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17th out of 210 books
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The Rachel Papers
by
Martin Amis
In his uproarious first novel Martin Amis, author of the bestselling London Fields, gave us one of the most noxiously believable -- and curiously touching -- adolescents ever to sniffle and lust his way through the pages of contemporary fiction. On the brink of twenty, Charles High-way preps desultorily for Oxford, cheerfully loathes his father, and meticulously plots the ...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
February 9th 2011
by Vintage
(first published 1973)
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Clare
rated it
Recommends it for:
teenagers, post teenagers, people experiencing a mid-life crisis who need to be persuaded out of it
This is a bit of a curate's egg of a reading experience. I began finding Charles Highway's escapades mildly amusing, took a detour into down and out hatred of vacuous Rachel and odious Charles and ended up in a state of turbulent hilarity. This is basically a book about being a teenage boy - obsessed with phlegm, spunk and pulling girls. At times Highway is intensly dislikeable - like wading through a teenage boy's room in fact - but he is undeniably fascinating. However, the prize for most d...more
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**Spoilers. But then you shouldn't be reading...**
The Critics' Critic
Prompted by Vintage's suggested pairing of Amis's debut novel with Fielding's 'Tom Jones' under the irresistible epithet of 'Vinatge Lust', the latter author's canonical novel has remained at the back of my mind while reading 'The Rachel Papers'. And it isn't long before, amid the myriad literary references clogging narrator Charles Highway's monologue, we are treated to a direct reference to...more
So I had a really difficult time finishing this book. Several times I wanted to quit reading it, but I honestly hate stopping a book when I'm half way through. I think my big mistake with this one was seeing the terribly made 80's film adaptation prior to reading the book. Man, was that one terrible film.
Second mistake, was that I couldn't stand the main character, Charles Highway, rather I LOATHED him. What a horribly self-centered, obnoxious, womanizing, vile protagonist.
And, yeah...more
Second mistake, was that I couldn't stand the main character, Charles Highway, rather I LOATHED him. What a horribly self-centered, obnoxious, womanizing, vile protagonist.
And, yeah...more
Painfully realistic at points; so much so, that I envision Martin Amis as Charles Highway.
But not young Martin Amis. The present-day Martin Amis.
Which makes it kind of a Lolita experience; a middle-aged guy trying to seduce a young lady before his __th/__nd/__rd birthday.
The text is kind enough to remind me, without elegant variation, that Charles is 19, and tomorrow he'll be 20. When this happens, the prop handlers slop a mop-top on 55-year-old Martin...more
But not young Martin Amis. The present-day Martin Amis.
Which makes it kind of a Lolita experience; a middle-aged guy trying to seduce a young lady before his __th/__nd/__rd birthday.
The text is kind enough to remind me, without elegant variation, that Charles is 19, and tomorrow he'll be 20. When this happens, the prop handlers slop a mop-top on 55-year-old Martin...more
For a book about a teenager supposedly coming of age, written nigh on 40 years ago and read by me rapidly approaching my 30th birthday; this was possibly not the best combination to get the most from the controversial debut novel from famed misogynist Martin Amis. The only thing worse could possibly have been if I were female I suppose.
A quite enjoyable read but not as depraved or as entertaining as I had been previously led to believe. Charles Highway is a quite wonderful character, t...more
A quite enjoyable read but not as depraved or as entertaining as I had been previously led to believe. Charles Highway is a quite wonderful character, t...more
Disclosure: I'm a huge Martin Amis fan. I just love his writing style.
This book is narrated by a teenage boy who is spending the last day of his 19th year reflecting on life, love and anticipating adulthood. For him, it's all changing at midnight. When he's 20, he'll be grown up.
The Rachel Papers of the title are a collection of notes (volumes of them) kept by the narrator about his first love, Rachel, and their relationship (or his striving to create one). The book relie...more
This book is narrated by a teenage boy who is spending the last day of his 19th year reflecting on life, love and anticipating adulthood. For him, it's all changing at midnight. When he's 20, he'll be grown up.
