Pop. 1280 (1964)

4.5/5

Una cittadina da 1280 abitanti, tutti con una doppia faccia: mariti che tradiscono le mogli e viceversa, eminenti esponenti della comunità che nascondono un odio per gli abitanti neri, cittadini dai segreti inconfessabili; però più di tutti una doppia faccia ce l'ha Nick Corey, sceriffo, da tutti ritenuto uno stupido fannullone, solo che, mentre vorrebbe continuare a non fare nulla, stupido non lo è affatto, anzi, è il miglior affabulatore della città.
Nel romanzo Nick avrà diversi problemi di cui occuparsi tra cui una moglie cattiva e un paio di amanti da gestire, ma, trascinato dagli eventi e da quelle illuminazioni che gli indicano cosa è meglio fare, riuscirà a gestire praticamente ogni situazione.
Nick non è un paladino della giustizia, per quanto comunque abbia una morale più solida degli altri cittadini, ma è un paladino di sé stesso, pronto a tutto per non perdere i propri privilegi e per migliorare le sue condizioni.
Romanzo molto bello, alcuni personaggi hanno caratteri estremi, altri li potremmo incontrare anche oggi (perché la doppiezza è tipicamente umana), la caratterizzazione di Nick è fantastica nel suo dare indizi al lettore di come lo sceriffo sia in realtà.

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A city of 1280 inhabitants, all double faced: husbands who cheat on their wives (and vice versa), outstanding citizens who barely hid their hate towards black people, citizens with unmentionable secrets. The one who is more ambiguous is the sheriff, Nick Corey, believed to be a stupid bum: he is the latter and he's willing to keep on doing nothing, however he is not stupid at all, in fact is the best deceiver in town.
In the novel Nick has to face various problems, a mean wife and a couple of lovers, but he will be able to set things right thanks to his fortuitous enlightens.
Nick is not a hero (despite his moral more solid than the other's), but he defends only himself and his privileges.
The novel is really good, some characters are quite extreme, others can be found nowadays (duplicity typically human), Nick's characterization is wonderful and the reader discovers slowly how the sheriff really is. ( )

High Sheriff Nick Corey acts like a simpleton, he doesn’t arrest anyone, he doesn’t stir the pot, he acts and behaves the exact way everyone wants him to act; well at least the way he thinks he should act. But this kind and gentle nature is just a cover from his sinister attitude. But has this side of Nick always been there, or was this just a result of always acting the way he thinks he should?

The way Nick Corey acts, the lies and manipulating as scary; it’s like Jim Thompson is holding a mirror up to the reader and says ‘See, this is how you act’ (well maybe it was just for me). But with all the raging I was doing at Nick Corey, I almost missed just how brilliant this book really is.

Jim Thompson is very experimental with his writing, and while he never really got the recognition he deserved when he was a live, his books are dark, gritty and always ringing an element of truth in it. No one has ever done characters quiet like Jim Thompson; characters that always hiding their true nature and acting the way people want them to act, while hiding the darkness. Fans of pulp novels will enjoy this book, but people looking for a light, easy read then this book will not do.
( )

Can't say enough about this book! It's reminiscent of "A Man Without Qualities" but with more laughs and violence. Ultimately a picture of a man at odds with both himself and existence, torn between two identities and left without a soul. A brilliant work. ( )

Nick Corey is the lazy and cowardly high sheriff of a little southern town. He believes that he's kept in office because the town likes that he doesn't get into anyone's business, even the crooks. It isn't until Nick starts seeing that he's expected to do his job or he'll be unemployed that he starts forming plans about the local pimps, the wife-beating husband of his mistress, the morals of his other mistress, the patronizing sheriff of the next county and the mean wife who tricked Nick into marrying her. Turns out that Nick wasn't stupid, he just needed to be motivated into action.
Thompson was on fire when he wrote this one. Sheriff Nick is like Sheriff Lou Ford's lost brother and it's delightful to watch Nick praise the Lord after all his evil deeds. ( )

Well, there are a couple different things I've read about this book.

1. Reviews along the lines of "Nobody writes through the mind of a sick bastard like Jim Thompson."

2. Reviews that say something about a dopey small-town sherriff who bumbles his way through things.

I think I was expecting something like Confederacy of Dunces by Cormac McCarthy. But I was a little disappointed.

If you're thinking about reading this book, give it until at least page 57. That's where the real tone of the book begins. The author takes you for a little bit of a ride, but that's about where you get on solid ground.

Overall, the book set up an expectation that it didn't maintain throughout. The plot twists around quite a bit, but the twists were more quirky than dark or engaging. ( )