This was the first Amis novel I dared to pick up. From the outset, before reading the introductory chapters, I deemed the book to be pretentious and this was partly due to the circles from which its recommendation came, and partly because of what I had read about the author.
After reading about his life and opinions, you cannot but help think that Amis is the Mick Jagger of contemporary literature. Anti-establishment opinions, a nascent infatuation with Katie Price and a reputation for being a womaniser cast a shadow of predictability over his work.
Was I right to literally judge a book by its cover? In some respects yes and in others no. Amis’ use of language and literary prowess is second-to-none; however, the plot and characters were indeed pretentious and distant from reality at the very least.
The fictitious narrator, Samson Young, is supposed to be American, yet his portrayal of the protagonists, especially Keith ‘The Finisher’ Talent, read like observations of the working class by a posh boy pretending to be cool. The story (summarised here) is peppered with perversion, gratuity, violence and the graphic language you might hear in a Guy Ritchie movie as opposed to the really, real grit found in This is England.
Perhaps I’m disappointed with the story because there are no heroes, no morally positive outcomes? Nobody is trying to be a better person and honour is seldom untraceable. What do these observations say about me? I guess I haven’t developed a penchant for the anti-hero.
London Fields is a lesson in the art of painting with adjectives and Amis is a master of literally embellishment. Somewhere on my pile of books lies Money, one of the others in the trilogy that includes London Fields, and – despite my expectations of not receiving any reality – I look forward to more melancholic, ice cool wordplay.
(photo props)
One Comment
Money is funnier and more witty. However London Fields wasn’t pretentious when it came out. It was a sharp slice of London that most new bits of but only Amis strung together. Nowadays he’s a complete tosser though. Had it, lost it.