RARA-AVIS: Pop 1280 vs. Coup de Torchon

From: Karin Montin ( kmontin@sympatico.ca)
Date: 20 Aug 2006


I took Mark's advice and read Thompson's Pop 1280 within a couple of days of seeing the film version, Coup de Torchon.

Although the film was very good and quite faithful to the novel, there were some differences. The main thing was since Nick Corey, the sheriff, is the narrator, you get a deeper look at his character as he talks to the reader and relays his thinking.

In discussing Coup de Torchon, I said I didn't quite buy the sheriff's overnight conversion from doormat to killer. In the book it's more convincing. As Mark said, it's clear that he's not nearly as dumb as he plays (also true of the Philippe Noiret character), but there are more indications of his intelligence in the book. More indications of his vindictiveness, too.

A while back, Rob Elkin said that "the narrators of Thompson's 'Hell of a Woman,'
'Killer Inside Me,' 'Savage Night,' 'Pop. 1280,' and 'After Dark My Sweet' are some of THE most unreliable in the business." I don't know about the others, but Nick seemed to be fairly straightforward. Hints of his delusion are scattered all the way through.

Rose (played by a young Isabelle Huppert) was not nearly as unlikeable in the movie as in the book. The "true love" interest was an old flame in the book and a new woman in town in the movie.

**SPOILER**

As to the ending, I would be interested in knowing what other people think. It seems to me that in the book it's fairly clear that Nick is about to be arrested. In the film, he appears to have gotten away with his crimes, but to be running out of steam.

Karin

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