5 ms·

Martin Amis and the pursuit of pleasure

49 points by lermontov 2y ago

surfingdino 2y ago
> The Martin Amis community, from Anna Wintour to Julian Barnes, had filed in to Handel, and perched on their pews beneath the vaulting neoclassical ceiling, as Martin had done for his father Kingsley’s memorial here in 1996. What a solid reinforcement of the idea that birth is the way to be loved by the British elites. One could paraphrase Amis and ask "How do you get from a rented room in Whitechapel to a freehold in Knightsbridge? You get the keys from your family's trust fund manager."
- ycombinete 2y ago
  I don’t know about the others, but I love Julian Barnes because his writing profoundly affects me every time I encounter it. Was he born of an elite family? Edit: “Barnes was born in Leicester, although his family moved to the outer suburbs of London six weeks afterwards. Both of his parents were French teachers.” [0] [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barnes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barnes
  - surfingdino 2y ago
    The article is about Amis.
- jrm4 2y ago
  Honestly, this dismissive comment helped me formulate a thing in my mind. So, as a Black American, I do believe it's important to hear from the voices of people who are suffering. That being said, I find that, unfortunately, that market-in-books tends to really lean into the suffering, and I say it's important to consider the extent to which that might weigh down the writing and the reading experience. This is the primary reason I bristle at the idea of "getting away from e.g. white male writers." There, of course, is nothing inherently better about them; but our unfortunate social / cultural / historical filters have made it so that (easily findable) writing that is free from certain kinds of suffering comes from them -- and sometimes you need that too.
  - 082349872349872 2y ago
    One detail that struck me in Le Guin's Dispossessed was when her anarchist-from-an-anarchist-society protagonist visits the neighbouring planet and discovers (a little to his dismay? or is it just puzzling?) that compared with his other physics colleagues there, he admires the franchise of the aristocrat the most.
    - vinnyvichy 2y ago
      Sinclair Lewis has a sort of parallel there-and-back-again story of the heroic scientist from the backwoods. (The erstwhile Mr. Dorothy Thompson) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767891 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767891
      - 082349872349872 2y ago
        An ostinato themes in Dispo is cycles vs lines; today I'm not so surprised to reencounter Ms Thompson*, but was pleasantly surprised by the following cycle: (1986) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_UYYPb-Gk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_UYYPb-Gk (1979) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcCK99wHrk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcCK99wHrk0 (1978) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjXLzapT4-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjXLzapT4-Q (1975) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6fs26i4BA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6fs26i4BA now time for me to listen to The Meters, and get some prehistory? (then again, a basic problem is once you hit New Orleans, everyone has influenced everyone) Lagniappe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvuPuOrYMlg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvuPuOrYMlg * the "escalating terrorism" mentioned in her en.WP article probably refers to things like the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing ?
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  Even a person born into wealth may occassionally be genuinely talented. Not every artist/author is a struggling youth living in a cardboard box. There is also a load of trust fund babies that no one has ever heard about.
  - spookybones 2y ago
    Yeah, wealth can be a great boon for developing talent. It's annoying for the rest of us peasants, but talent is talent.... A rich kid may lack a hard-knock life, which is great fodder for writing. But, she or he may be privately tutored in, say, world literature from a young age and given 1-on-1 access to great minds.
brcmthrowaway 2y ago
Why are literature types obsessed about Martin Amis?
- blast 2y ago
  There are clues in the article.
- rufus_foreman 2y ago
  Wrote one of maybe the top four or five guides on how to play Space Invaders. What else do you want from a writer?
  - jhbadger 2y ago
    That ("Invasion of the Space Invaders", 1982) is a fun book, and yes, it does genuinely feature tips for Space Invaders, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and other games of the period, but it is also a slice-of-life of London culture in the early 1980s.
- Angostura 2y ago
  I recommend reading some of his books. They explain the reasons. He was an innovative and very readable writer.
  - shaftoe444 2y ago
    > I recommend reading some of his books Shame this needs to be said.
  - osullish 2y ago
    I adore Money and London Fields. The zone of interest is a masterpiece. The man was one of the most consistently creative and interesting writers we've seen. I'd also wager he would be good fun to go on a pinting session with
- surfingdino 2y ago
  He was part of the literary London set, a group of well-connected people who like to discuss their own lives, interests, and work on the pages of influential newspapers and magazines. His dad was a famous writer, which must have been a blessing (access to the literary and publishing world without the drudge of having to wait to be discovered) and a curse (the inevitable imposter syndrome). I think they admired his style, his ability to survive as a writer, and his legend (e.g. allegedly running an escort agency from his flat).
unraveller 2y ago
>[Writers] ... subtly get under our skin and shift our consciousness But I don't want you backdooring my brain for pleasure.

