A review by kristennd
The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis

Did not finish book.

I usually don't review books I don't finish. That's not fair. But I attempted this one twice, the second time on an airplane where I finally resorted to reading the inflight magazine instead. I kept waiting to find it hilarious and brilliant based on its reputation and even more so the reputation of its author, but it just never happened. At least not in the first half. The characters were all either loathsome or colorless. There was way too much on bodily fluids. This is a 19 year old, not a 12 year old. I kept trying to figure out a way it was symbolism or brilliant satire, because it certainly wasn't realism. But that must have gone over my head too. Overall it was more Benny Hill than Wodehouse, which is disorienting in a book marketed as being intellectual. Although there is definitely a breed of humor out there that high-end critics and award panels find bitingly brilliant and I always just find vulgar slapstick, so there you go -- this is one of those. For me, when it wasn't annoying it was dull. But mostly it was annoying.