Amis, Martin (Vol. 4) - Amis, Martin 1950?–
Amis, Martin 1950?–
An English novelist and critic, Amis is the son of the novelist Kingsley Amis.
Martin Amis … shows great promise in his first novel, and this is all the more hopeful since in The Rachel Papers he is labouring under the disadvantage of having to build his story of romantic mishaps and youthful self-discovery around a peculiarly obnoxious hero. Charles Highway is that drearily familiar specimen of post-adolescent English youth, the Early Bloomer, the Sixth Form Sneerer, that combination of middle-class privilege and A-level meritocracy who is such a delight for the dons and such a damn trial to everybody else until a few years pass and, mercifully, he either fizzles out or, more rarely, manages the breakthrough into rejoining the rest of the human race….
I can't help thinking that Mr Amis may have been slightly premature in tackling this particular subject. I hope that doesn't sound patronising; indeed, Mr Amis...
[The entire page is 2697 words long]
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