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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Outrageous. Tons of voice. Totally surprising. Another gem of Jim Thompson's catalog.
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have such conflicting feelings about this book. I thought the writing was brilliant. And the MC was such a puzzle. It was impossible to know what to think about him given how frequently he adapted and changed in different situations. But for all of that amazingness, it just didn't keep my attention. It took me two full months to read this short little book that should've taken a weekend at most. I could not force myself to read more than a couple chapters in a sitting. And I have no idea why. So, while I should've loved this book, I just...didn't.
Sometimes you just read something and think, yep, that's one of my new favourite books.
A perfect merging of wit, charm, bleakness, twisted and spine tingling tension, yet all carrying this surreal lightness that is nothing short of the genius of Jim Thompson and his demented character Nick Corey.
This books a banger, read it!
A perfect merging of wit, charm, bleakness, twisted and spine tingling tension, yet all carrying this surreal lightness that is nothing short of the genius of Jim Thompson and his demented character Nick Corey.
This books a banger, read it!
[a:Jim Thompson|7621|Jim Thompson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360741132p2/7621.jpg] does right pretty well, that's certain; the only problem with this novel is that it's basically the same style of very simplistic, stripped-back writing, and describing a series of what seem to be interchangeable events, to the point where you're (the reader) either giving up or praying for something to happen. When something does, in the final ten pages or so of the story, not only does the (narrative) voice appear to change but the transformative events themselves are not especially well-described, so the existential revelation that underpins the story concept is submerged in its delivery. I can't help but feel, it could have been an amazing short story; as a novel, less than amazing. Great writing, but a bit tedious.
This is one of the funniest (in a blackly comic manner) novels that I have read in a long while. It a book packed full of the dirtiest, nastiest, low-down characters you would ever wish to meet!
In many respects, this one is a good pair for Thompson's The Killer Inside Me: crooked cop who is not all he appears to be. Small town intrigue. Escalating madness. Rollicking tale that really builds pace towards a crashing conclusion.
This is a ripping yarn, which is equally hilarious and horrific. I read this at the same time as Ian Fleming's Goldfinger, and recognised but one similarity in the books: there are no heroes. Indeed, there are few, if any, likeable characters in the entire book.
That said, where Bond is a charmless dolt, a least Sheriff Nick Corey has a rat cunning about him that has you rooting for him against all sense and morality. Unlike Bond, at least Thompson revels in the filthy truth of the Realpolitik at work in the American South. He does not expect heroes or good to win out. Life is not like that.
I think that it is a brilliant read, and - while not for the faint-hearted - the adventurous at heart and thick skinned will get a real kick out of it!
In many respects, this one is a good pair for Thompson's The Killer Inside Me: crooked cop who is not all he appears to be. Small town intrigue. Escalating madness. Rollicking tale that really builds pace towards a crashing conclusion.
This is a ripping yarn, which is equally hilarious and horrific. I read this at the same time as Ian Fleming's Goldfinger, and recognised but one similarity in the books: there are no heroes. Indeed, there are few, if any, likeable characters in the entire book.
That said, where Bond is a charmless dolt, a least Sheriff Nick Corey has a rat cunning about him that has you rooting for him against all sense and morality. Unlike Bond, at least Thompson revels in the filthy truth of the Realpolitik at work in the American South. He does not expect heroes or good to win out. Life is not like that.
I think that it is a brilliant read, and - while not for the faint-hearted - the adventurous at heart and thick skinned will get a real kick out of it!
Pop. 1280 is a book I decided to read because I read that the filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (Alps, Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, etc.) may be planning to adapt it into a movie. I got curious what kind of story he might read and think, "that's what I want to adapt." Well, Pop. 1280 is exactly what I should have expected (in all the best ways).
The main character is Nick Corey, a small-town sheriff. Corey grabbed me at first because of his demeanor: dumb, cowardly, passive, and self-indulgent. What kind of problems did he have? How can someone like this deal with problems that are difficult to navigate? Is this hedonistic idiot really the hero? I was curious. Plus, I liked the comedic stylings. I say "comedic," and it is, but it's a specific type of understated, dumb humor that, I think, may not work for most but matches up well with what Lanthimos does, and is a type I really appreciate. Here's an example from the first page:
"You might say I didn't really get no sleep at all. I'd climb in bed, thinking this was one night I was bound to sleep, but I wouldn't. It'd be maybe twenty or thirty minutes before I could doze off. And then, no more than eight or nine hours later, I'd wake up. Wide awake. And I couldn't go back to sleep, frazzled and wore out as I was."
So, as the story goes, Corey has himself some problems, and doesn't seem to have the tools to resolve them. For example, one of his problems is that there are a couple pimps in town who are making his life difficult, bullying him, pushing him around, talking down to him, etc. Being bullied by pimps, when you're the sheriff, isn't a good look, especially when the next election for sheriff is coming up, so Corey needs to resolve the situation in his favor, but being who he is, he can't just beat them up, lock them up, or warn them away. In other words, he can't just "be the sheriff" like many expect of him -- which, by the way, leads to one of the book's main themes, about whether people actually want law enforcement to stop any law-breaking, or just the kind that "other people" do.