The Rachel Papers of the title are a collection of notes (volumes of them) kept by the narrator about his first love, Rachel, and their relationship (or his striving to create one). The book relie...more
Is this great literature? No. But I did really like it. It should sit next to Rabbit, Run and Portnoy's Complaint, but with the benefit of being much, much better written than the first, and more interesting than the second. Also, compared to 'Dead Babies,' which was my first M. Amis read, this is much less datedly 'shocking.' Reading DB was a bit like listening to a teenager with green-dyed hair talking about how much she's subverting Them. Kind of cute, but also more than a bit tragic. I didn'...more
Ugh! How embarrassing for Mr. Amis to have this book still around in print now that he is middle-aged and a very serious successful writer. What, I wonder, does he tell his children when they confront him with this adolescent "Portnoy's Complaint" meets "Catcher in the Rye" in London? Dirty socks, dirty underwear, pimples, phlegm, STD, re-used condoms, vomit, etc., etc. are major players in this book.
Why did I read it? Because I was about to get on a plane ...more
Why did I read it? Because I was about to get on a plane ...more
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...more
If this catalogue of insensitivity, venereal infections, Machiavellian manipulations, two-timings (perhaps even with the same condom, fished by way of urgent necessity out of the wastepaper basket), and sordid preoccupations is an authentic insight into the mindset of a reasonably intelligent late-adolescent boy, it's way too much revelation for me. More than once during the reading of it, I had the horror-stricken thought, "My god, if I ever have a kid and its a boy, it might grow up into...more
Charles Highway is a Rick Ocasek-looking, luggie horking, father-hating-for-unspecified-reasons, asthmatic on the cusp of his 20th birthday, which he is taking, like most things, very seriously. He spends the hour leading up to midnight of the big day, which he refers to as the end of his youth, revisiting his relationship with Rachel. This is easy, as Charles Highway has kept detailed notes on their time together, all while simultaneously creating a personal guidebook called "Conquests and...more
I'm without historical context for why this short novel should sit somewhere in my heart. I hear it was funny at some point. then maybe too cynical at another.
It felt to me, at times, like reading a bright young whipper snapper's weblog. Nothing at all wrong with that, just not compelling in any way.
amis' writing is always sharp and loaded with extra meanings and his bluntness about how men think about some things must have been a bit of a slap in the face to the post h...more
It felt to me, at times, like reading a bright young whipper snapper's weblog. Nothing at all wrong with that, just not compelling in any way.
amis' writing is always sharp and loaded with extra meanings and his bluntness about how men think about some things must have been a bit of a slap in the face to the post h...more
The Rachel Papers is hilarious, while shamelessly trashy and egomaniacal. After I got over my misgivings, it was hugely entertaining. I'd never read anything by Amis and impulsively picked this up to read in Oxford & London (the setting switches back and forth between the two cities) with little other rationalization. The Rachel Papers is Amis' first book, penned at 24, and I like what another reviewer said - it's like Catcher in the Rye if Holden Caulfied got laid. Kind of. Only Charles Highway...more
Apart from wanting to throttle the main character for being exactly the kind of selfish sex-obsessed guy I hate, I enjoyed the story and how it was written and approached. In a perfect world though, he would have been nicer to Rachel even if he didn't end up with her, but I guess it was more true to his character that in the end he broke it off. What bugged me the most was how he slept with Gloria and Rachel in the same day, and never told Rachel about the used and broken condom. That was proba...more
I've given up trying to defend Martin Amis books. I tend to agree with every criticism that people offer, but to me they've missed the point. He's so wonderful to read because he has more technical mastery than any writer of the last fifty years that I've read. He can make his prose, and consequently his characters, do absolutely anything he likes.
As this is his first novel the pyrotechnics are somewhat muted, making it probably one of his more accessible novels. He has focused a bit...more
As this is his first novel the pyrotechnics are somewhat muted, making it probably one of his more accessible novels. He has focused a bit...more
Fiction. Self-indulgent, myopic, teenage fiction. I like Amis, but not his narrator. Charles Highway is a spoiled 19-year-old who considers himself an intellectual and tends towards something he identifies as "self-infatuation" but makes no move to resist. I couldn't handle him and nearly threw this book down twice for every page I read.
Take your Catcher in the Rye and scrap it. The idea of phony hating seemed a bit simplistic even when I read it back as teenager. But Rachel Papers much better taps into the advanced thoughts of a young man too well read, self knowing and analytical for his own good. I was never as cruel as the protagonist but reading this one took my back to the mindset was in during my early 20s. It's lines like these that still hit home even amongst the concerns of pimples and sack skills:
"On...more
"On...more
This was my first introduction to the preciousness of Martin Amis literature. Having been channeled to this book through the memoir of my personal icon Christopher Hitchens, I had high expectations. As has been stated many times before, Amis tends to exaggerate the spread of his lexicon, which in my opinion makes the plot less fluid. No worries, it's still a great read that will incite both nostalgia and indulgent laughs. He is a soldier of the English language, and for a novice reader of myself...more
Amis is a very good writer and he does stream of consciousness like not other, but sometimes it just goes on for too long and that is how I felt about this book.
