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After Dark, My Sweet (1955)

by Jim Thompson(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0316403849 (ISBN13: 9780316403849)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Mulholland Books

review 1: It's pretty hard not to admire the work of Jim Thompson. He made an entire career out of the absolute mastery of the unreliable narrator. In fact, it's so unreliable, that it's almost as if some of the lack of unreliability seeps off into the reader. How much can you really trust your own sense of what's going on? Which is the real character? The lost and lonely wanderer or the dark and sinister ball of rage just waiting to unleash hell on everyone around him?Ultimately, that lack of certainty about the story you're reading, the characters that populate it, and the man telling the story all come together in a kind of cauldron from which springs a brew so potent that when things go wrong (and they always do), you can't figure out whether you're supposed to be happy or d... moreevastated.That's part of his power. And powerful he is.In After Dark, My Sweet we meet a character who seems to live in a world that is constantly closing in on him, even before he's done anything. It seems that even the bars and shops he enters are already braced for just the kind of madness he brings. They seem to be waiting to destroy him utterly in every way possible. And maybe they are. Like I said, with Thompson, it's never as simple as that. Or, at least, he never lets his foot off the gas long enough for us to really get our fingers around whatever real thing looms behind all the layers of masks and piles of loss.Things start out even enough, but (like every Thompson protagonist), this one is living in quicksand. The harder and faster he fights to escape, the more he wants out, the worse it gets. Tragedy lurks behind every corner and even when, even though, he largely brings it on himself, you still keep scanning the horizon for some vague possibility that after these next few turns, he'll be home free.After Dark includes what might be the most likeable narrator he ever put on a page. Then again, he could be the worst of the bunch. You never know. And sometimes the journey to find out is what makes the whole thing worth it.In writing this one, he manages to parade through everything that follows without resorting to any common author errors like overwriting. He isn't interested in critical acclaim. He doesn't care if he's talked about in dinner parties or if people pepper their shelves with his books to impress their friends. In fact, he seems to be one of that rare breed who uses his stories as a kind of exorcism. Part of you moves through each of his books wondering about the horrifying mind that the man must have been trapped inside of. Or maybe all that writing worked and he passed his days as a regular guy in a regular world. Either way, we're awfully lucky to have the chance to spend some time crawling around inside these dark and passionately human tales he spins.
review 2: Involves morally ambiguous people, who are both cunning and without scruples, as in much of the Thompson universe. This is only the second book by the author I have read to date. It was somewhat weaker than Killer Inside Me, but involved a more intricate plot. Kid Collins, also known as Collie, meets up with a Femme Fatal at a local watering hole and takes him home. Soon a plot is hatched with Uncle Bud to kidnap a kid for ransom. Things go south from the get go and the reader will not be disappointed with the ride. While a weaker entry than Killer, it is still a classic read for noir lovers. less

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