The Other (Tryon novel)

1971 novel by Thomas Tryon

The Other is a psychological horror novel by American writer Thomas Tryon, published in 1971. It was his debut novel.

Tryon, who had been a working actor, retired from his Hollywood career to become a novelist. Upon its release, the novel received wide critical acclaim and became a surprise bestseller.^[1][2] The Other was adapted into a 1972 film of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Uta Hagen. The novel was reprinted in a commemorative edition in 2012 by New York Review Books with an afterword by Dan Chaon.^[3]

Plot

Set in 1935, the novel focuses on the sadistic relationship between two 13-year-old and identical twin boys: one of whom is well behaved while the other is a sociopath^{[citation needed]} who wreaks havoc on his family's rural New England farm property.

Reception

The Los Angeles Times described the book as "beautifully, even poetically, wrought."^[4]. The book spent more than six months on the New York Times best-seller list and sold more than 3.5 million copies.^[5]

References

1. "The Other by Thomas Tryon". NY Books. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
2. "Thomas Tryon's bestselling novel The Other (1971), which also received a cinematic tribute in 1972". Renner, Karen J., Evil Children in the Popular Imagination. London, Palgrave Macmillian. ISBN 9781137599636 (p.4)
3. Tryon, Thomas (2012). The Other (New York Review Books Classics). New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1590175835.
4. Hughes, Dorothy. "Murder through a glass darkly." Los Angeles Times, 23 May 1971
5. Cohen, Noam S. "Thomas Tryon, Who Quit Acting For a Writing Career, Dies at 65." New York Times, 5 Sep 1991