Review by penelopexx - Other People

penelopexx 's review for:

Other People by Martin Amis

2.5

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was a fast read, and beautifully written. But it felt like the author had a disdain for women that couldn't be suppressed and it really poisons the book. I kept wondering why the protagonist needed to be a woman, other than just to allow Amis to torture her in ways particular to women.

Within the first 50 pages, Mary is raped by a couple men who apparently serve no other purpose in the story. I kept waiting for this to have some meaning, some purpose in the story. There is no meaning or purpose. Perhaps the only purpose was to capture the pointless cruelty that people are capable of; but there are plenty of ways besides rape to demonstrate that.

Overall, I thought it was an interesting existentialist tale. The title (and the refrain of "other people" throughout the text) made me think of Sartre, "hell is other people." Even when Mary has no memory of herself, she continues to be haunted by other people's perceptions of who she is (or was). There are fascinating ideas about identify and memory here, but they're spoiled by sexist interjections and characterizations.

Content Warnings