daughter Valda. Rarely have I felt such pure and outright antipathy towards a character.
What makes it worse is, how Mildred is absolutely aware of what kind of daughter she has: "She was afraid of Veda, of her snobbery, her contempt, her unbreakable spirit. And she was afraid of something that seemed always lurking under Veda's bland, phone tonnes: a cold, cruel, coarse desire to torture her mother, to humiliate her, above everything else, to hurt her.
It's painful and upsetting to watch, but at the same time that relationship is exceptionally well written, so you understand where she is coming from. The more Mildred tried, the less I liked her for it. I'm not going to lie, I honestly hoped something bad would happen to Veda.
I'm left with a bittersweet feeling. May 02, j e w e l s rated it it was amazing. Love these old melodramatic plot lines- VEDA!! View all 3 comments. Those expecting noir crime fiction like in Cain's Double Indemnity or Postman will find that Mildred Pierce is not exactly crime fiction, but it shares quite a bit in common with those other famous Cain novels.
It, too, is set in the Depression-era and involves an emotionally-charged character, but it is more of a life-long character study, a novel-length portrait of the rise and f "Mildred Pierce" is perhaps best known as the character that won Joan Crawford the Best Actress Academy Award. It, too, is set in the Depression-era and involves an emotionally-charged character, but it is more of a life-long character study, a novel-length portrait of the rise and fall of a woman of the Depression-era.
Mildred first comes to our attention in the novel as a pie-baking stay-at-home wife of a well-to-do real estate magnate, the head of Pierce Homes, a new housing tract in Glendale, California. But, times being what they were, business has kind of grinded to a halt and the husband, Bert, spends most of his time hanging out with his mistress and away from the hen-pecking of his wife.
The house is mortgaged to the hilt and, after a final spat, Bert packs his bags and moves down the street. Now, Mildred suddenly realizes that she only has a few odd dollars to feed her two kids and get by, let alone pay the bills. What follows is her going to an employment agency and getting offered a maid's job, one she could not possibly take.
What if her precocious older daughter Veda would find out? And, that, my friends, foreshadows the mother-daughter relationship to come as the proper prim upper-class child has her mother's eye and heart. Mildred eventually becomes a waitress in a hash house and manages to sell pies to the owner and makes it on her own to become a force to reckoned in the restaurant industry.
But, what is telling is not her successes so much as her fear that her proper daughter will look down on what she does and that she is not upper class.
Indeed, when Mildred finally becomes involved with a new man it is another layabout, a rich playboy who doesn't work, plays polo, and lives off the family money until like many great fortunes the Great Depression plays havoc with it.
The heart of the story is Mildred's relationship with this man who she ends up supporting and her daughter who she promises the world to and can never really deliver.
Mildred is an amazing character and Cain's novel portrays her as so multifaceted that you feel her struggles and understand her failings as she clings to this man and to her hard-to-please daughter. Of course, there are some shocking scenes in it that come up somewhat unexpected. Cain is an amazing writer and Mildred Pierce shows the breadth of his talent. Mar 27, Natalie Richards rated it really liked it Shelves: owned-book. I remember watching the film of this book years ago and loved it. This is a very character driven book and Mildred and Veda are something else!
May 12, Terris rated it really liked it Shelves: classics. I really enjoyed this story of Mildred Pierce's life as a young mother and wife in the 's, and how she survives divorce, personal heartbreak and drama, and goes on to build her huge, successful restaurant business Well, that's not the whole story, of course -- Wow!
There's so much more, but it is a very compelling read. I loved the way it was written, and I couldn't put the book down throughout the dramatic, climactic ending. I'd love to see the Joan Crawford movie. She'd be perfect I really enjoyed this story of Mildred Pierce's life as a young mother and wife in the 's, and how she survives divorce, personal heartbreak and drama, and goes on to build her huge, successful restaurant business She'd be perfect for this one!
May 21, Christine Boyer rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Psychological thrillers. Recommended to Christine by: Julie. When my sister first put this book on my recommendation list, I thought, wait, is she talking about one of my favorite films? I mentioned some plot points in the film and she said, yep, that's one in the same! When I was a pre-teen, before cable was around, I loved to watch old movies on television, particularly from the s.
However, I sadly did not even know it was based off of a nov When my sister first put this book on my recommendation list, I thought, wait, is she talking about one of my favorite films? However, I sadly did not even know it was based off of a novel.
