Matt's review
The Killer Inside Me
by Jim Thompson
Matt's review
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
Matt's review
rating:
recommended for: Fans of noir and dark satire
Scary book with which to start my reviews, yes, but here goes.
This has been considered an "underground classic" since its publication in 1952 and I can see why. I read that Stanley Kubrick had an adaptation of this written by Thompson in his files. (Thompson wrote early Kubrick films THE KILLING and PATHS OF GLORY as well) This also is no real surprise as the book reads like a film by Kubrick, Hitchcock, or current filmmakers like Fincher. I read this in about two days, but mostly because it's so well paced and tightly plotted. Thompson gives us just enough to know what's going on and make us uncomfortable about it before he takes us into the next beat with no time or energy wasted. Lean mean, with all meat and no fat.
It feels almost cliched to compare this to Dostoyevski, but any novel featuring a protagonist so far removed from his own reality that he comments (correctly) on its ridiculousness as he does things in total opposite to its values always takes me to NOTE...more
This has been considered an "underground classic" since its publication in 1952 and I can see why. I read that Stanley Kubrick had an adaptation of this written by Thompson in his files. (Thompson wrote early Kubrick films THE KILLING and PATHS OF GLORY as well) This also is no real surprise as the book reads like a film by Kubrick, Hitchcock, or current filmmakers like Fincher. I read this in about two days, but mostly because it's so well paced and tightly plotted. Thompson gives us just enough to know what's going on and make us uncomfortable about it before he takes us into the next beat with no time or energy wasted. Lean mean, with all meat and no fat.
It feels almost cliched to compare this to Dostoyevski, but any novel featuring a protagonist so far removed from his own reality that he comments (correctly) on its ridiculousness as he does things in total opposite to its values always takes me to NOTE...more
