Become a B&N Member. Customers … Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on The climax takes place aboard a ship, not a carousel, for instance. At the same time, a private detective, who suspects Bruno of having arranged the murder of his father, establishes the connection between Bruno and Guy that began with the train ride, and suspects Bruno of Miriam's murder. What if two complete strangers were to meet on a train, and each kills the person that the other wants dead? Read 106 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Guy's eventual confession is to Anne, not to Miriam's lover. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker. On the train he meets a strange man name Charles Anthony Bruno who has an idea of exchanging murders after Guy sharing his story of a three year divorce with a woman who was impregnated by another man, and Bruno's father whom is very aggravating and abusive to Bruno. It is a novel about guilt: not the guilt of a murderer - the murders occur almost incidentally, without emotion - but the guilt of the homosexual in the 1950's. Nevertheless, Bruno drowns, and the murder investigation is closed. A 2011 Episode on the crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the episode "Tell-Tale Hearts" puts three strangers together to commit quadruple murder. The novel "Strangers on a Train" by Patricia Highsmith is as much mystery fiction as it is a psychological thriller. Strangers on a Train book. This engaging summary presents an analysis of Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith, which tells the story of two men whose lives become intertwined as a result of a chilling pact. An old lady bumps into Sue Ell… He makes an excellent suspect because of the genius of the actual killer's original plan: Two strangers will "exchange murders," each killing the person the other wants dead. Miriam, who has cheated on Guy, is pregnant by another man, so Guy hopes she is finally serious about proceeding with the divorce. The novel was adapted for radio in 2004 by Craig Warner, and adapted for the stage in 2013 (also by Warner). He realizes that Bruno could claim Guy's complicity in the planned exchange murders; however, the longer he remains silent, the more he implicates himself. Guy, meanwhile, gets married and begins to have even more success with his architectural work. 1950 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, Information on May 2004 BBC audio releases, Ron Collins, "Strangers on a Page: Highsmith & Camus", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Strangers_on_a_Train_(novel)&oldid=1000942068, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. Learn More After her daydream, Sue Ellen and her mom walk outside and Sue Ellen looks at the train and gasps in surprise. Sue Ellen is excited about traveling on the Crown City Star. After sending malicious letters to business associates and to Anne, Bruno finally convinces Guy to kill Bruno's father. Strangers on a Train (1950) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith about two men whose lives become entangled after one of them proposes they "trade" murders. During a sailing event, Bruno can't handle anything anymore, and commits suicide by drowning himself. They talk about their lives. Guy doesn't take Bruno seriously until a murder takes place. Book Summary. Overview. Guy Haines, a successful architect, is heading to his hometown in Texas from New York, where he hopes to finally settle an ongoing three-year divorce with his wife, Miriam. Summary Strangers on a Trainis a taut crime thriller. Publish your book with B&N. The radio version was recorded and broadcast by the BBC, and released on CD in May 2004. Strangers On A Train is about a successful architect, Guy Haines, heading to his hometown Texas from New York. The remarkable renaissance of Patricia Highsmith continues with the publication of Patricia Highsmith: Selected Novels and Short Stories, featuring the groundbreaking novels Strangers on a Train and The Price of Salt as well as a trove of penetrating short stories. Things only get worse when Gerard, the detective in charge of the investigation, begins finding links between Bruno and Guy, from the train ride to phone calls and the murder of Miriam and Bruno's father within a few months. Architect Guy Haines wants to divorce his unfaithful wife, Miriam, in order to marry the woman he loves, Anne Faulkner. Another man plunks down inverse Person, while Fellow peruses a book by the old Greek rationalist Plato. A psychopath forces a tennis star to comply with his theory that two strangers can get away with murder. But while Guy is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into swapping murders with him. This fear is at the heart of many of his best films, including "Strangers on a Train" (1951), in which a man becomes the obvious suspect in the strangulation of his wife. Guy's immediate dislike of Bruno, is a dislike of his feelings for the man. This man, however, does not condemn Guy; rather, he considers the killings as appropriate punishment for the unfaithfulness. The B&N Mastercard® 5% Back on All B&N Purchases. Guy then promptly turns himself over to Gerard. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith begins with Guy Haines's journey to Texas to divorce his wife, Miriam. Senator's daughter, Anne Morton; his hopes for a political career; and even his life. Like the Hitchcock film, the Warner versions respect Highsmith's homosexual subtext. After Bruno starts writing anonymous letters to Guy's friends and colleagues, the pressure becomes too great, and Guy murders Bruno's father. Bruno asks Guy if Guy has ever considered killing anyone and says that he would be happy to swap murders -Miriam for Bruno's hated father. Buy Summary & Study Guide Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com Learn More . Most significantly, however, is the change to Guy Haines. Bruno then takes things into his own hands by tracking down and murdering Miriam while Guy is in Mexico with his fiancee, Anne. The conductor comes by and tells Sue Ellen that they still have an available snack car. Guy turns himself over to the detective immediately. [3] The radio version more closely follows the plot of the novel, although there are several differences in the denouement. Guy rejects Bruno's offers. The devastated Bruno—with his security destroyed and realising that he will have no support or love from Guy—commits suicide in front of Guy by climbing onto a railway track where he is killed by an oncoming train. It was directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and its seven credited producers include Barbara Broccoli. The ship has docked at Skagway, Ala., where the girls, Alan, and most of the other … This implicit guilt becomes stronger as in the coming months Bruno makes appearances demanding that Guy honor his part of the bargain. The most significant characters of Strangers on a Train are Guy Haines and Charles Bruno, who possess a sort of Jekyll and Hyde level dynamic. Sue Ellen and her motherwalk into Elwood City Station. The detective who had been investigating the murders overhears Guy's confession, however, and confronts him. He makes an uninvited appearance at Guy's wedding, causing a scene. Anne persuades Guy to put the whole matter behind him and to resume his career in architecture. Beyond that, however, everything is almost completely different. help you understand the book. Among the summaries and analysis available for Stranger On A Train, there are 1 Short Summary and 2 Book Reviews. Subsequently, Guy is consumed by guilt, whereas Bruno seeks Guy's company as if nothing had happened. This is too much for Guy, who decides to confess his crimes. Strangers On A Train Chapters 10-12 Summary & Analysis Chapter 10 Summary Bruno's mother, Elsie, looks at the laugh lines on her face in the mirror as Bruno contemplates "an idea, bigger and closer than any idea he had ever known...the time was now" (58). He flies down to Texas to talk to Owen, Miriam's lover, to confess everything. Hitchcock sped up the film to make it … The novel has been adapted multiple times, most famously by Alfred Hitchcock in his 1951 film. In Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel, we encounter Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno, passengers on the same train.