I mentioned in an earlier post that Of Love Possessed, the top novel in ‘57, was made into a movie. Other top novels of 1957 that got the Hollywood treatment were Peyton Place; Compulsion; Rally Round the Flag, Boys; and On the Beach. (Look at that. All I have to do is think about [...]
Archive for the ‘1957 Bestselling Novels’ Category
If You’d Rather Watch ‘57 Bestsellers
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Asides on August 28, 2007 | 1 Comment »
My Picks for 1957
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Asides, My Top Pics on August 28, 2007 | Comments Off
Looking back at the 1957 bestsellers from 60 years later, I rank Compulsion by Meyer Levin and On the Beach by Nevil Shute as the best reading of that year’s top ten.Both these novels are top-notch entertainment on topics that remain timely. Compulsion deals with why smart people commit crimes. On the Beach deals with [...]
Shrug This Novel Off
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Philosophical on August 26, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s philosophy poorly disguised as a novel. Readers who get through the 1000+ page novel deserve a prize—perhaps a “lifetime achievement award”—as compensation for getting so little pleasure.
Salt Has Too Many Stories
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Romance on August 26, 2007 | Comments Off
Below the Salt is a story with a story within a story—which is two stories too many evey for an accomplished historical yarn-spinner like Thomas B. Costain.
A Novel So Good, It’s Terrifying
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, My Top Pics, Psychological novel, Suspense on August 26, 2007 | Comments Off
On the Beach is a gripping novel of suspense and horrot by a master storyteller. I burst into tears after I finished it.
Nevil Shute (a pen name; his real name is Norway) writes quietly, warmly about people who seem familiar. There’s no blood and gore in this novel: just the raw horror of seeing the [...]
Suspenseful Tale of Exchanged Identities
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Mystery, Romance on August 26, 2007 | Comments Off
Daphne du Maurier’s The Scapegoat is a novel of suspense in the romantic tradition that the Dame’s mid-2oth century readers expected. There’s the requisite isolated setting, suspicious deaths, and a confusion of locals who know more than they are willing to tell.
Eloise Is a Brat on Any Continent
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Humor, Juvenile/Youth on August 24, 2007 | Comments Off
Kay Thompson hit the 1956 top ten with—of all things—a picture book about a child who lives at the Plaza Hotel. It’s sequel, Eloise in Paris, opens with the Eloise, enfant terrible, getting a cablegram: she’s going to Paris.
At six, Eloise can’t travel by herself, so Nanny accompanies her. Hilary Knight’s très agreable drawings show [...]
Blue Camellia makes impossible seem plausible
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Romance on August 22, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Blue Camellia is a typical Frances Parkinson Keyes novel of the post-Civil War South. Although there’s no long-term value to this novel, Blue Camillia will keep you entertained.
Cold War Comedy Good Post-Flu Reading
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, Humor on August 22, 2007 | Comments Off
Rally Round the Flag, Boys is a tale of the Cold War era written by Max Shulman, the man who gave the world Dobie Gillis. As you might expect, it’s stupid stuff, but funny.
Compulsion Is Can’t-Put-Down Reading
Posted in 1957 Bestselling Novels, My Top Pics, Mystery, Psychological novel on August 22, 2007 | Comments Off
Novelist Meyer Levin was a young reporter in Chicago in the 1920s when two brilliant college students from wealthy homes kidnapped and killed a younger boy. Thirty years later, Levin set out to explore through fiction the question that was never answered at the time of the murder and the subsequent trial: why did they do it?
