The Grifters (Mulholland Classic)

There are numerous varieties of noir out there – your hard-boiled detectives by Hammett and Chandler, your neo-noirs by Lehane, and so many more, creating a massive spectrum of darkness. But even in the depths of dangerous, flawed protagonists, there’s something especially nasty about the “heroes” of Jim Thompson, who gives us twisted killers, con artists, helpless saps, and throws us into worlds where everyone is corrupt, sleazy, and in it for themselves. It’s noir in its purest, most unflinching sense, and done without even a hint of judgment or morality to filter it all out.And even with all of that, The Grifters manages to stand out from the pack, giving us a queasily incestuous tension between a con man and his grafting mother, two figures who only care about the world inasmuch as it can give them what they want. No, Roy and Lilly may not have the depraved sense of violence to them that Thompson gave us in Pop. 1280 and The Killer Inside Me, but they’re equally broken, nearly sociopathic characters; these are people who have divided the world into grifters and chumps, and chumps are only as good as what you can get out of them. As Roy makes his way through women (always somehow comparing them to his mother), or as Lilly cold-bloodedly manipulates everyone around her, we get the sense that these people could care less about the world around them, and feel like empathy and compassion are for the weak.As usual with Thompson, plot is almost beside the point here, maybe to a fault for a novel about con artists; yes, there’s a thread about Roy beginning to question this lifestyle after a con goes bad, and Lilly struggling with a very different bad situation, but both of those are far less integral to the book than you might expect. No, Thompson specialized in creating his worlds and immersing his readers into the minds of his characters, and The Grifters features that in spades. From walking you through dice cons to seeing how they react to human kindness, from careful manipulation to instinctive self-preservation, Thompson’s writing excels at creating characters and depicting their thoughts, no matter how fundamentally broken they may be.And it’s there that Thompson makes his bid to be considered among the all time greats. It’s not his stories, which are thin and more about the internal decisions of the characters. No, it’s his unflinching, unapologetic look at cruel, heartless, despicable characters cut loose in a world that’s unprepared for them, but deserves whatever it gets. That’s what noir is at its best, and trust me, just about any Thompson is among that category. The Grifters maybe isn’t as good as Thompson’s best (for my money, of the ones I’ve read, Pop. 1280 runs away with that) – it could use a little more complexity, just a tad more fleshing out – but it’s still a lean, nasty, pulpy, fantastic read.

Waste not, want not is the hallmark of Jim Thompson's writing, and nothing illustrates that better than the first paragraph of THE GRIFTERS. Roy Dillon, the young, crafty, hardworking conman, stumbles from a shop with an occupational affliction: a bat butt to the guts and a soon to be fatal case of internal hemorrhaging. He makes love to his girlfriend Moira, who comments on his paleness. Fortunately, his mom, Lilly arrives in L.A. on mob business, gets him the doctoring he desperately needs, and rakes the hot coals of the past to flame: the awful mothering and the sexual tension between them. Mom's always know and Lilly sees through Moira, who herself distrusts Lilly. Mom offers up a tasty morsel to Roy in the form of a young, shy nurse with her own problems stemming from a childhood as a Nazi medical subject. Roy takes advantage of her, though he does think she might be just the girl for him. Just as he contemplates the merits and demerits of the sales manager job offered to him because he can sell like hell, he's personable, and he's a terrific motivator. But Roy knows what he is: a conman top to bottom, and one interested in a little revenge on his mom, if it kills him.Few writers understand the underbelly of human nature quite like Thompson. Fewer still capture our dark sides in cleaner, sharper prose than Thompson. Readers, and moviegoers, today seem to like cartoonish bad folk who extravagantly spill blood by the gallons. Thompson, in contrast, penetrates the psyches of people who might be like us, at least in appearance, but who harbor more of the parts of us we have socialized into confinement in the recesses of our minds. Roy Dillon, a man risen from a tough start and presented with legit opportunities, chooses the dark side of life.Another thing to admire in Thompson is his ability to economically layer part of the action underneath the main story; not subtext but an integral element of the main tale running in the background and brought forward when needed to complete the story. That would be Moira in THE GRIFTERS.Highly recommended, along with Thompson's other works, among them  The Killer Inside Me .

Majoring on free books can be a bit hit or miss, but sometimes I find a book that is a real treasure. The Grifters would probably not have made it's way onto my Kindle if I'd had to pay for it, not the sort of book I would normally read, but it was free, and most of the reviews were good, and I always like to expand my range, especially of it doesn't cost me. (I don't mind discarding a book after the first couple of chapters if it cost me nothing, it grieves me to discard something I've paid for, and reviews can't always be relied on).The writing was excellent, Mr Thompson's style is spare, but it suits the subject matter, and conveys a lifestyle l can't imagine anyone choosing, but which seems almost inevitable given their circumstances. If l met the main characters I'd probably dislike them, and yet because l understand them it is possible to empathise with them and feel that behind their tough exteriors they are real, people. I don't know whether this is a work of pure imagination or is written from experience, it feels like the second.It is not in the traditional sense an enjoyable book, but because it is such a tour de force of writing it is a joy to read and a real eye- opener into aspects of American life l knew nothing about.

My favourite Thompson novel; I`ve read this several times – I think it`s better than “The Getaway” in that it`s a better resolved story – and I just liked the characterisation and general arc of the plot. It captures the feel of people on the edge, living through cons and scams – and like Lily, working for organised gangsters.A very satisfying and well-considered Noir crime thriller.*I`m surprised at the one star review on this page – this is a classic of the genre!

Absolute Rubbish!!! How this became a movie I don't know, don't be fooled by the fist couple of pages, it slumps hard! Endless nothing!! Worse thing is, what with having enjoyed The Getaway by the same author I've actually now brought this book twice and each time I've binned it as it felt wrong to pass it on! I'd give it zero if I could.

A dark, compelling glimpse of brutalised humanity

I read five of Thompson's novels back to back - so should you - so I guess I'm biased.