Martin Amis - Crap / Not Crap

[hammerntongues]

I Shouldn`t really base a whole opinion on just one book but I couldn`t even finish London Fields , IMO overated , trying to be an intellectual but just coming over as a show-off ,it left me totally cold , very rarely have I given up on a book but he made it easy .

Strangely from this thread London Fields appears to be his best so I guess I won` t be trying another .

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

What's he done for everyone to hate him so much as a person?

 

[5t3IIa]

What's he done for everyone to hate him so much as a person?

Talked guff about Islam and 9/11.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=amis+feud+9/11&meta=

 

[belboid]

Can't stand him, and couldn't long before his bigotted rants.

He's just not a very good writer

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

That can't be the only reason, surely?

 

[5t3IIa]

That can't be the only reason, surely?

He had a rep back in the 80s as an arrogant little prick whose dad, of dubious opinions himself, gave him a step up. British literary royalty, chattering in his circle and all their spats got in the chattering press. He was always going to get people's backs up.

 

[belboid]

That can't be the only reason, surely?

there's his arrogance, smarminess, and general sliminess too

 

[marshall]

Underrated or under-awarded? I don't think he's the slightest bit underrated.

Well, he's obviously underrated by those handing out gongs.

 

[belboid]

wasn't he due to get a gong of some ilk before his anti-muslim outburst? After which the idea was shelved somewhere where his books should be.

 

[ringo]

Used to really rate him, read everything up until The Information then went off him. Combination of being a bit bored by The Information and finding out what a twat he was.

 

[5t3IIa]

Well, he's obviously underrated by those handing out gongs.

It's not all about the prizes is it? It's not an egg and spoon race.

 

[Voley]

It's not all about the prizes is it? It's not an egg and spoon race.

It should be. That'd be a fucking ace way to decide the Booker.

"Oh no! Rushdie's dropped it!"

 

[El Jefe]

I liked Money and London Fields but never liked anything else he's written, and he's a dick. So, on balance, crap

 

[kyser_soze]

Preferred his Dad.

 

[goldenecitrone]

I liked Money and London Fields but never liked anything else he's written, and he's a dick. So, on balance, crap

Have you read Experience? It's quite moving, especially the bits about his cousin, Lucy Partington.

 

[goldenecitrone]

Preferred his Dad.

Kingsley is very funny, too. His correspondence with Philip Larkin is well worth a read.

 

[Apathy]

He's a blistering prick.

heh heh someone also said 'thundering knob' on U75 the other day

 

[El Jefe]

Have you read Experience? It's quite moving, especially the bits about his cousin, Lucy Partington.

was she the one who was a West victim?

 

[goldenecitrone]

was she the one who was a West victim?

Yes. The family always feared something bad had happened to her but not that bad. Amis says he hopes she died quickly as anything else is too horrible to contemplate.

 

[5t3IIa]

I found the Lucy Partingtin stuff a bit of a strain tbh. He clearly had to mention it but all the 'undeseriable alien' stuff was a bit VIth form

 

[Pie 1]

He's a bellend of staggeringly immense proportions, but Money. London Fields & TheInformation are up there as some of the best books I've ever read & as this is about the man's work rather than himself then it has to be Not crap at all.

 

[Voley]

'Experience' sounds quite interesting. I'll have to give it a go.

 

[Orang Utan]

I found Money to be unreadable crap, but liked most of his other books, esp Success and London Fields.
Time's Arrow was great too.

 

[phildwyer]

i've met him and he was surprisingly sound, or appeared to be anyway.

I wrote to him once, asking for his help with something I was researching. Wasn't expecting to hear anything back, but got a helpful fax within a week, even offering to meet me. Unfortunately I was three thousand miles away but still well impressed.

I'd say he's the best British novelist of the second half of the C20th, though a bit inconsistent. "Money," "London Fields" and "The Information" are classics of our time--the first one is probably the *definitive* classic of our time. But "Night Train," "Time's Arrow" and a few others are pretty crap.

Still, an enviable record on the whole.

 

[foo]

my mum knows his dad.

woo.


edit: or knew. is he dead?

 

[Orang Utan]

Are you sure?
His Dad's dead

 

[Voley]

Did anyone ever make a movie of Money? Could've been good in the right hands.

 

[phildwyer]

my mum knows his dad.

My Dad knew his Dad.

 

[foo]

Orang

see edit.

oddball.

 

[phildwyer]

Did anyone ever make a movie of Money? Could've been good in the right hands.

All the movies made of his work so far have been crap. I think he just sells the rights and doesn't give a shit about the product. Seems a bit short-sighted, but the contracts probably forbid him intervening. Same with Zoe Heller.