Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

I hate this daily ten-minute walk, along the outlines of cold squares, past dark shopfronts where cats claw at the window panes, then into the tingling strip of Queensway, through shuddering traffic and the sweet smell of yesterday’s trash. I look at girls, of course, watch aeroplanes (take me to America), buy a paper and lots more cigarettes on the way, but I don’t think I’m convincing anyone by all this.

Success! I found a good book! What a rare occurrence that seems to be nowadays. Success is a novel about two step-brothers, one prestigious, well-bred, the other a yob, an everyman, a loser. Terrence Service is the loser. Gregory Riding the well-bred, up-his-own-ass, aristocrat. Success weaves both characters perspectives into each chapter, one half is Terrence, the other Gregory. Only a young man could have written this book. It’s too experimental, too odd for anyone else.

Martin Amis often cuts from present-tense, to past-tense, to Terry, and to Gregory. It’s a unique little gimmick he’s got going on. One that works, though. The book knows what it wants to be. I can tell that Mr Amis is clearly a writer. Of course there are many writers out there. But that doesn’t mean they’re all writers. Reading Success had me nodding my head. Yes, I get it. I understand what you’re trying to convey here. I despised Gregory until later in the book. Success.

I felt sympathy for Terry, and the fact that every woman on earth seems to recoil at the sight of him. Success.

I liked the strange cutting between the two characters. It was incredibly engaging to see two quite different perspectives of the same (though not always) situation play out. Success.

Both Terry and Greg are so very well fleshed-out. So very human. And this is really all I can ask for. Give me something human. The novel does, however, peter out toward the end. I had the impression that by the end of the book Mr Amis simply didn’t know how to end it. The ending itself, the final moments of the book, were pretty weak for me, I admit. But, considering all that came before, the enjoyment I had reading Success, I’ll give it four stars.

Four stars is a lot coming me. It takes a certain something for that to happen. So, we have a successful book here! Read it! Read it! Read it! I do indeed look forward to seeing what else Mr Martin can do.

(It’s also interesting to note that Martin Amis’s father was a famous author, too. Certainly helps, I suppose. Though I read that he absolutely hated most of his son’s work, claiming it too experimental and weird. That’s harsh. But, hey, you need that type of criticism if you’re going to be a writer. I’m just glad Martin Amis wasn’t some rich-boy sitting on his castle, one day saying:

“I want to be a writer, daddy.�

No, Success shows me he really worked at it. Was really a born writer. I said that already like it’s some kind of rare thing and � well � it is. So when I see a writer with that innate talent to tell a story, I have to acknowledge it.)