South Of Heaven (Mulholland Classic)

The time is the 1920s. Tommy Burwell has been moving about the country working on jobs ranging from picking apples to laying pipe. He spends his money as fast as he earns it. Now he has heard about a pipelaying job in West Texas, and drifts into the area, waiting for the company to start hiring. The work is hard and dangerous, and working men are considered expendable. Most have no local connections. If they die, they will be buried on the job site - the pipeline is in a convenient ditch. If a man is injured or becomes ill, tough luck.Tommy has a side arrangement with his friend Four Trey to deal blackjack on payday nights. Payrolls are in cash. The workers live from payday to payday, blowing their money on liquor, cards, and women. Piles of cash draw predators, and some have thoughts for acquiring the cash.Along the way, Tommy experiences some Texas style justice. He is charged with a crime, but deals can be made. He is told by the sheriff which lawyer he should hire. If convicted, a pardon may be available for a price, even if convicted of murder.Tommy finds himself caught between various people, the pipeline boss, the law, his friend Four Trey, a woman he has met, and some unsavory characters in the construction camp. The company's prupose is to build the pipeline (there are penalties for being late, and bonuses for being early) - nothing can stand in their way. Everyone has their own motivations. You learn a lot about laying pipe.

My book "On the Grift" was done in homage to Thompson. But no one can do what the master has done. To read him is to know the dark heart of underground America. This is hard-boiled noir as no one before or since has done. He is a national treasure.

Thompson hits another homer! Great read!!!

Jim Thompson mined his early life in the oil fields of West Texas in South of Heaven (1967), one of his later novels. The best parts of the book are Thompson’s descriptions, through the first person voice of 21-year-old Tommy Burwell, of what life in West Texas oil pipeline laying camps was like in the 1920s, as well as the details what the work involved. Undoubtedly all of it is accurate as only someone who worked in the industry could tell it, even after a 40 year hiatus.As for the story, frankly, it is rather scattershot. It starts as a kind of adventure tale, threatens to become a romantic drama (well, as romantic as the cynical Thompson might be able to manage), then defaults to a soft-boiled thriller involving killers, thieves, crooked cops and hustlers. I’m not sure Thompson had a clear idea where he wanted to go with his story when he started writing, which was also an issue in his previous book, Texas by the Tail. He got somewhere but just barely.South of Heaven is sort of enjoyable given the setting and vivid characterizations, but it is hardly essential Thompson.

Jim Thompson is a masterful narrator but his plotting is frequently suspect. Either his stories are too ambitious; they become so complicated that Thompson is unable to maintain their credibility (ie the nothing man) or they are too simple and consequently flat (ie the grifters). South of Heaven relies on an authentic narrative depicting the hazardous and bleak lives of Texas gas pipe laborers to compensate for absence of plot. I was reading to be entertained by a story, not merely an account. That said, this novel is accidentally more moving than some sophisticated drama because it's portrayal of desperation echoes with authenicity.Strangely compelling but lacks excitement.

I got this book from a fellow teacher who has the most eclectic range of literature. The previous book that he told me to read, The Honorary Counsel, really tried my patience, but this novel was a fun read.This book, its characters and the setting provide a great look at 1920's Texas and the expanding oil/gas pipeline. The conditions that the men worked in and the overall lost feelings of the people who worked these jobs is related perfectly to someone who knows little of that time period.It was good. Interesting and easy to read.

South of Heaven is not one of Jim Thompson's top tier novels but it's worthwhile reading nonetheless. The narrative unfolds in the West Texas of the 1920s and describes the brutal conditions under which miles of natural gas pipeline were laid by homeless, rootless men desperate for work. One of these men was 21 year old Tommy Burwell who provides the narration albeit from the safe and perhaps truth distorting vantage point of four decades after the fact. Through Burwell, Thompson skillfully describes a time and place where life is shockingly cheap and justice is a very rare commodity.Against all odds, Tommy finds love and goes on to have a number of harrowing adventures, many of which fall into the tall tale category.Contributing to South of Heaven's overall appeal is the authentic sounding dialogue and the poignant depictions of individuals who must continually struggle for their daily bread.Not one of Thompson's best but interesting enough to merit a 4 star rating.

Normally I love Jim Thompson novels but I disliked South of Heaven. The book is about a bunch of down-and-outs working on building an oil pipeline in west Texas. The people are nasty, the work is hard and dangerous. The author captures the essence of the people and the environment perfectly. But the story just meanders every which way, and the main character is not very interesting (..just a dumb, boring kid). Mercifully the book is short.Bottom line: probably among the worst of Jim Thompson novels. Not recommended.

Not one of Thompson's best, but definitely worth a read. It starts well and, like most Thompson novels, there are a few surprises along the way. Great characterization in parts, and, as you'd expect from the dime-store Dostoevsky, brilliant writing throughout. However, sadly, the plot begins to lag, and borders on the infeasible, until we're left as undecided and as disillusioned as its main protagonist.

Excellent