But Jacy is curiously vacant. Although she exerts a pull on those around her, the reader is not sure why. She is beautiful, but pales beside Karla, the novel's most outrageous, vulnerable, exasperating and vibrant character. Nobody in Thalia has ideas, or even warmed-through opinions. Worry over money has sucked away the population's mental energy.
Nobody wonders about anything any more.
In ''The Last Picture Show,'' people puzzled and brooded and tried to make sense of their lot. Once they did, their outlook was often cruelly pessimistic. Life's too damn hard here. The land's got too much power over you. Being rich here is a good way to go insane.