49 points by lermontov 2y ago

> The Martin Amis community, from Anna Wintour to Julian Barnes, had filed in to Handel, and perched on their pews beneath the vaulting neoclassical ceiling, as Martin had done for his father Kingsley’s memorial here in 1996. What a solid reinforcement of the idea that birth is the way to be loved by the British elites. One could paraphrase Amis and ask "How do you get from a rented room in Whitechapel to a freehold in Knightsbridge? You get the keys from your family's trust fund manager."

ycombinete 2y ago
I don’t know about the others, but I love Julian Barnes because his writing profoundly affects me every time I encounter it. Was he born of an elite family? Edit: “Barnes was born in Leicester, although his family moved to the outer suburbs of London six weeks afterwards. Both of his parents were French teachers.” [0] [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barnes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barnes
- surfingdino 2y ago
  The article is about Amis.
jrm4 2y ago
Honestly, this dismissive comment helped me formulate a thing in my mind. So, as a Black American, I do believe it's important to hear from the voices of people who are suffering. That being said, I find that, unfortunately, that market-in-books tends to really lean into the suffering, and I say it's important to consider the extent to which that might weigh down the writing and the reading experience. This is the primary reason I bristle at the idea of "getting away from e.g. white male writers." There, of course, is nothing inherently better about them; but our unfortunate social / cultural / historical filters have made it so that (easily findable) writing that is free from certain kinds of suffering comes from them -- and sometimes you need that too.
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  One detail that struck me in Le Guin's Dispossessed was when her anarchist-from-an-anarchist-society protagonist visits the neighbouring planet and discovers (a little to his dismay? or is it just puzzling?) that compared with his other physics colleagues there, he admires the franchise of the aristocrat the most.
  - vinnyvichy 2y ago
    Sinclair Lewis has a sort of parallel there-and-back-again story of the heroic scientist from the backwoods. (The erstwhile Mr. Dorothy Thompson) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767891 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767891
    - 082349872349872 2y ago
      An ostinato themes in Dispo is cycles vs lines; today I'm not so surprised to reencounter Ms Thompson*, but was pleasantly surprised by the following cycle: (1986) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_UYYPb-Gk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_UYYPb-Gk (1979) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcCK99wHrk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcCK99wHrk0 (1978) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjXLzapT4-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjXLzapT4-Q (1975) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6fs26i4BA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6fs26i4BA now time for me to listen to The Meters, and get some prehistory? (then again, a basic problem is once you hit New Orleans, everyone has influenced everyone) Lagniappe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvuPuOrYMlg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvuPuOrYMlg * the "escalating terrorism" mentioned in her en.WP article probably refers to things like the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing ?
inglor_cz 2y ago
Even a person born into wealth may occassionally be genuinely talented. Not every artist/author is a struggling youth living in a cardboard box. There is also a load of trust fund babies that no one has ever heard about.
- spookybones 2y ago
  Yeah, wealth can be a great boon for developing talent. It's annoying for the rest of us peasants, but talent is talent.... A rich kid may lack a hard-knock life, which is great fodder for writing. But, she or he may be privately tutored in, say, world literature from a young age and given 1-on-1 access to great minds.

brcmthrowaway 2y ago

Why are literature types obsessed about Martin Amis?

blast 2y ago
There are clues in the article.
rufus_foreman 2y ago
Wrote one of maybe the top four or five guides on how to play Space Invaders. What else do you want from a writer?
- jhbadger 2y ago
  That ("Invasion of the Space Invaders", 1982) is a fun book, and yes, it does genuinely feature tips for Space Invaders, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and other games of the period, but it is also a slice-of-life of London culture in the early 1980s.
Angostura 2y ago
I recommend reading some of his books. They explain the reasons. He was an innovative and very readable writer.
- shaftoe444 2y ago
  > I recommend reading some of his books Shame this needs to be said.
- osullish 2y ago
  I adore Money and London Fields. The zone of interest is a masterpiece. The man was one of the most consistently creative and interesting writers we've seen. I'd also wager he would be good fun to go on a pinting session with
surfingdino 2y ago
He was part of the literary London set, a group of well-connected people who like to discuss their own lives, interests, and work on the pages of influential newspapers and magazines. His dad was a famous writer, which must have been a blessing (access to the literary and publishing world without the drudge of having to wait to be discovered) and a curse (the inevitable imposter syndrome). I think they admired his style, his ability to survive as a writer, and his legend (e.g. allegedly running an escort agency from his flat).

unraveller 2y ago

>[Writers] ... subtly get under our skin and shift our consciousness But I don't want you backdooring my brain for pleasure.