Charles Highway is a few hours away from turning 20 and he feels like this is the end of adolescence so he sits back to review his life so far, focusing on his interactions with his family and his first love. What it comes down to is the realities of growing up and when you come to understand that in a lot of instances the b...more
Charles Highway is a few hours away from turning 20 and he feels like this is the end of adolescence so he sits back to review his life so far, focusing on his interactions with his family and his first love. What it comes down to is the realities of growing up and when you come to understand that in a lot of instances the b...more
Every novel about a teenage boy gets automatically compared with The Catcher in the Rye. All I can say is that this one is very different. For one thing, Charles Highway is more successful with girls than Holden Caulfield. Charles is an über-intellectual teenager, about to turn 20, and has his eyes set on seducing and sleeping with Rachel. Charles is gross, like a lot of teenage boys, but he’s a very smart kid. He falls in love with Rachel, only to slowly realize that she’s vain and vapid once h...more
Sometimes when I am at a bookstore, I will just buy a book based on the cover. I saw this several times at Skylight and something compelled me to buy it. Usually this works out, but in the case of "The Rachel Papers" it was a big miss.
The book was dull and tedious. I felt like it tried to utilize value, loads of graphic sex...but it just came across as boring. One thing about the story, is it was very atmospheric. I did not know that it was written in the 1970's, until fini...more
The book was dull and tedious. I felt like it tried to utilize value, loads of graphic sex...but it just came across as boring. One thing about the story, is it was very atmospheric. I did not know that it was written in the 1970's, until fini...more
Susan reminded me recently that I read this way back in the day...
I read it right after the final dissolution of my first big college romance. I read this at a time when it was probably a good idea for me not to be at all involved with of louche young men. This account of the pretty vile thoughts & actions of a rather horrible louche young man was HIGHLY effective in keeping me away from such guys for a good part of the spring of 1999 (an impressive feat for a first year in college af...more
I read it right after the final dissolution of my first big college romance. I read this at a time when it was probably a good idea for me not to be at all involved with of louche young men. This account of the pretty vile thoughts & actions of a rather horrible louche young man was HIGHLY effective in keeping me away from such guys for a good part of the spring of 1999 (an impressive feat for a first year in college af...more
Fantastic. As a fan of teen films (all the John Hughes and whatnot) this book hits the target. That the narrator is not some jock, or something art student or whatever plays into a better overall aspect of the story. He is human, of above average intelligence but still human. He gets nervous, he screws up, and he does good things as well. The inclusion of the details about a young relationship and how, even once you've got the partner you want, things can still go awry.
I also ...more
I also ...more
A clever and refreshing read. The beautiful irony of Charles; a character who spends his entire life trying to experience everything perfectly, to be the best lover, the best student and fit into every situation, that in fact he is the worst of all. Charles over thinks everything and is so sure of his own brilliance that he is in fact completely unaware of how far past the mark he is. The only thing that he really feels for seems to be the situation with his father, which in avoiding, is the onl...more
Martin Amis’ first novel, which he wrote at age 24. Amis’ explosive, verb-propelled style and Martian observations are already in bloom here. He was young, though, as the first-love subject matter and attention to adolescent details testify. Still, this is a helluva start to a body of work that has assumed great significance for me (and a sizeable portion of contemporary British fiction readers). It’s funny as hell, too.
“I’m not troubled by straight acne so much as by sub-surface h...more
“I’m not troubled by straight acne so much as by sub-surface h...more
Allison
rated it
Recommends it for:
People who liked The Catcher in the Rye
Shelves:
fiction,
anglophilia
The Rachel Papers is basically what The Catcher in the Rye would have been, had Holden Caulfield actually gotten laid.
While graphic at times in its depiction of male adolescence, it still manages to tear at your heart strings. It's actually pretty difficult not to sympathize with a young man in love, even when he's describing his bathroom rituals and carefully writing out pages and pages of ways to seduce his dream girl.
After seeing 'Twilight' this past weekend, I was ...more
While graphic at times in its depiction of male adolescence, it still manages to tear at your heart strings. It's actually pretty difficult not to sympathize with a young man in love, even when he's describing his bathroom rituals and carefully writing out pages and pages of ways to seduce his dream girl.
