Very Disappointing
|
|
I'm a Thompson fan, so I was very surprised at how bad this book is. The plot is silly, but this is not a major problem, as plots were never Thompson's strong suit. Unfortunately, Thompson's strengths are not present here. The writing is consistently stilted, the characters are thin and sereotyped, the scene in which the doctor "cures" a twisted,sexually repressed woman by raping her is repulsive, and the doctor's motivations are never satisfactorily explained. The most peculiar aspect of the book is that the doctor seems to have no idea of how to help his patients stop drinking. It's not much wonder that Thompson was never able to quit drinking himself.
|
|
One of Thompson's weakest published works
|
|
After an introduction of a great set of characters and a different than usual location for thompson, this book never gets off the gound.
|
|
A less dark, more sympathetic Jim Thompson novel
|
Jim Thompson is one of the crime novel greats. Author of "The Killer Inside Me," "The Grifters" and many others (quite a few of which have been made into movies), Thompson celebrates the darker side of the petty criminal, the small town sherrif and the down on his luck con man.
Usually, that is. In this slim 1953 novel, Thompson turns his attention to alcoholism as a disease and its treatment. Ho-hum? No way. Thompson makes the hero sympathetic and his plight the source of palpable tension and discomfort. The reader really gets drawn into Thompson's portrayal of the depressing, bizarre world of the poor sap who just can't stop drinking, and doesn't know why.
Although the book was written over forty years ago, it's extremely modern in many ways. For example, it contains competent, capable black characters, something that's missing in much of modern fiction. Thompson's very recognition and acceptance of alcoholism, in 1953, is quite unusual; he talks about Alcoholics Anonymous before it was the well-known concept it is today.
In parts, this book reads like a denunciatory tract against demon liquor, written by an old-timer A.A. man. Then again, as I said, this was exploring new ground when Thomspon wrote it. And aside from those brief (but informative) passages, it was pretty good. Not Thompson's usual stuff, but variety is the spice of life, eh?
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada