Discussion
Bloody hell, the news of his death has profoundly rocked me . There was a cohort of brilliant British writers in the late 20th C - Julian Barnes , Kazuo Ishiguoro , Sarah Waters , William Boyd , Seabstian Faulks and Ian McEwan (inter alios*) but Amis was the man . I write myself, and every time I get a little pleased with myself about a well turned sentence , I think of Amis 's prose and wonder why I ever bothered .
His fiction was either staggeringly good and/or borderline bonkers but for me it is his his two semi autobiographical books- Experience and Inside Story -which stand out. The latter is the best book I've read in the last decade - at least .
Damn .
His fiction was either staggeringly good and/or borderline bonkers but for me it is his his two semi autobiographical books- Experience and Inside Story -which stand out. The latter is the best book I've read in the last decade - at least .
Damn .
- Thought I'd better get this right - it's what he would have wanted ..
London Fields was the first 'serious' contemporary novel I read. It blew me away and rekindled my interest in literature. In the years since I have read most of his work, and although naturally there are highs and lows, at his best I don't think anyone else comes close to his blend of originality, style and wit. His influence is everywhere.
London Fields, The Information, and Money are all highlights for me, but in my view Success is his masterpiece - just stunning writing.
RIP Martin Amis, and thankyou.
London Fields, The Information, and Money are all highlights for me, but in my view Success is his masterpiece - just stunning writing.
RIP Martin Amis, and thankyou.
Sebring440 said:
William Boyd?
An excellent and very productive writer , if not in the same league as Amis . But he's in good company in that status -no-one was. Unlike Amis though , his quality has always been consistent and his work very easily readable BBC Sounds has an edition of Open Book in which Amis talked about Inside Story in 2020. And yeah , it ain't the TLS , is it ? Sometimes I despair at the cultural aridity of PH (as Amis never said)
His voice was unmistakeable, and no-one came close to capturing the hurly burly of go-getting London in the 80s and 90s like he did. He aslo wrote books that were funny and fun to read as well as clever and interesting. Not many serious writers now try to give their readers as much pleasure as he did.
He came up with some great names for cars. John Self's temperamental exotic in Money was a Fiasco, I think. And wasn't there a limo called an Autocrat?
Not many women like him IME. His female characters were mostly foils for male desire. Nothing wrong with a man writing about that, but it does seem to limit his appeal to women.
He came up with some great names for cars. John Self's temperamental exotic in Money was a Fiasco, I think. And wasn't there a limo called an Autocrat?
Not many women like him IME. His female characters were mostly foils for male desire. Nothing wrong with a man writing about that, but it does seem to limit his appeal to women.
Keith Talent’s heavy cavalier.
And I think Norman, Charles Highway’s brother in law in the Rachel Papers, drove a memorable car, as did Deforest in the same book, but as I’ve lent my copy to my teenage daughter’s boyfriend, I can’t provide specific references. (Deforest had a red sports car, possibly e type, and Norm’s may have been a Lotus Cortina). On reflection lending the book to him may encourage unwelcome behaviour towards our young Rachel, or it may send him and his friend Geoffrey off to seek relief with village idiotress.
And I think Norman, Charles Highway’s brother in law in the Rachel Papers, drove a memorable car, as did Deforest in the same book, but as I’ve lent my copy to my teenage daughter’s boyfriend, I can’t provide specific references. (Deforest had a red sports car, possibly e type, and Norm’s may have been a Lotus Cortina). On reflection lending the book to him may encourage unwelcome behaviour towards our young Rachel, or it may send him and his friend Geoffrey off to seek relief with village idiotress.
Keith Talent’s heavy cavalier.
And I think Norman, Charles Highway’s brother in law in the Rachel Papers, drove a memorable car, as did Deforest in the same book, but as I’ve lent my copy to my teenage daughter’s boyfriend, I can’t provide specific references. (Deforest had a red sports car, possibly e type, and Norm’s may have been a Lotus Cortina). On reflection lending the book to him may encourage unwelcome behaviour towards our young Rachel, or it may send him and his friend Geoffrey off to seek relief with village idiotress.
And I think Norman, Charles Highway’s brother in law in the Rachel Papers, drove a memorable car, as did Deforest in the same book, but as I’ve lent my copy to my teenage daughter’s boyfriend, I can’t provide specific references. (Deforest had a red sports car, possibly e type, and Norm’s may have been a Lotus Cortina). On reflection lending the book to him may encourage unwelcome behaviour towards our young Rachel, or it may send him and his friend Geoffrey off to seek relief with village idiotress.
Penny Whistle said:
Hmm. Hearing of his death made me think I should try him out. So I downloaded Money. But I guess I'm a lazy reader, and don't want to have to work for my enjoyment. I'm struggling to find it engaging but have been given hope by reviews stating that it gets better.
Nope, I couldn't manage it. Gave up half way through, which is very unusual for me.I've just re-read Experience (his (sort of) autobiography )and it's even better the second time round. My dad was alive when I read it first , but reading of Kingsley's decline and death re-awakened so many of my own memories back. None more so than Amis's insight that upon the death of a parent you there is a feeling of levitation - and thee really was for me .
Like Kingsley , Martin had such an uncanny ear for speech patterns and pronunciation , and there's some treats to enjoy on that theme . Martin uses his dad's technique of phonetic description - so tim peaches (tin of ) , porp pie and so on.
Like Kingsley , Martin had such an uncanny ear for speech patterns and pronunciation , and there's some treats to enjoy on that theme . Martin uses his dad's technique of phonetic description - so tim peaches (tin of ) , porp pie and so on.
Terminator X said:
Didn't realize he had gone, shocker for sure. My favourite book of his is Times Arrow which can be hard to read at times but as an idea, fantastic. The other one I think is Money, is that the one that has a Cockney type geezer talking all the way through it?
TX.
Yup, excellent if disturbing read. TX.
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