Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Well, there are a couple different things I've read about this book.
1. Reviews along the lines of "Nobody writes through the mind of a sick bastard like Jim Thompson."
2. Reviews that say something about a dopey small-town sherriff who bumbles his way through things.
I think I was expecting something like Confederacy of Dunces by Cormac McCarthy. But I was a little disappointed.
If you're thinking about reading this book, give it until at least page 57. That's where the real tone of the book begins. The author takes you for a little bit of a ride, but that's about where you get on solid ground.
Overall, the book set up an expectation that it didn't maintain throughout. The plot twists around quite a bit, but the twists were more quirky than dark or engaging.
1. Reviews along the lines of "Nobody writes through the mind of a sick bastard like Jim Thompson."
2. Reviews that say something about a dopey small-town sherriff who bumbles his way through things.
I think I was expecting something like Confederacy of Dunces by Cormac McCarthy. But I was a little disappointed.
If you're thinking about reading this book, give it until at least page 57. That's where the real tone of the book begins. The author takes you for a little bit of a ride, but that's about where you get on solid ground.
Overall, the book set up an expectation that it didn't maintain throughout. The plot twists around quite a bit, but the twists were more quirky than dark or engaging.
None of the characters are what they first seem, but many are revealed early on. Once the book tipped its hand, I found it less rewarding.
I read this my freshman year of college (on a friend's recommendation, not for a class) and felt like I just didn't get it. Years later I can now appreciate a little more of what Thompson is doing with the crime/noir genre and how this book is alternately gruesome and hilarious. A twisted piece of work that is probably not for everyone.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There was some good humor throughout this novel as you get deeper into the head of Nick Corey. It's a world where he's somehow the dumbest person you've ever met but also the smartest person in the book you're reading, which is pretty entertaining.
one of the essential texts to understanding why this country is the way it is
If “if you can’t beat em, join em” was a book!! So so good; i loved seeing the mc go from stupid to straight up crazy. A+ for the irony of it all. I didn’t rly get the ending tho :(
- “Ppl that cant realize that a heck of a lot of things are bound to go wrong in a world as big as this one”
- “Well that’s my job, i said. Not doing nothing, i mean. That’s why ppl elect me”
- “Anyone that breaks a law from now on is goin’ to have to deal with me. Providing, o’course, that he’s either coloured or some poor white trash that can’t pay his poll tax”
- “I let it go on for two, three minutes, letting these here good Christians work themselves up to the proper pitch”
- “Them railroad workers throwin’ chunks of coal at you an’ splashin’ you with water, and you fellas without nothin to defend yourself with except shotguns an automatic rifles!”
- “Ppl that threw away them big three-dollar-a-week wages on wild livin and then fussed because they had to eat garbage to stay alive! I mean, what the heck, they was all foreigners, wasn’t they, and if they didn’t like the good ol’ American garbage, why didn’t they go back where they came from?”
- “Just how much free will does any of us exercise? We got controls all along the line, our physical make-up, our mental make-up, our backgrounds; they’re all shapin us a certain way, fixin’ us up for a certain role in life”
- “And when you’re eatin’ and sleepin’ you don’t have to fret about things that you can’t do nothing about. And what else is there to do but laugh an’ joke… how else can you bear up under the unbearable?”
- “I got to go on an’ on, doin’ the Lord’s work; and all he does is the pointin’,Rose, all He does is pick out the people an’ I got to exercise His wrath on ‘em. And I’ll tell you a secret, Rose, they’s plenty of times when I don’t agree with Him” (blaming thing on others)
- “Ppl that cant realize that a heck of a lot of things are bound to go wrong in a world as big as this one”
- “Well that’s my job, i said. Not doing nothing, i mean. That’s why ppl elect me”
- “Anyone that breaks a law from now on is goin’ to have to deal with me. Providing, o’course, that he’s either coloured or some poor white trash that can’t pay his poll tax”
- “I let it go on for two, three minutes, letting these here good Christians work themselves up to the proper pitch”
- “Them railroad workers throwin’ chunks of coal at you an’ splashin’ you with water, and you fellas without nothin to defend yourself with except shotguns an automatic rifles!”
- “Ppl that threw away them big three-dollar-a-week wages on wild livin and then fussed because they had to eat garbage to stay alive! I mean, what the heck, they was all foreigners, wasn’t they, and if they didn’t like the good ol’ American garbage, why didn’t they go back where they came from?”
- “Just how much free will does any of us exercise? We got controls all along the line, our physical make-up, our mental make-up, our backgrounds; they’re all shapin us a certain way, fixin’ us up for a certain role in life”
- “And when you’re eatin’ and sleepin’ you don’t have to fret about things that you can’t do nothing about. And what else is there to do but laugh an’ joke… how else can you bear up under the unbearable?”
- “I got to go on an’ on, doin’ the Lord’s work; and all he does is the pointin’,Rose, all He does is pick out the people an’ I got to exercise His wrath on ‘em. And I’ll tell you a secret, Rose, they’s plenty of times when I don’t agree with Him” (blaming thing on others)
A nasty, misanthropic piece of work, Thompson’s affable narrator bridges the (marginal) gap between small town politician and bloodthirsty manipulator. Just an absolute blast to read.
Excellent metaphorical analysis of politics and life. Thompson at his best...