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twotoes's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
claireviolet's review against another edition
4.0
this feels like a car crash in a good way but in a way that makes me feel real bad. hope that helps!
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
Robert and Gloria enter a marathon dance contest with $1000 as the top prize. Too bad Gloria thinks about death more than winning...
Horace McCoy is bleak enough to be one of Jim Thompson's drinking buddies. This tale is really slim but also kind of exhausting. McCoy's depiction of a dance contest that lasts over a month is hellish and he paints a depressing picture of life during the Great Depression. See what I did there?
It's a pretty powerful story. You know how it ends in the first few pages but getting there is still an ordeal. I felt for Gloria at times but others times I was waiting for her to get to it. She wasn't a likeable character but I did feel sorry for her when she wasn't being a bitch.
That's pretty much all I have to say. If Jim Thompson wrote a book about a marathon dance contest with a suicidal contestant, it would look a lot like this.
Horace McCoy is bleak enough to be one of Jim Thompson's drinking buddies. This tale is really slim but also kind of exhausting. McCoy's depiction of a dance contest that lasts over a month is hellish and he paints a depressing picture of life during the Great Depression. See what I did there?
It's a pretty powerful story. You know how it ends in the first few pages but getting there is still an ordeal. I felt for Gloria at times but others times I was waiting for her to get to it. She wasn't a likeable character but I did feel sorry for her when she wasn't being a bitch.
That's pretty much all I have to say. If Jim Thompson wrote a book about a marathon dance contest with a suicidal contestant, it would look a lot like this.
abeel's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Me molestó que matasen a la abuela
briandice's review against another edition
3.0
If the Great Depression wasn't soul-suckingly terrible enough, there were cruel men willing to take it down another few notches by creating Dance Marathons to give gutter-poor people a shot at winning just enough money to keep them alive for a few more months by dancing for days (weeks?!?) on-end. Selling tickets to watch their misery. Oh, the humanity.
McCoy uses this minor-but-dark chapter from the '30s as his vehicle for telling the even more depressing story of Gloria, a lady sick of the world and wanting to die. The author leaves it to the reader to decide whether the protagonist is right to offer her the solace she seeks. I'm afraid my particular filters failed in the reception of this work - it could be the dated style, or my personal preference of not having themes delivered to me on silver platters. But at 115 or so pages, and for a light read, you can do much worse.
GR friend Anthony Vacca recommended this book to me before he quit this site forever. I really wish he was still around so that he could educate me on what I missed from this novel. That bastard.
UPDATE 1/6/14: Anthony is back! When he gets around to it, I want to hear from him on this book. Review, good sir, review!
McCoy uses this minor-but-dark chapter from the '30s as his vehicle for telling the even more depressing story of Gloria, a lady sick of the world and wanting to die. The author leaves it to the reader to decide whether the protagonist is right to offer her the solace she seeks. I'm afraid my particular filters failed in the reception of this work - it could be the dated style, or my personal preference of not having themes delivered to me on silver platters. But at 115 or so pages, and for a light read, you can do much worse.
GR friend Anthony Vacca recommended this book to me before he quit this site forever. I really wish he was still around so that he could educate me on what I missed from this novel. That bastard.
UPDATE 1/6/14: Anthony is back! When he gets around to it, I want to hear from him on this book. Review, good sir, review!
jessby's review against another edition
4.0
This left me feeling bleak, disturbed and a little bored - a bit like life itself which I suppose is the point.
Robert and Gloria meet randomly while trying to get their break in Hollywood. Gloria who is clinically depressed, convinces Robert to join a dancing marathon where the rules state that they must dance night and day for 1 hour and 50 mins. They get a 10 min break in which all bodily functions need to occur and then the clock starts again. And again. And again. For over 3 weeks. Last couple standing (literally) wins a $1000 prize. No second prizes. The organisers have a "show must go on" mentality downplaying serious illness and outright violence to the contestants as well as the crowds, and it's not until there is a death that the contest is aborted. Needless to say none of this helps Gloria's state of mind.
This was blood sport meeting reality TV - exploitation of the financially desperate, calling this banality entertainment and making money out of it, right down to company sponsorship of dancing couples. Because some humans aren't worth more than cattle, right?
Robert and Gloria meet randomly while trying to get their break in Hollywood. Gloria who is clinically depressed, convinces Robert to join a dancing marathon where the rules state that they must dance night and day for 1 hour and 50 mins. They get a 10 min break in which all bodily functions need to occur and then the clock starts again. And again. And again. For over 3 weeks. Last couple standing (literally) wins a $1000 prize. No second prizes. The organisers have a "show must go on" mentality downplaying serious illness and outright violence to the contestants as well as the crowds, and it's not until there is a death that the contest is aborted. Needless to say none of this helps Gloria's state of mind.
This was blood sport meeting reality TV - exploitation of the financially desperate, calling this banality entertainment and making money out of it, right down to company sponsorship of dancing couples. Because some humans aren't worth more than cattle, right?
scottclyerly's review against another edition
5.0
Possibly the best example of American noir fiction I have ever read.
lu_till's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25