邮差总按两次铃

The title and explanations of its meaning

The title is something of a non sequitur in that nowhere in the novel does a postman appear, nor is one even alluded to. The title's meaning has therefore often been the subject of speculation. William Marling, for instance, suggested that Cain may have taken the title from the sensational 1927 case of Ruth Snyder. Snyder was a woman who, like Cora in Postman, had conspired with her lover to murder her husband. It is recognized that Cain used the Snyder case as an inspiration for his 1943 novel Double Indemnity; Marling believes it was also a model for the plot and the title of Postman. In the real-life case, Snyder said she had prevented her husband from discovering the changes she had made to his life insurance policy by telling the postman to deliver the policy's payment notices only to her, and instructing him to ring the doorbell twice as a signal indicating he had such a delivery for her.

In the preface to Double Indemnity, however, Cain gave a specific, and entirely different, explanation of the origin the title for The Postman Always Rings Twice, writing that it came from a discussion he had had with screenwriter Vincent Lawrence. According to Cain, Lawrence spoke of the anxiety he felt when waiting for the postman to bring him news on a submitted manuscript—specifically noting that he would know when the postman had finally arrived because he always rang twice. Cain then lit upon that phrase as a title for his novel. Upon discussing it further, the two men agreed such a phrase was metaphorically suited to Frank's situation at the end of the novel.

With the "postman" being God, or Fate, the "delivery" meant for Frank was his own death as just retribution for murdering Nick. Frank had missed the first "ring" when he initially got away with that killing. However, the postman rang again, and this time the ring was heard: Frank is wrongly convicted of having murdered Cora, and then sentenced to die. The theme of an inescapable fate is further underscored by the Greek's escape from death in the lovers' first murder attempt, only to be done in by their second one.

In his biography of Cain, Roy Hoopes recounts the conversation between Cain and Lawrence, only he extends Lawrence's remarks. He did not merely say that the postman always rang twice, but rather that he was sometimes so anxious waiting for the postman that he would go into his backyard to avoid hearing his ring. It was no good, however, for if the postman's first ring was not noticed, his second one, even from the backyard, would be.

This is the explanation offered in the 1946 film adaptation of the novel.

转自豆瓣同名书籍词条下论坛

影片改编自詹姆斯·凯恩的同名畅销小说《邮差总按两遍铃》（The Postman Always Rings Twice），它被美国现文库评选为二十世纪百部最佳英语小说之一，是文学史专家口中的“美国出版史上第一部畅销书”，是公认的硬汉派侦探（Hard-Boiled）小说代表，更是黑色文学不能绕过的一个里程碑式的名字。

这部由泰·加尼特指导，好莱坞影星约翰·加菲尔德，拉娜·特纳主演的同名电影曾红极一时，虽有两部改编在前，一部翻拍在后，却都远不及46版《邮差》在黑色电影上取得的艺术成就与影响力。它是美国电影高速发展的产物，是黄金时代一曲严肃深刻的悲歌，是女权意识开始觉醒的先声体现。它或许不像《迷魂记》或是《日落大道》那么出名，但依然在彼时有超前的意义。

电影的成功不仅刺激了小说的销量，更一举将拉娜·特纳推向了米高梅公司当家女星的宝座。还记得刚上小学那会第一次接触好莱坞黑白电影，对美学还没个笼统概念的小屁孩就莫名喜欢21寸大头电视机里那些黑白胶片下的烈焰红唇，蜂腰纤肢。一并记住了《罗马假日》里的赫本，《乱世佳人》里的费雯·丽，《山茶女》里的嘉宝，以及《冷暖人间》里的拉娜。这个以美艳闻名于世的女星，一生绯闻缠身，争议不断，却唯独演技无可指摘。

今年国庆长假在家，无聊之下又重新拿起几年前看了一半就搁置的《邮差总按两遍铃》。这本被大量溢美之词捧上天且荐书贴必推书目之一我之前是我不屑一顾的，当年读了几页就被通篇白话雷的找不着北，坚持看了一半发现和之前说好的侦探小说完全不一样，随后就束之高阁，再也没看过。直到假期前，偶然翻到一位名人的荐书目录，《邮差》赫然排在第一，于是在半无聊半好奇的驱使下又重新翻出来看。

开始还是不喜欢的，耐着性子读下去才慢慢被书中那种直白冷峻，好似局外人般克制冷漠的叙事笔法所打动。书中虽以“我”为第一人称，却鲜少出现心理描写，读者只能依靠主人公的言谈举止自行揣摩，这有点像海明威的“冰山理论”（这种疏离感恰恰也是电影无法表现出来的）。美国文学评论家埃德蒙·威尔逊就曾说过硬汉派的风格都“源自海明威”（凯恩对此说法是不屑的，他认为自己不属于任何流派）。加缪本人也承认，没有《邮差》就没有他的《局外人》，可见这部小说确实是真实的影响了一批人的。



