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leemac027's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book is a combination of autobiography, stories of friends past and present, historical and political commentary, a bit of a writing workshop with some literary criticism thrown in for good measure.
It is long and detailed but also compelling. He ponders on his intimate relationships, but his relationship with Hitch (Christopher Hitchens) is one that had a lasting and prolific impact on Amis.
Reading it is like sitting in a cosy bar, fireplace alight, a single malt (no ice) on the table and Amis cosseted in a comfy lounger holding court.
It is long and detailed but also compelling. He ponders on his intimate relationships, but his relationship with Hitch (Christopher Hitchens) is one that had a lasting and prolific impact on Amis.
Reading it is like sitting in a cosy bar, fireplace alight, a single malt (no ice) on the table and Amis cosseted in a comfy lounger holding court.
alyssaddouglas's review against another edition
4.0
In love with Amis and his writing skills, as well as his love for his friends.
pcastleton's review against another edition
5.0
I found reading this to be like uncorking a ridiculously unaffordable bottle of wine and being treated to the entire bottle! I've read several criticisms, but I wouldn't change any of this fictionalized autobiographical novel interspersed memoirs of colleagues and essays on writing. Some find the recounting of his amalgamated former lover to be chauvinistic, or his treatment of Bellow, Larkin, and Hitchens to be too morose. I emphatically disagree. I've read no one criticize his instructions on writing, with the exception of a former student of his that apparently had an axe to grind. Show me better!
cameronbradley's review against another edition
5.0
Inside Story is a masterful Martin Amis novel, but I can't recommend it to everyone. If you're not at least quasi knowledgeable of certain literary figures, chiefly: Christopher Hitchens, Saul Bellow, Philip Larkin, or Kingley Amis; or, if you're not already a Martin Amis fan, then I feel this novel isn't going to have the impact that it does for someone like me.
I highly recommend starting with a novel like Amis's Money or at least becoming aquainted with the aforementioned authors before tackling this book, which concerns itself with the respective deaths of each of the real-life characters, as well as the end of life in general, while providing insight into writing and literature by one of England's (in my opinion) finest writers.
I highly recommend starting with a novel like Amis's Money or at least becoming aquainted with the aforementioned authors before tackling this book, which concerns itself with the respective deaths of each of the real-life characters, as well as the end of life in general, while providing insight into writing and literature by one of England's (in my opinion) finest writers.
jeffrossbooks's review against another edition
5.0
What an incredible novel/autobiography. The depth of Amis' voice. The stories he tells. The relentless storytelling. This is as good as Money or London Fields. It left me not only with the feeling I'd just read a great novel, but that I better understand the man who Martin Amis is, outside what the tabloids have reported.
The insights into Bellow, Hitchens, and Larkin add immensely to this. The relationships Amis had with these men, all varied, adds not only to the story but to a better understanding of the depth of Amis' ability to give of himself.
In the end, Amis says this is his final 'long' novel. I suspect this is true. The energy and focus needed to finish a long novel is overwhelming at any age. And the theme here is... death. The end. A movement to the end of time.
My hope is we get another few short stories. A couple of novellas. Amis' voice has always been unique, but at times it feels essential.
The insights into Bellow, Hitchens, and Larkin add immensely to this. The relationships Amis had with these men, all varied, adds not only to the story but to a better understanding of the depth of Amis' ability to give of himself.
In the end, Amis says this is his final 'long' novel. I suspect this is true. The energy and focus needed to finish a long novel is overwhelming at any age. And the theme here is... death. The end. A movement to the end of time.
My hope is we get another few short stories. A couple of novellas. Amis' voice has always been unique, but at times it feels essential.
proseamongstthorns's review against another edition
2.0
I struggled with this one. I studied two of Amis' texts at Uni and when I saw the chance for an advanced copy of his latest book I jumped for it. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. Having only read 2 of his novels, I feel like I just don't know his prose well enough to fall in love. Many of the reviews I have come across have been glowing reports; for me however, the tell-all book fell flat.
Time means absolutely nothing in this book or names or narration. We jump around in time in a way that is thoroughly disorientating, people's names change intermittently and for a period Amis refers to himself in 3rd person before returning to 1st. This style of writing is entirely new to me and as someone who has very little experience with Amis I felt a little lost at sea.
By the time I reached the half-way point I had eased into it more. The final third of the book was much more engaging and emotional. His accounts of dealing with so much loss were very raw and honest and seemed to be one of the few points in the novel where I felt I was truly seeing the real Martin Amis. His insights into writing were also fascinating and as an aspiring author (aren't we all) I found these section particularly useful.
All in all, I'd say this book has an intended audience and I wasn't it. I feel like Inside Story requires a reader who is familiar with Amis, both in literature and in his life, so that this novel's enlightening anecdotes have an impact. Towards the end of the novel, as I got more of a sense of Amis' character and his circle of friends and family, I was certainly invested and got much more pleasure from his writing.
Thank you to NetGalley, Vintage and Martin Amis for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review. Inside Story is available now.
Time means absolutely nothing in this book or names or narration. We jump around in time in a way that is thoroughly disorientating, people's names change intermittently and for a period Amis refers to himself in 3rd person before returning to 1st. This style of writing is entirely new to me and as someone who has very little experience with Amis I felt a little lost at sea.
By the time I reached the half-way point I had eased into it more. The final third of the book was much more engaging and emotional. His accounts of dealing with so much loss were very raw and honest and seemed to be one of the few points in the novel where I felt I was truly seeing the real Martin Amis. His insights into writing were also fascinating and as an aspiring author (aren't we all) I found these section particularly useful.
All in all, I'd say this book has an intended audience and I wasn't it. I feel like Inside Story requires a reader who is familiar with Amis, both in literature and in his life, so that this novel's enlightening anecdotes have an impact. Towards the end of the novel, as I got more of a sense of Amis' character and his circle of friends and family, I was certainly invested and got much more pleasure from his writing.
Thank you to NetGalley, Vintage and Martin Amis for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review. Inside Story is available now.
bryce_is_a_librarian's review against another edition
5.0
Inside Story was always going to be a dicey proposition for me, centering as it does around a tribute to Christopher Hitchens, a man whose greatest accomplishment in life was somehow managing to serve as a useful idiot for *every* side of the political spectrum.
The first half wasn't bad so much as just semi baffling, pulling extensively as it does from The Pregnant Widow, that most universally beloved book of The Amis Canon. Never quite coalescing into the book I thought it was going to be (I thought the Amis/Hitchens friendship versus the Amis/Larkin friendship would be the engine of the book) and while it's unfair to criticize a book for not being the book that you had in your head, wrong footed is wrong footed.
But the second half builds in power until it becomes quite overwhelming. For all its flaws, this is a reckoning on career, life and art from the author who is most likely the most important of my thirties. I cannot help but be moved. It does what it says on the tin.
The first half wasn't bad so much as just semi baffling, pulling extensively as it does from The Pregnant Widow, that most universally beloved book of The Amis Canon. Never quite coalescing into the book I thought it was going to be (I thought the Amis/Hitchens friendship versus the Amis/Larkin friendship would be the engine of the book) and while it's unfair to criticize a book for not being the book that you had in your head, wrong footed is wrong footed.
But the second half builds in power until it becomes quite overwhelming. For all its flaws, this is a reckoning on career, life and art from the author who is most likely the most important of my thirties. I cannot help but be moved. It does what it says on the tin.
sab_1961's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
georgeb0128's review against another edition
5.0
The prose is fizzy and alive; one feels one’s vocabulary being stretched and then tightened just by virtue of reading it. It invites you to read, and to write, in new ways - all the while touring the literary world of the 20th Century (including ample gossip). He writes so lovingly of his friends and heroes, it is hard not to feel inspired by the whole endeavour.