Thompson doesn't waste any time letting you know what sort of
person Lou is.
He does lull you a bit with the folksy aphorisms, but breaks
away from the
initial scene in the restaurant to relate his first visit to
Joyce Lakeland
during which he beats her badly. Of course it appears that
Joyce is a
little warped too, because she pleads for his love, at least
sexual love as
he ministers to her. The next scene jumps back to the initial
setting where
Lou leaves the restaurant and tries to put his cigar out in
the palm of the
bum's hand. By now we certainly what a fine fellow Lou is and
what to
expect for the rest of the book. If one doesn't like this
sort of book,
here is where he or she would put it down. We know to expect
a case study
of someone with severe psychological problems, but obviously
kept well
secret. After all, Lou is a responsible deputy sheriff.
Apparently no one
has found him out yet.
Lou is indeed an interesting character. His father, the
doctor, left not
only certain drugs which he makes use of on occasion , but
also a rather
specialized library of books into which he delves. Lou has
read Jung,
Freud, Krafft-Ebing and others. He apparently is able to read
German,
Spanish, Italian, French. No doubt if he had left town,
pursued a degree,
he could have hidden his problems in a larger city with more
success than he
is able to do in Central City.
Thompson's supporting characters are most interesting.
Rothman, the d.a.
who doesn't quite have it all figured out; Billy Boy Walker,
the lawyer who
gets Lou out of the mental hospital but certainly understands
him; Max
Pappas, the Greek restaurant owner and his son, whom Lou
befriends but
ultimately is forced to kill. And poor Amy, school teacher
and desperate
for Lou's love, too desperate to see through the
facade.
I have several questions about things that I didn't
completely understand
and will appreciate any of your thoughts on something I must
have missed.
When Lou first visits Joyce Lakeland with the intent to tell
her to leave
town she shows him a permit from Fort Worth. Is this a permit
for
prostitution, which is my surmise? Was prostitution legal in
Texas at the
time of the story? I never fully understood the character of
the sheriff
Bob Maples. He's obviously very much under the influence of
Conway, the
owner of the construction company. He turns quiet when they
take Joyce
Lakeland to Fort Worth for treatment and is never quite the
same after they
return. He goes downhill for the rest of the story until his
death.
Obviously he is physically ill but I suspect that there is
more to it than
that.
Well, enough. I think I'll lay off Thompson for awhile. But
I'm looking
forward to sampling Highsmith, Himes and then Mosely. Sorry
if I have taken
up too much room here.
Cheers,
Frank Denton
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