From: Brooklyn
Category: Amis
Date: 7/30/99
Time: 5:12:35 PM
Remote Name: 207.238.28.10
Goochzelnickscarabellitrevinogroeberhorstenqvist, you got Fridays off, or something?
Hey Ed, have you seen South Park: The Movie. Excellent, excellent, clitoris, excellent.
I got a legitimate chuckle out of stephenp's "injecting" mary jane comment. Now there's an idea. Although it's a rare person who becomes funnier the more they drink, I'd say w/o doubt that people who've at least experimented with drugs put those who haven't to shame in the interesting department. But then again, I would say that.
I'm giving *London Fields* a second go-round. I first read it about 6 years ago and sorta labored my way through in 5 page increments. I'm cruisin along this time though, and am amazed at the comedic writing. Marmaduke! Now this is one shit kickin funny character. "...World-famous paediatricians marvelled at his hyperactivity, and knelt like magi to his genius for colic. Every half an hour he noisily drained his mother's sore breasts; often he would take a brief nap around midnight; the rest of the time he spent screaming."
Or "Guy shocked himself by suspecting that Hope kept the infant's nails unclipped the better to repel him. Certainly his face was heavily scored; he sometimes looked like a resolute but talentless rapist."
I liked what Stephen? said about Amis's stylistic meandering yet thematic consistency. I wasn't upset about *Night Train* like a lot of people, in fact I recommended it to many who didn't fit the *Dead Babies* target market and most liked it. After reading the Bellow essay I was impressed by how much MA fit into the novel. But I missed too much. This isn't unusual or anything, but in the past at least the books were butt funny to make up for what I didn't get. You can go to Money, The Info, Dead Babies, Success, RP (for me at least) and flip to any page & be entertained. Not so with Night Train. But anyway.
We've gotta scorcher going here. In fact I might even shave my muttonchops tomorrow.