Reading some Neuer?

First off… Noir is pronounced similarly to one of my favorite soccer players; Manuel Neuer. He is the best soccer goalkeeper in current day and plays for Bayern Munich and the German National team.

Check him out

Anyways back on topic… Noir

Just finished up reading some noir including The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain, The Shadow: The Death Triangle, and The Killers by Ernest Hemingway.

I found an audio clip of The Shadow and a short film of The Killers on Youtube. (Note – The Killers clip has strong language)

"I'll have a pork roast tenderloin with apple sauce and mashed potatoes." – The Killers. #ds106 #noir106 #TheJota

— Jack Eaton (@JackFEaton) January 21, 2015

I Tweeted my favorite line out of all the three pieces LOL who gets apple sauce AND mashed potatoes? I get off topic too easily…

The postman Always Rings Twice was a LENGHY read. it was a dramatic crime with a dark theme to go along. Who would have guessed?? This is a short story that talks about Frank and Cora, two characters in California restricted by money, and pushed everyday by lust and greed. They ultimately collaborate with on another to kill Cora’s husband Nick for money for themselves as a couple… with success being uncertain. I believe the reason the story was titled what it was because of the letter found in the cash register written by Cora at the very end of the story.. It was her last goodbye for Frank even though she has already passed away in a car accident. In my eyes, Frank never would have heard from her unless she ‘didn’t ring again’ as cheesy as that sounds. The plot and setting always suggest the worst is going to happen, and it always does.

The Shadow was the favorite of the three for me. The sentence structure was fairly easy to follow. Maybe because it was a script? Anyways, I always had a dark picture in mind for the setting; the story taking place in the middle of the night. I could picture each chapter wearing a trench coat (lol, style of noir… trench coat). The character of the shadow was a mysterious one, one with only voice with words to judge. His sense of presence was always there though. Dr. Evans seemed to be a bright man, but apparently his life was in danger. Danger has to be a must in Noir lol. Next, the sound of organs playing was a nice touch of the dark theme. I’m sure that instrument is quite common in many noir pieces, very dark and erie.

Lastly, I chose The Killers. A gangster feel to it, or maybe more mafia? Two men in Henry’s Lunch Room, George and Al, are looking for Ole Anderson. They were hired to kill him. Death in noir is like white on rice. The authors choice of words were quite racist; could that be because of the time period or just the noir style? Or both?

Overall, everything is dark, erie, mysterious, and related to death. Killing is a way of life for this style, it seems unavoidable. Noir is cruel.