- Paperback: 470 pages
- Publisher: Lester & Orpen Dennys; 1st ed edition (1989)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0886192560
- ISBN-13: 978-0886192563
- Product Dimensions: 22.1 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 612 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In this very British tale, femme fatale Nicola Six manipulates racist, sexist scoundrel Keith Talent and well-mannered, naive Guy Clinch as an omniscient narrator/novelist spies on the trio in order to develop his book. "Relentlessly bitter, often brutally funny, hypnotically readable, it may also be quite opaque in places to an American readership," said PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From Library Journal
Amis's disappointing new novel follows the machinations of promiscuous Nicola Six, a psychic who senses that she is to be murdered by one of two men she meets in a London bar. She systematically humiliates both--prole darts champ Keith and posh, ineffectual Guy--only to discover that for once her powers have misled her. Set "at the end of the millennium" against the background of a vaguely defined political/ecological/cosmological crisis, this novel is far longer than its thin content warrants. What can Amis have against these minimally developed characters that he devotes nearly 500 pages to demolishing them? There's disgust aplenty here--but little else. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/89.
- Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
- Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Speed of Light,
By
This review is from: London Fields (Vintage International) (Paperback)
Okay, so Martin Amis has this thing about language, and it's undeniably impressive whether you can stand it or not. I personally enjoy reading the work of someone who has such command of the language, especially when it reads so well -- page-turning like Stephen King, but with substance like Henry James. (excuse me for that comparison, I'm sure it's bound to get a lot of sneers) Maybe I just like it because it makes me feel smart. (more sneers)I like Amis in general, but this is by FAR my favorite. Granted: It's wordy. It stretches believability at times. There are places where author ego creeps through. And the subject matter is reeeeally depressing. BUT... I've read it twice, and both times I have come away in the end feeling inspired, sated, and joyously uplifted. It's sick, hilarious (oh my god), peopled with incredibly vivid characters, and peppered with typical quoteworthy Martin Amisisms. Not only is it a satisfying read because of the mastery with which the story is told, but because of the story itself. Strange, I don't see anyone mentioning what I see as, finally, the most crucial thematic element of the book. It's supposedly about "the death of love," and this point is driven home ruthlessly from the beginning. And yet, even when the foretold ending comes about, Amis manages to put a gorgeous, beautiful little twist on what has been a pretty cynical, harrowing story. In the midst of all this nasty darkness there is, finally, at least one brilliant beam of pure sunlight. That, to me, is what London Fields is really about. "Love happens at the speed of light." It takes courage and a little patience, but I recommend London Fields with as many stars as you've got.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ambitious,
By
This review is from: London Fields (Vintage International) (Paperback)
This is a book that challenges its readers. When you finish this novel you feel as if you have completed something. It is often times confusing and hard to read, but the language is fantastic. The story allows you to really dig deep inside the minds of the characters.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Amis is the word master, but it ends there...,
By A Customer
This review is from: London Fields (Vintage International) (Paperback)
Martin Amis is probably the world's greatest living prose stylist. A real champ. However, his grasp of plot, structure and overall narrative movement is tenuous at best. He has more motifs, themes, and metaphors running through "LF" than the book's thin structure can accomodate. It sinks itself and it's not pretty to watch all his linguistic acrobatics go up in smoke at the hands of his poorly managed story. The same complaint one could lodge against Nabokov (Amis's hero) is applicable to Amis. If you read one Amis' book you need read no others. His narrative may change slightly; however, his characters are thin veneers of humanity for him to torture and through his acerbic darts at. His style (always brilliant) runs over his novels roughshod until they become exercises in literary masturbation. Also, the constant employment of self-reflexivity lends a greater degree of isolation between the reader and the book! As if having to grasp for a dictionary every six to seven minutes didn't halt the reading enough. Not that I have a problem with big words (I like big words!) And Amis sure knows how to use them. However, like his father, good ol' Kingsley told him: "Sometimes you need to write a boring sentence." It's a horrible thought: but sometimes you can desenitize the reader to the beauty of your prose. Both Amis and Nabokov are chief sinners in this area. Ironically, Amis's best novel may be his first: The Rachel Papers. "LF" is a thoroughly awe-inspiring achievement that runs itself into the ground drowning in its own awe. I wish I could make this comment about more fiction: That it ruins itself with its own ambitions and lofty intentions. Give Amis credit: He stretches himself so far that the limbs of his acrobatic prose snap and the reader is left with a book that runs nearly 300 pages too long!
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