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noel_b 's review for:
Time's Arrow
by Martin Amis
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was my first time reading Martin Amis so I wasn't super confident when I learned the conceit of the book: "A man's life story, told backwards, from death to birth". It sounded like it could have been a hollow gimmick, boring at best and annoying at worst. It really wasn't the case. This book is so short but so thematically rich that I suspect I'll keep coming back to it for a long time.
Using the device of "life in reverse", Amis defamiliarizes the most commonplace processes and conventions and the result is often funny, often poignant, often jarring. The narration manages to be dispassionate and visceral, violent and tender. Uncomfortable. Compelling.
Using the device of "life in reverse", Amis defamiliarizes the most commonplace processes and conventions and the result is often funny, often poignant, often jarring. The narration manages to be dispassionate and visceral, violent and tender. Uncomfortable. Compelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, War