After seeing 'Twilight' this past weekend, I was ...more
Hipster Highway.
This was the fourth novel that I read by Amis (I’ve since read “Dead Babies”) and the second that I have reviewed. It’s a very quick and satisfying read. “The Rachel Papers” also, more than any other Amis novel, makes me want to visit London.
Charles Highway is by far the most likable protagonist of the Amis works that I have read. His witty repartee and unmistakably teenaged sexual neuroticism are all too familiar and terribly fun. That being said, Cha...more
This was the fourth novel that I read by Amis (I’ve since read “Dead Babies”) and the second that I have reviewed. It’s a very quick and satisfying read. “The Rachel Papers” also, more than any other Amis novel, makes me want to visit London.
Charles Highway is by far the most likable protagonist of the Amis works that I have read. His witty repartee and unmistakably teenaged sexual neuroticism are all too familiar and terribly fun. That being said, Cha...more
AJ Smith
rated it
Recommends it for:
Male English Literature graduates, old enough to laugh at their younger selves.
When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.
Shakespeare wrote that. It’s from King Lear, late in the fourth act, by which point the eponymous monarch is clearly as mad as a box of frogs. There are so many great and quotable lines in King Lear, but that one particularly stuck. I liked it so much I once used it as a pickup line.
I think it was during my first year at university. I was at a party in my halls, and I was talking to Helen, a girl from ...more
Shakespeare wrote that. It’s from King Lear, late in the fourth act, by which point the eponymous monarch is clearly as mad as a box of frogs. There are so many great and quotable lines in King Lear, but that one particularly stuck. I liked it so much I once used it as a pickup line.
I think it was during my first year at university. I was at a party in my halls, and I was talking to Helen, a girl from ...more
Well it's totally worth reading at least the first 50-70 pages for the first make-out sesh with Rachel. It's phenomenal. I wanted to cry. Then I wanted to make out with girls I ambiguously admire.
This was a Jacob recommendation, and as usual, he's picked something killer. There are a lot of unique, unspoken landmark characteristics of a male adolescent, here, and I really appriciate the inclusions. I'm talking about masterbating to one's sister, strategically arranging one's room to i...more
This was a Jacob recommendation, and as usual, he's picked something killer. There are a lot of unique, unspoken landmark characteristics of a male adolescent, here, and I really appriciate the inclusions. I'm talking about masterbating to one's sister, strategically arranging one's room to i...more
Ciertamente esta reseña no podía escribirla con un té al lado, así que me tomo un café sin azúcar y como ponqué Ramo porque es media mañana y estoy cansada.
Porqué tienes que ser tan asqueroso Martin Amis? Siempre que termino un libro tuyo digo no me leo ni uno más de este y vuelvo y caigo redondita tarde o temprano, como esa pobre personaje de tu libro Rachel, cae redonda.
Siempre espero que tus personajes se reivindiquen de alguna u otra forma y a veces me lo creo que se han...more
Porqué tienes que ser tan asqueroso Martin Amis? Siempre que termino un libro tuyo digo no me leo ni uno más de este y vuelvo y caigo redondita tarde o temprano, como esa pobre personaje de tu libro Rachel, cae redonda.
Siempre espero que tus personajes se reivindiquen de alguna u otra forma y a veces me lo creo que se han...more
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Martin Amis is an English novelist, essayist and short story writer. His works include the novels Money, London Fields and The Information.
The Guardian writes that "all his critics have noted what Kingsley Amis [his father] complained of as a 'terrible compulsive vividness in his style... that constant demonstrating of his command of English'; and it's true that the Amis-ness of A...more
More about Martin Amis...
The Guardian writes that "all his critics have noted what Kingsley Amis [his father] complained of as a 'terrible compulsive vividness in his style... that constant demonstrating of his command of English'; and it's true that the Amis-ness of A...more
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“Don't I ever do anything else but take soulful walks down the Bayswater Road, I thought, as I walked soulfully down the Baywater Road.”
—
10 people liked it
“The thing is that I am a member of that sad, ever-dwindling minority... the child of an unbroken home. I have carried this albatross since the age of eleven, when I started at grammar school. Not a day would pass without somebody I knew turning out to be adopted or illegitimate, or to have mothers who were about to hare off with some bloke, or to have dead fathers and shabby stepfathers. What busy lives they led. How I envied their excuses for introspection, their ear-marked receptacles for every just antagonism and noble loyalty.”
—
5 people liked it
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