Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
This was one of the strangest books I've read in a long time. I have no idea how to review it and what to say about it. It's kind of funny, crazy, strange, and doesn't have much of a plot, just some things happen and then it ends. Some people seem to have liked it a lot. I can't really say that I did, but I won't say that I didn't, either.
Es la primera novela de Jim Thompson que leo (gracias a mi hermano) y a pesar de que le llaman "escritor de novelitas", o "pulp king", esta novela está muy bien. Falla el final, que se me hace apresurado y que deja cabos sueltos. Pero el resto de la novela es fantástico. El prota es un sheriff glotón, vago, cuyo método de supervivencia es nunca detener ni incomodar a nadie a no ser que no haya más remedio y que el detenido no sea alguien importante o con dinero. Al principio vemos al típico personaje medio limitado, bonachón y sentimos pena por él. Pero a lo largo de la novela nos sorprenderá, él y los otros personajes. Nadie es exactamente lo que parece ser.
La lectura es entretenida, tiene puntos muy buenos y salvo el remate del final, como digo, está muy bien hecha. Un rato muy bien empleado.
Uno de mis puntos favoritos:
La lectura es entretenida, tiene puntos muy buenos y salvo el remate del final, como digo, está muy bien hecha. Un rato muy bien empleado.
Uno de mis puntos favoritos:
- So you're with the Talkington Agency," I said. "Why, god-dang if I ain't heard a lot about you people! Let's see now, you broke up that big railroad strike, didn't you?"
-"That's right." He showed me the tooth again. "The railroad strike was one of our jobs."
-"Now, by golly, that really took nerve," I said. "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 and automatic rifles! Yes, sir, god-dang it, I really gotta hand it to you!"
-"Now, just a moment, Sheriff!" His mouth came together like a buttonhole. "We have never -- "
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting
Strikingly similar tone to Catch-22; this novel's protagonist is as charming and disarming as he is dangerous and cruel.
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Una delicia. No sólo por el estupendo policial de Thompson, maestro en novelas negras con protagonistas desalmados sino por Bernet, que nos trae las acostumbradas femme fatales bellísimas y protagonistas rudos, en un blanco y negro glorioso.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love Jim Thompson and this has all the elements. I was really into it but it really kind of fell apart for me at the end. It really just stopped more than it ended. Otherwise I would have rated it higher.
From the moment I began reading POP. 1280, the classic crime novel by the late Jim Thompson, I gained a tremendous appreciation for how masterfully the author gave his characters "voice." And if you are a budding author who hasn't grasped the meaning of "voice," then by all means, read this book.
Essentially, there are two definitions for the literary term "voice": the first determines what makes a writer's style unique and sets him or her part from others in the same genre; and the second relates to how we experience the story from a character's point of view (POV), as expressed in their singular speech patterns, actions, and thoughts.
While POP. 1280--published in 1964--exemplifies Thompson's voice as an author; it serves as an even greater example of how writers should give characters their distinctive voice--and maintain it throughout the novel.
POP. 1280 is the first-person story of Nick Corey, a small-town Southern sheriff in the early days of the 20th century. In his own words, Corey tells us--without saying so directly--that he is a lazy, unmotivated fellow who prefers eating and sleeping all day to doing any real law enforcement work. He presents himself to the reader and everyone he meets as a no-account simpleton. But through his own words, we learn that on the contrary, he's quite cunning, clever, and conniving. He cheats on his nagging wife and is adept at covering his tracks, no matter what malfeasance he commits. In one unnerving scene, he confronts a victim with a speech that defies his down-home, awe-shucks persona and exposes to the reader his real self: He's a homicidal sociopath with a flair for twisting words and meanings to deflect suspicion and cast blame for his misdeeds on others.
Throughout the novel, Thompson maintains Nick Corey's voice to the point you feel as if you're living inside the man's head. It's that effective.
In POP. 1280, Nick Corey speaks and thinks like a yokel; at no point does Thompson betray this characterization by suddenly putting 50-cent words in his mouth. Instead, by giving Nick his individual voice both in word and thought, Jim Thompson made him real--almost too real.
Essentially, there are two definitions for the literary term "voice": the first determines what makes a writer's style unique and sets him or her part from others in the same genre; and the second relates to how we experience the story from a character's point of view (POV), as expressed in their singular speech patterns, actions, and thoughts.
While POP. 1280--published in 1964--exemplifies Thompson's voice as an author; it serves as an even greater example of how writers should give characters their distinctive voice--and maintain it throughout the novel.
POP. 1280 is the first-person story of Nick Corey, a small-town Southern sheriff in the early days of the 20th century. In his own words, Corey tells us--without saying so directly--that he is a lazy, unmotivated fellow who prefers eating and sleeping all day to doing any real law enforcement work. He presents himself to the reader and everyone he meets as a no-account simpleton. But through his own words, we learn that on the contrary, he's quite cunning, clever, and conniving. He cheats on his nagging wife and is adept at covering his tracks, no matter what malfeasance he commits. In one unnerving scene, he confronts a victim with a speech that defies his down-home, awe-shucks persona and exposes to the reader his real self: He's a homicidal sociopath with a flair for twisting words and meanings to deflect suspicion and cast blame for his misdeeds on others.
Throughout the novel, Thompson maintains Nick Corey's voice to the point you feel as if you're living inside the man's head. It's that effective.
In POP. 1280, Nick Corey speaks and thinks like a yokel; at no point does Thompson betray this characterization by suddenly putting 50-cent words in his mouth. Instead, by giving Nick his individual voice both in word and thought, Jim Thompson made him real--almost too real.