Rating: 
Summary: London Calling
Review: This seems to be a novel people tend to either love or hate, and it's not hard to see why. First of all, it is awfully long-and for such a long book, not a lot happens, which is bound to upset some people. Essentially, you have the tale of a not-so-romantic triangle comprised of Nicola Six (messed up psychic sexpot), Guy Clinch (posh, married, naive, and weak-willed), and Keith Talent (underclass wide-boy, schemer, on-the-fiddle, racist, sexist, alcoholic, generally scummy pub denizen), told by a dying American writer in London. Nicola has foreseen her murder at the hand of one of these characters, and thus she directs her own demise by luring them into her tangled web of self-destruction. It's entirely predictable (yes, even the "twist" at the end), but one reads Amis for the journey, not the destination.The tale is set at the end of the millennium, with some vague catastrophe threatening the world, so it's safe to believe that the trio's story has some larger meaning. The west London of this book is a pretty nasty immoral place, where carpe diem means grab what you want and screw everyone else. As the physical world of the book obliquely slides toward disaster, the moral landscape is already destroyed. The protagonists themselves are stereotypes, the two men representing the opposite ends of the social spectrum, and the most recognizable "type" of modern British male: upper-crust wimp, lower-class lout. Nicola Six exists solely to satirize, and thus subvert, their sexual fantasies with her psychosexual games. Amis appears to be painting a larger picture about British enrapturement with... well, it's not clear precisely what Nicola represents. Capitalism? America? Or just the dreams and fantasies that have led the country astray? And clearly there's some sort of point being made by having Guy's baby be a monster, and Keith's be an angel, right? Overarching metaphors aside, Amis can write the hell out of sentence, and there's plenty of awfully good description and dialogue here-especially when it comes to wide-boy Keith. There are large swathes of the book devoted to darts, and Amis makes it come alive. Some of this is devastatingly funny amidst the overall dark and bleak tone. My own favorite line is about scratches on Guy's face that (and this is not verbatim, but give's the gist): "made him look like a determined, but inept rapist"). Ultimately the book is too long, and the broad main characters and interjecting author get rather tedious. Still, it's a major work of modern British literature and merits a look if you're into that stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: I love you for all the sick and twisted reasons
Review: You can always rely on Martin Amis for the unconventional being pushed to the limit, and LONDON FIELDS is no exception. This novel is a warped combination of a twisted love story, quirky science fiction, and a murder mystery waiting to happen. In other words, it's a sheer joy. Amis has always had a knack for assembling the most uncharacteristic characters, winding them up, and letting them run amok. In this case, we watch the oversexed but suicidal Nicola Six waggle her charms before the all to accepting attentions of the hoidy-toidy Guy Clinch and the dart-throwing, bigoted, wrong side of any track, Keith Talent. However, Nicola's motives are not what they expect: she is manipulating them to commit a murder, on herself. But, as always, there are complications and twists along the way, and Amis keeps you hanging on for dear life along the ride. LONDON FIELDS is a marvelous example of a writer who has mastered his craft, and I recommend it highly.
|
