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It got such bad reviews at the time but I thought it was good, even if I wouldn't put it up there with London Fields, Money or Time's Arrow. I liked Night Train a lot as well and Yellow Dog from the later books if I remember rightly, although I can remember very little about it now. And Dead Babies was the first of his I read. The fire hose bit in that makes me laugh just thinking about it.
This post has been edited by an administrator
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RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 10:15 - May 21 with 1229 views
RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 09:59 - May 21 by PhilTWTD
It got such bad reviews at the time but I thought it was good, even if I wouldn't put it up there with London Fields, Money or Time's Arrow. I liked Night Train a lot as well and Yellow Dog from the later books if I remember rightly, although I can remember very little about it now. And Dead Babies was the first of his I read. The fire hose bit in that makes me laugh just thinking about it.
This post has been edited by an administrator
I thought it was a very good book (and maybe the bad reviews influenced me because it was much better than they suggested) but this from Wikipedia may go some way to explaining the bad reviews.
"Amis came under attack for two reasons around the time The Information was published. Firstly he had dropped his agent, Pat Kavanagh, wife of Julian Barnes, and had signed up with Andrew Wylie, perceived to be a more aggressive agent. Amis and Barnes had been friends but this caused a rift that was played out in public. Secondly he received an almost unheard of advance for a literary novel (approximately £500,000 according to most sources) which caused what was described as resentment and envy amongst his peers."
[Post edited 21 May 2023 10:16]
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RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 10:19 - May 21 with 1217 views
RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 01:20 - May 21 by BlueBadger
Spoiler alert: the doctor only turns up when you're cooling. It's the work experience person who sees you die.
He wrote it in the eighties, so probably different then, although I'm not sure he was being quite that literal. Work experience person wouldn't really work for the plot of the book anyway.
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RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 10:21 - May 21 with 1214 views
RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 10:15 - May 21 by DJR
I thought it was a very good book (and maybe the bad reviews influenced me because it was much better than they suggested) but this from Wikipedia may go some way to explaining the bad reviews.
"Amis came under attack for two reasons around the time The Information was published. Firstly he had dropped his agent, Pat Kavanagh, wife of Julian Barnes, and had signed up with Andrew Wylie, perceived to be a more aggressive agent. Amis and Barnes had been friends but this caused a rift that was played out in public. Secondly he received an almost unheard of advance for a literary novel (approximately £500,000 according to most sources) which caused what was described as resentment and envy amongst his peers."
[Post edited 21 May 2023 10:16]
I remember the furore and I think it did lead to some of the negativity surrounding the book. As the third of the 'London' books I'd say it ranks third but is still very good. I don't think I've read it since it came out, so need to reread it at some point.
RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 10:21 - May 21 by PhilTWTD
I remember the furore and I think it did lead to some of the negativity surrounding the book. As the third of the 'London' books I'd say it ranks third but is still very good. I don't think I've read it since it came out, so need to reread it at some point.
You do realise that all this encouragement people are getting to re-read his books may well result in them spending less time on this forum don’t you?! ;)
RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 10:47 - May 21 by Ryorry
You do realise that all this encouragement people are getting to re-read his books may well result in them spending less time on this forum don’t you?! ;)
#PhilHamsServicesToLiterature
That's a good point, although might lead to more erudite threads.
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RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 11:35 - May 21 with 1150 views
RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 10:21 - May 21 by PhilTWTD
I remember the furore and I think it did lead to some of the negativity surrounding the book. As the third of the 'London' books I'd say it ranks third but is still very good. I don't think I've read it since it came out, so need to reread it at some point.
I also wonder if it was down in part to the human emotion that Gore Vidal perfectly described.
"Every time a friend succeeds, something inside me dies."
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RIP Martin Amis n/t (n/t) on 13:52 - May 21 with 1075 views
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