And I had never heard of James Cain. Mildred Pierce was incredible on so many levels - I don't even have enough space here to do it justice. Fast-paced, suspenseful, written back in the day, however, it felt contemporary. Vivid setting, and a host of three dimensional characters that jump off the page! There is only one other daughter in literature who is as awful as Veda - remember Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
Lots of material here for incredible book club discussions: mother-daughter relationships, marriage, women having careers, all kinds of sexual topics, rich vs. This is one wild ride you must take!! View all 6 comments. Jul 30, Mizuki rated it really liked it Shelves: great. I picked up Mildred Pierce without realizing the book was written by the same author who penned The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity , now after finishing Mildred Pierce, I've decided to put the latter two books to the top of my To-Read list.
Mildred Pierce is a young woman who had recently divorced her unfaithful husband and now she must look after her two daughters at the time of The Great Depression, and life isn't easy for a single mom of that time.
Mildred's struggle had been m I picked up Mildred Pierce without realizing the book was written by the same author who penned The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity , now after finishing Mildred Pierce, I've decided to put the latter two books to the top of my To-Read list. Mildred's struggle had been made even more difficult by the prejudice of her time a woman supports her family by working as a waitress!
Mildred Pierce is a woman with many flaws at first she even thinks being a waitress is beneath her and she isn't always smart when it comes to life-choices, but what I can admire about her is her determination.
Her daughter Veda is a character you would love to hate she is needy, selfish and takes things from others without giving anything back, I dislike people like this , but who's to blame for Veda turning out like this? Her mother. I mean, no sane people would spoil their children like this.
Plus I really like the book's ending which has a sharp-as-knife, very edgy hard-boiled style surprise. I heard that this book had been adapted into movie, I wonder what the movie is like. Jun 09, Melissa rated it it was ok. What an odd, sad little book this is.
I quite thought I'd have no trouble relating to Mildred at the beginning - I got hooked on, "She was a little given to rehearshing things in her mind, and having imaginary triumphs over people who has upset her in one way and another," because I do that all the time. But she ends up being such a weak, small-minded jerk that I lost any sympathy I'd had for her.
Dec 05, robin friedman rated it it was amazing. Cain is famous for the noir writing of his shorter and earlier novels, "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Double Indemnity", which also became classic films. Unlike these books, "Mildred Pierce" does not involve the murder of a husband by his wife and her lover, but it includes and expands upon th Mildred Pierce Probably more famous as a celebrated movie starring Joan Crawford, James Cain's novel "Mildred Pierce" is set in the gritty world of Depression-era Los Angeles in the s.
Unlike these books, "Mildred Pierce" does not involve the murder of a husband by his wife and her lover, but it includes and expands upon the themes of sex, greed, and class of these two earlier books.
It also portrays a world of pervasive philistinism. Unlike its predecessors, much of the focus of "Mildred Pierce" is on the mother-daughter relationship and upon ingratitude. Although related in the third person unlike the confessional first-person narratives of Postman and Double Indemnity in a clipped, hard-boiled tone, the novel is an introspective character study of its heroine.
When the book begins, Mildred and her husband Bert are living in a Glendale, California in a middle-class home that the couple can no longer afford. The marriage is breaking up as a result of Bert's affair with a woman named Maggie Mrs. Biederhoff, who appears to have been widowed for about a year. Mildred is left with the job of raising two young daughters, Ray, 7 and Vera, 11, faced with a heavy mortgage, no job, and no skills other that her ability to bake pies.
Mildred also has a lovely figure and gorgeous legs. She soon falls into a relationship with Wally, an unscrupulous lawyer and former business associate of her husband. But Mildred has ambitions. At first she proudly spurns domestic work, but she eventually takes a job as a waitress in a hash house, where customers grope her legs but where she determines to learn the business and make something of herself. Mildred uses what she learns at the hash house and her skills as a baker to open her own restaurant and, eventually, a chain of restaurants, which succeed aided by the repeal of Prohibition.
Besides showing Mildred's rise as a woman entrepreneur, Cain shows her sexual relationships with Wally and with a rich idler named Monty who loses his fortune during the Depression. Monty sponges off Mildred, and his interest in her is limited to sex and to her body. Mildred maintains through most of the book an ambiguous relationship with Bert, whom she divorces to secure the property she needs for her restaurant.
Of the two daughters, Veda gets most of her mother's attention, for her apparent musical talent and her snobbery. Veda mocks her mother and spurns her love, which Mildred want to gain at all costs. Mid-way in the novel, after a torrid weekend affair between Monty and Mildred, the younger daughter Ray dies from an infection caught at seaside. Her death and funeral are portrayed in detail. Mildred redoubles her efforts with Veda and with Veda's piano lessons. Among many other things, Cain portrays the harsh competitive side of the world of classical music when Veda learns from a reputed conductor and teacher, Treviso, in no uncertain terms that she has no talent for the piano.
0コメント