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I stumbled onto this due to a mention of Amis in Christopher Hitchens' autobiography, where he makes the point that Kingsley was an exceptional person in his youth (when this was written).
It is published as a classic, and I suppose it is. To read it today you certainly would want to know something of its heritage, as it doesn't age gracefully without it. Billed as exceptionally funny, most of it is only amusing. I did, however find myself putting the book aside during the lecture scene towards the end - it was a bit Fawlty Towers / Mr. Bean, and there is only so much of that I can take at once - I had mixed reactions of exasperation, cringe and laugh-out-loud appreciation of the scene.
From a historical perspective, a glimpse of England in the 50s, it was also much appreciated, although as a parady you need to take the situations with a large grain of salt, or as the eponymous James would undoubtedly want us to do, a pint or six.
This makes me want to go out and read some of his later work - I understand 'The Green Man' is more representative of the name that he made for himself.
It is published as a classic, and I suppose it is. To read it today you certainly would want to know something of its heritage, as it doesn't age gracefully without it. Billed as exceptionally funny, most of it is only amusing. I did, however find myself putting the book aside during the lecture scene towards the end - it was a bit Fawlty Towers / Mr. Bean, and there is only so much of that I can take at once - I had mixed reactions of exasperation, cringe and laugh-out-loud appreciation of the scene.
From a historical perspective, a glimpse of England in the 50s, it was also much appreciated, although as a parady you need to take the situations with a large grain of salt, or as the eponymous James would undoubtedly want us to do, a pint or six.
This makes me want to go out and read some of his later work - I understand 'The Green Man' is more representative of the name that he made for himself.