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上世纪四五十年代，深受美国黑色文学影响，好莱坞涌现出一大批格调阴郁，愤世悲观的侦探电影，《邮差》作为此类文学的奠基之作，此前曾先后两次被外国导演翻拍，直到46年才正式被好莱坞导演泰·加尼特搬上美国荧幕。

影片中的科拉不再是那个黑发白肤的娇小妇人，神秘冷艳的拉娜·特纳实则更接近1927年那场真实谋杀案的主人公——拥有“斯堪的纳维亚式冰冷眼神”的金发美人露丝。按40年代好莱坞电影的调调，女主角的出场必定要艳惊四座的，因此那个本该呆在厨房等着收拾杯碟的阴沉少妇，摇身一变成了穿着短裤半露细腰的美艳尤物，一管口红，一双美腿，人未至，挑逗性感之姿已然跃出荧幕。相较之下，弗兰克的出场倒算平平无奇了，那个放浪形骸，嗜赌成性的流浪汉都被收敛进约翰·加菲尔德英俊的外壳下，只剩一点风流和狡黠。

泰·加尼特在处理科拉与弗兰克的几次试探与交锋时颇费了些周章，试图让小说里不甚详实的“勾搭成奸”看起来合情合理，初见时的惊鸿一瞥，晚餐后的双人曼舞，意料外的海滩之行，让科拉死水般的生活重新破开了一道缺口，掩埋在泥沙下的欲望蠢蠢欲动。鉴于当时的电影尺度，曾一段让《邮差》划入禁书的性爱场面并没有表现出来，但二人从海边回来后的关系确实发生了质的变化，科拉望着弗兰克的眼神，明亮，热切，仿佛冷冰冰的美人像终于有了人气儿。她抗拒不了弗兰克，正如飞蛾抗拒不了灯火，那个当初从衣阿华跑出来的选美小姐，和世上所以情窦初开的少女一样，无法抗拒爱情。

于是他们不可抑制的相爱了，并在尼克出远门时决定私奔。导演在这里做了对原著的最大改编，将私奔放在了第一次谋杀之前，让两个为爱做下蠢事的罪人显得不那么面目可憎了，若说原著的宗旨是性本恶，那泰·加尼特则是性本善的传教人，所以影片中的科拉与弗兰克首先想到的是离开尼克，而非杀死他。然而私奔的过程却并不顺利，他们搭不到车，只能提着笨重的行李箱走路去车站，途中科拉摔了一跤，鲜亮的套装污秽不堪，被爱情烧热的头脑也渐渐冷静下来，她爱弗兰克，却没法靠着这爱情生存，于是她向现实妥协了，两个人又回到了“双栋”饭店，继续枯燥如坟冢的生活。然而不安分的种子已经种下，犹如上帝之音，当命运之门被敲响时，才发现当初躁动不安的念头早已生根发芽，枝蔓虬结。在求不得，爱别离的痛苦煎熬里，他们疯狂而大胆的制造了两起谋杀案，仿佛有命运之手在暗处推波助澜，尼克总一次次把自己推向死亡边缘，并最终“如愿以偿”的见了上帝。

在这充满罪孽的深渊里，只有科拉与弗兰克的爱是纯洁的，这纯洁哪怕在双手染满鲜血的刽子手手里也弥足珍贵，他们曾真正拥有过彼此，身体乃至灵魂。然而当弗兰克将扳手狠狠砸向尼克的时候，他们就已经站在了上帝的对面，与魔鬼为伍。面对地方检察官的威吓，这对经历了波折苦难自认情比金坚的情侣几乎顷刻间就出卖了对方，原来所谓的真爱，甚至不及一座幻想中的绞刑架。破开阴翳的阳光再次被翻卷的铅云覆盖，死神挥舞着镰刀桀桀怪笑，爱情脆弱的不堪一击，世上再没什么能战胜死亡。他们开始互相猜疑，彼此防备，夜不能寐，尼克的死成了拴住对方的枷锁，弗兰克觉得窒息，甚至一度想过逃走，可最终总得回来。

他们是这世上不共戴天的仇人，也是世上最亲密的爱人，他们分享同一个秘密，为这秘密辗转反侧，死去活来。当萤火之光照亮通天之途，渴望救赎的人们前赴后继，披荆斩棘，科拉与弗兰克带着生的希望攀登通天之径，却最终被命运的滚石无情的推落地狱，成为这场荒诞悲剧的殉难者。