My second Jim Thompson novel. The other was Hell of a Woman, which I did not really enjoy. But Pop 1260 was more of what I was hoping for. Sheriff Nick Corey seems dumb as a stump, but then pulls off surprising, off-the-wall treachery. Surprisingly scary, too.He's hilarious in understatement at times, and reports things as the opposite of what he means. I loved him talking to a detective from a famous agency about how they put down a railroad strike: “Now, by golly, that really took nerve,” I said. “Them railroad workers throwin’ chunks of coal at you an’ splashin’ you with water, and you fellas without nothin’ to defend yourself with except shotguns an’ automatic rifles! Pop. 1280 is a good book, not a great book. It is fun to be inside the mind of a con man, who isn’t even sure who he is conning when. He is clever at making the most of opportunities to manipulate people. He is good at keeping track of his lies and improvising when his lies built upon lies conflict with each other. That being said, I think the novel suffers from the very kind of dishonesty that the main character suffers from. I found it irritating that the author was selling the Sheriff as a lazy, half a$$ed freeloader. I believe that the book would have been far better if the author would have been more honest and open about the Sheriff’s real thoughts. It’s impossible to be as stupid as Thompson makes him out to be, and as clever as Thompson makes him out to be, at the same time. He is not a lazy freeloader. He is a hard-working con man.The character development here is lacking, as well. If you are going to write a meandering story (albeit, a good one), you had better have solid character development. Make no mistake; these are very interesting characters. Just imagine if Thompson had let us see the Sheriff’s mind the way that Dostoevsky let us see Raskolnikov. Rask wasn’t as interesting a character as the Sheriff, IMO, but Dostoevsky painted his turmoil and struggle with such acute detail that it was simply fascinating. Thompson was not trying to write a Crime and Punishment type novel (far from it), but it shows how an author can add character development to enliven even a rather mundane (man murders woman and feels guilt) story. If Thompson had been more honest with us about the main character, the entire twisted plot would have been a lot more interesting.Another example would be Mildred Pierce. James Cain wrote a fabulous noir tale, with plenty of twists and turns, but he allowed us to see the real Mildred Pierce from the very start. We got to see her fear, desperation and self-compromise. We saw her weaknesses in clear view, and still wanted to see more. Three stars, for me, is an indicator of a good book that is worth reading. Pop. 1280 is just such a book, but it certainly doesn’t rise to the level of a great (4 star) book, or a masterpiece for the ages (5 stars).
What do You think about 1280 Almas (2000)?
Pure insanity with a painfully good narrative. There is no one better
—praju
Excellent until the disappointingly abrupt conclusion.
—kuva
