Scan barcode
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.
anti_formalist12's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jimmypat's review against another edition
3.0
Perhaps an alternate title for this one would be Mommie Dearest.... This was a quick read that had several not-very-surprising twists, as the book telegraphed most of them, but the final denouement was a real shocker. I think the best element of this book was the slice-of-life approach to Roy's life, which gave some real depth of character to compliment the more sensationalistic elements of the book.
gazzav's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
aradhyatrivedi's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
paul_cornelius's review against another edition
3.0
When you take Texas out of Jim Thompson's novels, somehow they just aren't the same. And so it is with The Grifters, a book set in Los Angeles that reflects the vapid, desolate landscape and cityscape of southern California. Not even the ocean or the beaches seem to have life. Instead, the settings are low rent hotel rooms, cheap bars, and a cocktail lounge.
Yes, Thompson's strong narrative storytelling still compels the reader to the next page and the next and the next and the next. But by the end, which true to Thompson form is terrifyingly shocking, the overall effect isn't quite as satisfying.
What this novel lacks is a sense of fullness in the characters. Essentially, Thompson returned to the "grifter" theme a few years later, when he wrote Texas By the Tail. And in that work, there is much more vivid imagery and a sense of authenticity in the dialogue and movement of the characters.
Yes, Thompson's strong narrative storytelling still compels the reader to the next page and the next and the next and the next. But by the end, which true to Thompson form is terrifyingly shocking, the overall effect isn't quite as satisfying.
What this novel lacks is a sense of fullness in the characters. Essentially, Thompson returned to the "grifter" theme a few years later, when he wrote Texas By the Tail. And in that work, there is much more vivid imagery and a sense of authenticity in the dialogue and movement of the characters.
llebpmacking's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
megmcardle's review against another edition
4.0
Dark, gritty noir with really vivid, if unappealing characters. As much as I loved the movie, the book was even better.
harriet_toad_maradona's review against another edition
3.0
i might have "really liked" this novel, but some of the hype got to me...so when the writing got spotty--only a few times, but still--i was annoyed.