I won't spoil his solutions, but before long it becomes clear that Corey isn't at all dumb or passive or cowardly. He's clever and observant and manipulative and strategic, and absolutely psychopathic. It's a real joy to watch him navigate his various problems, to watch him solve these puzzles, in a comedic setting that is firmly founded in Corey's perspective, one that doesn't judge him or call undue attention to his psychopathy.
I don't usually read books all that quickly, but Pop. 1280 is an easy read, a page-turner, and not too long besides -- with an anti-hero, some amusing humor, clever problem-solving, observational commentary on philosophy and politics, and salaciousness, things I enjoy -- so I knocked it out in maybe just a handful of hours over the course of the weekend.
The ending, basically just the last few pages, went all-in on Corey as delusional in a way that I didn't love. He had been so "country clever" or "street smart" throughout the book, rational and mostly relatable, that the ending felt a little judgmental, like the author pulling back and saying "but no, seriously, this guy is crazy!" But otherwise, I loved the book start to finish, and think that Lanthimos' take should work out better than, from how it sounds, Coup de Torchon went.
The main character is Nick Corey, a small-town sheriff. Corey grabbed me at first because of his demeanor: dumb, cowardly, passive, and self-indulgent. What kind of problems did he have? How can someone like this deal with problems that are difficult to navigate? Is this hedonistic idiot really the hero? I was curious. Plus, I liked the comedic stylings. I say "comedic," and it is, but it's a specific type of understated, dumb humor that, I think, may not work for most but matches up well with what Lanthimos does, and is a type I really appreciate. Here's an example from the first page:
"You might say I didn't really get no sleep at all. I'd climb in bed, thinking this was one night I was bound to sleep, but I wouldn't. It'd be maybe twenty or thirty minutes before I could doze off. And then, no more than eight or nine hours later, I'd wake up. Wide awake. And I couldn't go back to sleep, frazzled and wore out as I was."
So, as the story goes, Corey has himself some problems, and doesn't seem to have the tools to resolve them. For example, one of his problems is that there are a couple pimps in town who are making his life difficult, bullying him, pushing him around, talking down to him, etc. Being bullied by pimps, when you're the sheriff, isn't a good look, especially when the next election for sheriff is coming up, so Corey needs to resolve the situation in his favor, but being who he is, he can't just beat them up, lock them up, or warn them away. In other words, he can't just "be the sheriff" like many expect of him -- which, by the way, leads to one of the book's main themes, about whether people actually want law enforcement to stop any law-breaking, or just the kind that "other people" do.
I won't spoil his solutions, but before long it becomes clear that Corey isn't at all dumb or passive or cowardly. He's clever and observant and manipulative and strategic, and absolutely psychopathic. It's a real joy to watch him navigate his various problems, to watch him solve these puzzles, in a comedic setting that is firmly founded in Corey's perspective, one that doesn't judge him or call undue attention to his psychopathy.
I don't usually read books all that quickly, but Pop. 1280 is an easy read, a page-turner, and not too long besides -- with an anti-hero, some amusing humor, clever problem-solving, observational commentary on philosophy and politics, and salaciousness, things I enjoy -- so I knocked it out in maybe just a handful of hours over the course of the weekend.
The ending, basically just the last few pages, went all-in on Corey as delusional in a way that I didn't love. He had been so "country clever" or "street smart" throughout the book, rational and mostly relatable, that the ending felt a little judgmental, like the author pulling back and saying "but no, seriously, this guy is crazy!" But otherwise, I loved the book start to finish, and think that Lanthimos' take should work out better than, from how it sounds, Coup de Torchon went.
A great noir/Western mash-up with a main character who constantly keeps you guessing. Is he a long-suffering good-ol'-boy? A master manipulator? A criminal mastermind? A downtrodden coward?
Maybe he's just out-of-his-mind NUTS?
Well, I wouldn't say you were right, but I wouldn't say you were wrong...
Maybe he's just out-of-his-mind NUTS?
Well, I wouldn't say you were right, but I wouldn't say you were wrong...
Hmmmmm...in the vein of author Jim Thompson's wording in this odd little novel, and further, to try and impart my thoughts about same using the imagined words of the protagonist, Jim Corey;
"I'm sposin' this here'ns purported to be satire, but if such so happens to bein the case, it's purtty durn 'dark'...in a light kinda way. I wuz almost forced to plunk her down on a good more'n a few dozen occasions, but, dang nab it, I couldn't rightly tell you that I liked it and I couldn't rightly tell you that I didn't like it and I wouldn't be truthful if I said I don't have an opinion even if maybe the fact is that I don't know myself what to think."
"I'm sposin' this here'ns purported to be satire, but if such so happens to bein the case, it's purtty durn 'dark'...in a light kinda way. I wuz almost forced to plunk her down on a good more'n a few dozen occasions, but, dang nab it, I couldn't rightly tell you that I liked it and I couldn't rightly tell you that I didn't like it and I wouldn't be truthful if I said I don't have an opinion even if maybe the fact is that I don't know myself what to think."
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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