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thisisstephenbetts's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy Thompson, but. man, he can put you through the wringer. His protagonists are just so flat-out im- or at least amoral that the reading can be, well, uncomfortable. This book is no exception, with a war-wounded dissolute and embittered newspaperman, whose rage at the world is taken out on all those around him - ex-wife, colleagues, chief of police, etc. The characters are good, and even if not likeable are enjoyable. There's a real sense of place and period... it's a good, engaging, slightly idiosyncratic noir.
Thompson does a good job of keeping you just off balance - whenever you think you know on where it's all going to land up he just knocks you a different way.
This has some lighter moments compared with other Thompson novels, and in the end the misanthropy is somewhat, well, evened-up, so long as you don't take it too seriously. And in the end I think that's the one niggle I have - other Thompson novels seem serious, weighty. This one I had to take a little less seriously in order to enjoy it.
Thompson does a good job of keeping you just off balance - whenever you think you know on where it's all going to land up he just knocks you a different way.
This has some lighter moments compared with other Thompson novels, and in the end the misanthropy is somewhat, well, evened-up, so long as you don't take it too seriously. And in the end I think that's the one niggle I have - other Thompson novels seem serious, weighty. This one I had to take a little less seriously in order to enjoy it.
sharedbyayla's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tearaven's review against another edition
4.0
Great film noir-style book that was hard to put down. Would make a brilliant film.
woodlandglitter's review against another edition
3.0
I had a hard time getting through this one--all of the whodunnit stuff really bogged it down. However, the mayonnaise chapter did a lot to make the whole thing more palatable.
shieymn's review against another edition
4.0
Noir da manuale, Un uomo da niente è narrato dalla voce del protagonista Clinton Brown, saldamente ancorato alla spirale discendente delle proprie azioni. L’intreccio, filtrato dal suo punto di vista, presenta fatti aperti ad interpretazioni sempre nuove, rendendo impossibile stabilire cosa sia reale e cosa no. Brown sprofondando in se stesso atterra nel caos, dove l’esistente è un vortice nauseante privo di punti di riferimento.
Scritto nel 1954, pubblicato per la prima volta in Italia nei Gialli Proibiti Longanesi nel 1955 e poi nel 1989, viene ristampato in pompa magna da Einaudi Stile Libero nel 2013.
Scritto nel 1954, pubblicato per la prima volta in Italia nei Gialli Proibiti Longanesi nel 1955 e poi nel 1989, viene ristampato in pompa magna da Einaudi Stile Libero nel 2013.
neiljung78's review against another edition
3.0
This was kinda sloppily but intriguingly written. I’d like to read some of his better known works. I had a sense of what he might be up to with the plot in this one and I was half right but I still got a surprise.
steveberkwitz's review
5.0
One of the first Jim Thompson books that I read, is also my favorite. The story keeps you riveted and constantly guessing, right up to the surprising end. Surely one of Thompson's crime fiction masterpieces.
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