The Great Depression of the 1930's is an era that has always interested me. I am also a fan of the writer Cornell Woolrich (1903 - 1968). And so a collection of Woolrich's short stories written during and about the Great Depression, sign me up!
There are 8 stories in Desperate Times and 7 of the stories center around characters who are down on their luck. If times were different these characters would never have resorted to murder, faking their own death, fraud, identity theft etc. But the bad economy as they see it has left them no choice.
One of the stories for example, Borrowed Crime, involves a father who needs money to save his son who is dying of TB. The father reads the newspaper and learns that the police are offering $1,000 leading to the arrest of a killer. The father decides he will confess to the murder he didn't committ and collect the reward money. Needless to say it doesn't go well.
And that's a theme throughout these seven stories. Each of these characters decides to do something illegal thinking it will get them out of the desperate situation they find themselves in only to discover after they have crossed the line that they are in much worse shape now and can't go back.
The 8th story, Even God Felt The Depression, was written by Cornell Woolrich near the end of his life. It's his autobiographical look back on what it was like in NYC in the 1930's trying to make it as a writer:
"The nights were even more excruciating. To me those long lines of lights that flamed along the Avenues as far as the eye could see were never garish (as they probably were) but glamorous, seeming to hold out a promise of wonderment and magic, and I wanted to be out where they were. Everyone else was, in droves ... and there I sat, in a solitary room, locked in the lonely pool of light cast by a desk lamp. But I wouldn’t leave the desk. I almost had to grab it with both hands and hang onto it for dear life, almost had to hook my ankles around its legs to stay on the chair, but I wouldn’t leave it, no I wouldn’t leave it"
Woolrich's hard work and perseverance paid off. He is considered today to be one of the great crime novelists of the mid-twentieth century. I would say though that if you are new to Woolrich, Desperate Times is not the best place to begin. I enjoyed these stories and they gave me a sense of the kind of novels Woolrich would become famous for in the 1940's. But they are not on the same level as The Bride Wore Black, Deadline At Dawn, Walz Into Darkness etc all written in the 1940's when Woolrich really hit his stride.
I have read and recommend The Bride Wore Black and I will definitely be checking out Deadline At Dawn and Walz Into Darkness in the not too distant future.
I don't read a lot of short stories, but I suddenly find myself really wanting to read these. Probably because of the time period they're set in, and the fact that they're written by Cornell Woolrich. I really liked his book Waltz Into Darkness and have Deadline at Dawn on my TBR list. :D
ReplyDeleteCornell Woolrich really is such a fine writer. His novels showcase the fact that life can be dangerous and unfair and his protagonists in Desperate Times do the best they can trying to deal with the unfairness. But they make the wrong decisions.
ReplyDeleteYou have been reading a lot recently.
ReplyDeleteThis looks very good and I see it is available via Kindle Unlimited. I hope to try it out soon. I do have a couple of other books with Woolrich's short stories, but haven't sampled stories from those yet.
I hope you like Woolrich's short stories. I would say though that the novels of the 1940's Walz Into Darkness, The Bride Wore, Black, Deadline At Dawn are the books that made his reputation. These stories from the 1930's are good but Woolrich really found himself as a writer in the 1940's.
DeleteGreat blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
ReplyDeleteI'm new to Woolrich and I'm not sure why I'm not familiar with his work. Odd. But thanks for the hint of where to start, I'll look those up to see if they might be books I'd like.
ReplyDeleteI would start with Walz Into Darkness. Lark liked that book as well and I must read it. Woolrich not as well known as the hard boiled writers like Chandler, Hamett, James M Cain. But he's getting there and he has a unique vision and writing style
DeleteI have never read (or even heard of) this author, but I like the premise and time frame. A set of short stories is a great way to get flavor and different perspectives. I agree, the Depression, is a fascinating time period. My parents were Depression-era kids and it marked them for life. Always frugal and cautious.
ReplyDeleteShort stories are a good way to get to know an author but I think in Woolrich's case I would go with one of his novels of the 40's.. I tend to romanticize the Great Depression Era but I guess what I liked about it was the sense that the country was in it together, trying to make ends meet. Very different today where there continues to be hard times but it gets swept under the rug.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting autobiographical quote from him. Pretty bleak during the Depression ... sitting at his desk in NYC. Luckily it paid off. I don't know his works but I'm glad to get your take on them.
ReplyDeleteI really like Woolrich's writing. His stories are dark and yet the characters he creates and the troubles they find themselves in are fascinating. And he really knows how to write but he's famous for his 1940's novels.
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