Comments on: Martin Amis on sex and death

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 02:15:30 +0000

I just wonder whether/how Amis’s thoughts on age are gendered. As a fifty+ woman, I find myself feeling on the edge of possibility. The richness of my life is not because of the past, particularly, but because of what I’ve learned in the past that I can use in the present. And while there are particular things in my life that support this, many of my contemporaries feel something similar. It’s not just me. I’ve known quite a few women who in their 50s and 60s were at their most creative.

FWIW, my experience is that events are not always crises, if that makes any sense. In middle age, bad things will happen: you or people you care about will get sick; relationships will change; jobs disappear, cease to be satisfying, or whatever. Some of these things for me have been felt as a crisis – what now? – but others are just things I’ve dealt with.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 19:16:36 +0000

Joshua: OMG! Brilliant. You've cracked the code. My faves are your faves, although I thought that Time's Arrow was an interesting experiment. (And I've utterly ignored Yellow Dog and Koba the Dread, I must confess.)

By: Joshua Paddison

Joshua Paddison — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:23:27 +0000

The key to enjoying Martin Amis is that only every other book is worth reading: Rachel Papers good, Dead Babies bad, Success good, Other People bad, Money good, Einstein’s Monsters bad, London Fields good, Time’s Arrow bad, The Information good, and then they all turn bad as far as I can tell.

By: koshem Bos

koshem Bos — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:12:22 +0000

Martin Amis’ earlier essay are my favorite. Generally, I have some difficulties with English literature. Tried Howard Jacobson recently and despite the praise, couldn’t go on for more than 50 pages.

Crises, old age, 40s: I am an old guy (Medicare), you have disappointments (probably once a week), but there really is no room for complaint; we are fortunate – employed, travel, do decent work, etc. What crisis?

By: Indyanna

Indyanna — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:50:25 +0000

John S: Big secret they don’t tell you; you can do it at any time. One to a customer. I went @ c. 33-34/5. In by 11, out by four… Although I don’t know about that “undiscovered continent” part, but I was thinking about something like that just this morning, in other language.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:44:57 +0000

CPP and John, I hope you’re done with the 40s crises early. Me, I’m still waiting to see when my number will come up.

By: John S.

John S. — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:08:31 +0000

@CPP: Do you figure if I have my “40s crisis” when I’m 37-38 it will count?

By: Comrade PhysioProf

Comrade PhysioProf — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:48:29 +0000

I really like that quote about your 40s and 50s. My impression–and I’m hoping this is correct–is that I already got my 40s crisis over with when I was 41.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:43:33 +0000

Try The Information LadyProf, if you haven’t already. It got a lot of buzz back in the day, and I for one thought it was worth it.

By: LadyProf

LadyProf — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:23:11 +0000

High-five on The Rachel Papers! One of my ten favorite novels. The rest of the Amis corpus, meh. Wish someone would gather the nuggets worth reading from each novel, the way you just did with this one–we could skip the rest. The Pregnant Widow sounds especially stinkeroo.