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colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
3.0
That's what you got for trying to be nice to people! You tried to be nice to 'em and they made you look like a fool!
There were no absolutes of any kind.
She had a horror of actual drunkeness.
There were no absolutes of any kind.
She had a horror of actual drunkeness.
thelalombardi's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
morteno's review against another edition
Den rykker ikke. Er hverken rigtig spændende, sjovt skrevet eller sætter på anden vis spor.
Det samme gjaldt samplen, som burde have advaret mig. Ærgeligt når nu han har skrevet flere andre langt bedre bøger, hvilket var hvad der fik mig på sporet af denne bog.
Det samme gjaldt samplen, som burde have advaret mig. Ærgeligt når nu han har skrevet flere andre langt bedre bøger, hvilket var hvad der fik mig på sporet af denne bog.
honeymonster's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
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
2.75
This is the second Thompson novel I've read, and it wasn't as good as the first one. It's bleak and violent and all that, but it just doesn't mesh very well for me. DOES have a lot of fucked-up people being fucked up. So there's that.
sandin954's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the film adaptation based on this noir classic so I figured I should read the book. The movie pretty much followed the storyline and I think actually improved it just a bit.
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
Salesman Roy Dillon has a secret life as a top shelf grifter. When he has the opportunity to go legit, how will the women in his life take it? Will his downfall be at the hands of his girlfriend Moira Langtry, or his mother, Lilly?
Here we are, another noir tale of self-destruction by Mr. Happy, Jim Thompson.
"Don't trust anyone ever" seems to be the moral of The Grifters. Not surprising since most of the main characters are shady croooks and grifters to some degree. Roy runs short cons. Moira Langtry pays her way through life with her body. Lilly Dillon is mixed up with some shady gamblers. Not one of them should be left unsupervised.
Roy's a little more sympathetic than most Jim Thompson leads. He's conflicted about his grifting lifestyle and just seems tired. Not only that, he's got serious mommy issues, nicely illustrated by the resemblance between his girlfriend and his mother.
The Grifters is a slow burn and the ending is pretty spectacular, cold, violent, and more than a little creepy. I've seen similar endings written since but I don't think any of them were as effective.
This is a top shelf Jim Thompson book, belonging on the same tier as The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280. Four out of five stars.
Here we are, another noir tale of self-destruction by Mr. Happy, Jim Thompson.
"Don't trust anyone ever" seems to be the moral of The Grifters. Not surprising since most of the main characters are shady croooks and grifters to some degree. Roy runs short cons. Moira Langtry pays her way through life with her body. Lilly Dillon is mixed up with some shady gamblers. Not one of them should be left unsupervised.
Roy's a little more sympathetic than most Jim Thompson leads. He's conflicted about his grifting lifestyle and just seems tired. Not only that, he's got serious mommy issues, nicely illustrated by the resemblance between his girlfriend and his mother.
The Grifters is a slow burn and the ending is pretty spectacular, cold, violent, and more than a little creepy. I've seen similar endings written since but I don't think any of them were as effective.
This is a top shelf Jim Thompson book, belonging on the same tier as The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280. Four out of five stars.
rocketiza's review against another edition
3.0
A slower build than his other books, but still excellent.
ktxx22's review against another edition
4.0
My first little dabble into Noir books and I really enjoyed it! Thanks @bookstagramsteve for the recommendation! It did not disappoint! This book has a lot of shifty shoddy characters and quite a bit of naughty activity which I throughly enjoyed 4/5 from me and the ending was surprising and at the same time allowed me to make a pop culture reference with the home alone movies, that happens almost never! #win can definitely recommend this book, it was published in the late 1960’s and I think it’s still relevant today!
lakecake's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't like this story at all. It could be because I read it over the course of a couple of weeks at various doctor's appointments, so there was some anxiety happening already, but it was just...depressing and not cool. I really wanted more--I felt like there were entire characters who did nothing, who were never fleshed out past one depressing episode, and others who we got WAY TOO MUCH about. Ugh.
sarful's review against another edition
4.0
Let’s take shiny happy people and pulverize them with dark, unrelenting, cold and unfeeling, apathetic reality. Then let’s take a terrible mother and mix in with an ambitious lover. Mix it and serve over ice. Now that’s this book in a nutshell.
Roy Dillon is a small time grifter. Since leaving his ridiculously awful mother, he’s learned how to grift from a man he’d been grifted from at a bar. Now, after fifteen years, he’s been caught and hurt. Out of nowhere his mother, in town to complete some long term grifting on her own, reaches out and helps Roy get back on his feet. And the story begins.
Soon, Roy is confronted with the choice of three women, one, an older woman he knows near nothing but sex from, but seems to appreciate him, Moira. Two, his mother Lilly, a woman whom he’s competed with and has hated with this yearning to be loved, kind of way. And third, the woman his mother hired to nurse him back to health, the only woman to genuinely like him but runs away, thankfully for her sake, and of whom he lets go.
So, now what? Keep doing the short grift and live the good life when he gets enough money? Live the legit life he’s half created to keep out of suspicion? Have Moira and go for the long term? He’s young enough, that his life is far into the future. And what to do about his awful mother. For such awful people, aside from the nurse, I found my self on Roy’s side, shame on me. But damn if Thompson forced that connection with the hero, and I was helpless to hope he’d be better than he is.
This character study was delicious as well as deeply cynical. We get a lot of the flavor of Southern California, from LA to OC to SD. The writing is perfect, with the way the story played out. It’s this no nonsense and unflinching layout of the lives these people have lived, how it informs their reactions and how it answers for their decisions. And man was the whole thing some serious darkness, but I regret nothing. Good read.
Roy Dillon is a small time grifter. Since leaving his ridiculously awful mother, he’s learned how to grift from a man he’d been grifted from at a bar. Now, after fifteen years, he’s been caught and hurt. Out of nowhere his mother, in town to complete some long term grifting on her own, reaches out and helps Roy get back on his feet. And the story begins.
Soon, Roy is confronted with the choice of three women, one, an older woman he knows near nothing but sex from, but seems to appreciate him, Moira. Two, his mother Lilly, a woman whom he’s competed with and has hated with this yearning to be loved, kind of way. And third, the woman his mother hired to nurse him back to health, the only woman to genuinely like him but runs away, thankfully for her sake, and of whom he lets go.
So, now what? Keep doing the short grift and live the good life when he gets enough money? Live the legit life he’s half created to keep out of suspicion? Have Moira and go for the long term? He’s young enough, that his life is far into the future. And what to do about his awful mother. For such awful people, aside from the nurse, I found my self on Roy’s side, shame on me. But damn if Thompson forced that connection with the hero, and I was helpless to hope he’d be better than he is.
This character study was delicious as well as deeply cynical. We get a lot of the flavor of Southern California, from LA to OC to SD. The writing is perfect, with the way the story played out. It’s this no nonsense and unflinching layout of the lives these people have lived, how it informs their reactions and how it answers for their decisions. And man was the whole thing some serious darkness, but I regret nothing. Good read.