The Living and the Dead (1954 novel)

This article is about the Boileau-Narcejac novel. For other uses, see The Living and the Dead (disambiguation).

The Living and the Dead
Cover of 1st edition
Author(s)	Boileau-Narcejac
Original title	D'entre les morts
Translator	Geoffrey Sainsbury
Country	France
Language	French
Genre(s)	Crime novel
Publisher	Hutchinson
Publication date	1954
Published in English	1956
Media type	Print (Hardback)
ISBN	NA

The Living and the Dead (also published as Vertigo) (French: D'entre les morts, literally "from among the dead") is a 1954 crime novel by Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud (Thomas Narcejac), writing as Boileau-Narcejac. Alfred Hitchcock directed an adaptation of the novel in 1958 as Vertigo.

Plot introduction

The story concerns a former detective who suffers from vertigo, who is hired to follow the wife of a friend who is puzzled by her strange behavior. The detective becomes obsessed with the woman, eventually falling in love with her but unable to explain her strange trances and her belief in a previous life. When she falls to her death from a tower, he is unable to save her due to his fear of heights and experiences a psychotic break. After his partial recovery he encounters a woman who is nearly the image of his dead love, and the obsession begins all over again...

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

• 1958 - Vertigo, USA, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film also alludes to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Although the source novel's explicit references to the myth do not appear in the film, certain themes do, including the return of a dead beloved to life, and discovering the fatal consequences of "looking back."
• 1997 - Vertigo, UK adapted and directed by Sean O'Connor at Chester Gateway Theatre. In 1998 the play was produced at the Theatre Royal Windsor starring Martin Shaw as Flavieres and Jenny Seagrove as Madeleine. This production was subsequently revived at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guilford with Anthony Andrews as Flavieres.