Monday, January 15, 2007

On Mr. Amis

I’ve grown conflicted about Smarty. Has he changed, or have I?

I used to just plain love Smarty. I loved it all: His nastiness, his cruelty, his snobbery, his wit, and the fact that I found every single one of his novels fell apart in the final pages. I’d be reading along, chuckling nastily, and then suddenly, inevitably I’d lose the thread of the thing. Money was my favourite book for so long. And while I will always treasure my ragged SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR paperback edition, which Smarty autographed while wearing a gentle smile, I find the book just doesn’t hold up. It’s so 1980s. That’s disappointing.

I fear now, since 9/11, Smarty’s become a bit unhinged; like he’s following his drunken pal Hitchens down the sordid path of paranoid bigotry. I fear he may just be getting old.

I used to just plain love Smarty, and now I find myself enjoying hating him more than liking him.

And let’s not talk about Yellow Dog, shall we? (Crap.)

Today, in the Independent (independent.co.uk) Smarty answers e-mail questions from the great unwashed readership.

My fave question: Why are you such a snob?

Smarty answers these questions with his usual aplomb. He takes pains to respond like the gentleman he is, but the undertone is hostile, and not in a fun way.

Here’s another goodie:
“The phrase ‘horrorism’, which you invented to describe 9/11, is unintentionally hilarious. Have you got any more?
Yes, I have. Here's a good one (though I can hardly claim it as my own): the phrase is ‘fuck off’.”


Ha Ha. That answer is incomplete, but the part I’ve quoted is the best bit.

All this being said, I’ll probably buy his new book, in paperback...eventually.

6 comments:

cityofmushrooms said...

o come on: ya gotta love the lad

the reply to the stupid "horrorism" comment is positively billy-connelly-esque!

Anonymous said...

I'm due to re-read Money again.

Hated it the first time...

Loved the naked old man the second time...

Third time around could very well make it my favorite book of all time.

JAW fan

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

Did you know the naked old man is based on Kirk Douglas? That ought to fuel your naked old man fantasies!

cityofmushrooms said...

young kirk in spartacus!!

Anonymous said...

Ah, young Mr. Douglas...even middle-aged Kirk can be delicious, as he was in There Was A Crooked Man, especially that shot where he jumps into the barrel of water, his rear-end gloriously in view, as well as a quick peek at his dangling testicles...God! I love the movies!

JAW fan

gsdgsd13 said...

I loved "Money" when I first read it (in the mid-'90s) -- attempts to re-read it in recent years have fallen short.

I really liked a few other Amis novels (including "Night Train," which was just about universally loathed) -- but "Yellow Dog" made me swear off any more Amis.

New one's getting good reviews, though (aside from the NYT) and it's Russia-oriented -- of course I'm gonna break down.