‘Psycho’ – Robert Bloch (Joffe Books)

 

Page Count: 185 Pages

So many books to read and films to watch, not enough time (by far) to get through them all; it’s inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. ‘Psycho’ is both a film that I’ve never managed to watch and a book that until last night, I’d never read. I’m slowly (very slowly…) working my way through Robert Bloch’s work so when I came across ‘Psycho’ in Waterstones, it didn’t take much for me to pick it up. And yesterday afternoon was when I finally got round to reading it, let me tell you about it…

She was a fugitive, lost in a storm. That was when she saw the sign: motel - vacancy. The sign was unlit, the motel dark. She switched off the engine, and sat thinking, alone and frightened. She had nobody. The stolen money wouldn't help her, and Sam couldn't either, because she had taken the wrong turning; she was on a strange road. There was nothing she could do now - she had made her grave and she'd have to lie in it. She froze. Where had that come from? Grave. It was bed, not grave. She shivered in the cold car, surrounded by shadows. Then, without a sound, a dark shape emerged from the blackness and the car door opened.

 ‘Psycho’ is one of those books (and films) where even if you’ve never read it (or seen it…), you know exactly how it’s going to end because, well… That’s just what happens if Alfred Hitchcock makes an iconic film based on an iconic book, you can’t escape from it and that’s a problem if you’re looking for a book that’s going to come out of nowhere and shock you with a reveal; ‘Psycho’ is a victim of its own success, unless you’re of that near-extinct line of people who has never come across it before. I guess there must be some of them out there?

That was my experience, a book inevitably spoiled by its own impact on popular culture. Having said that though, there is still a lot to recommend the read and I’m glad I gave the book a go. It has certainly encouraged me to keep going with my ‘occasional’ read-through of Bloch’s work.

Bloch keeps things simple, in terms of the plot, but still somehow manages to hide loads of stuff in plain sight; the end result being a book that flows incredibly smoothly and is really easy to engage with. There is a lot going on here, you’re never entirely certain what is a clue and what isn’t, and Bloch’s prose just gets you up and running more or less straight away. Especially moments like,

‘It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream. And her head.’

The almost off-hand (definitely blunt) manner in which this death is relayed was all the encouragement I needed to keep going.

Taking centre stage though is Bloch’s treatment of Norman Bates, a man capable of well, you know but at the same time, not quite the evil villain you’d think. Here is a guy who has done some vile things but somehow, at the same time, merits a little sympathy as a victim of events that have led him to this point. Even the main character with the most cause to see justice done (Lila) has to face down that urge and admit that the right decision is taken over Norman’s fate.

Norman’s complex nature is handled very sensitively and really shows us the battle going on within his fractured personality, that’s the bottom line. He’s not a character that you’d root for, except when he’s fighting himself.

Like I said up the page, I found ‘Psycho’ to be a victim of its own success but it was still a book that had a lot going for it and one that I ultimately enjoyed spending time with. Now I just need to watch the film...