RARA-AVIS: Re: Jim Thompson recommendations?

From: davezeltserman (davezelt@rcn.com)
Date: 26 Aug 2008

  • Next message: Patrick King: "Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: Jim Thompson recommendations?"

    I'm also a Thompson fan. At one point or another I thought I had all his books (I tend to loan them out), and realize the one book of his I've never read was Child of Rage.

    My two favorites are easily Savage Night and Hell of a Woman. Savage Night in particular is such a fierce and brilliantly written meditation on death and dying. Whenever I need inspiration I go back to that book. That, Maltese Falcon and Name of the Game is Death might be my three favorite crime fiction books.

    Thompson's take on Postman Always Rings Twice, Nothing More than Murder, is his one noir book that I don't really care for. The writing just seems too flat to me.

    His Two non-crime novels, Heed the Thunder and Now and On Earth are also well-worth reading. And for his more lighter books, I recommend Texas by the Tail which features a Mitch Allison-type conman from his great conman short stories (The Frightening Frammis, The Cellini Chalice).

    --Dave www.davezeltserman.com

    --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Robert Byrne <Bob.Byrne@...> wrote:
    >
    > Mark Francis wrote:
    >
    > 'I think when he was writing in a more humorous/light style, he
    was very entertaining. They don't have the depth of his sociopathic thrillers, but both of those novels are worth reading for pleasure and to learn about Thompson as a writer.'
    >
    >
    > I agree with Mark. I quite enjoy what Thompson's lighter, less
    bleak books.
    >
    > And I'll never understand the fascination with Savage Night. I'm a
    Thompson fan, and I've gotten through it twice. But with it's bizarre last ten or so pages, it is the worst hardboiled/noir/similar genre book I've read.
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
    >



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 26 Aug 2008 EDT