Bart's review
One Fat Englishman
by Kingsley Amis
Bart's review
One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis
Bart's review
rating:
recommended for: Patient and obese Englishmen
This book was a disappointment.
Years ago, I read The King's English and found it quite entertaining. Since that time, I often thought of Kingsley Amis and how I should read one of his novels. I even read House of Meetings (a tremendously good novel) by Martin Amis, Kingsley's son.
Now I have gone and read a Kingsley Amis novel, and I can report that it left a lot to be desired. It is not particularly funny; there aren't ten sentences that bring a smile to one's face.
When I read the fawning reviews this book was given years ago, I have to wonder if it's simply a matter of this humor having aged badly.
Or maybe it is that those things which were considered daring subjects - specifically promiscuity - no longer get the same naughty charge out of their readers. Hard to say.
Despite this novel's brevity, there's just no reason to read it, finally.
Years ago, I read The King's English and found it quite entertaining. Since that time, I often thought of Kingsley Amis and how I should read one of his novels. I even read House of Meetings (a tremendously good novel) by Martin Amis, Kingsley's son.
Now I have gone and read a Kingsley Amis novel, and I can report that it left a lot to be desired. It is not particularly funny; there aren't ten sentences that bring a smile to one's face.
When I read the fawning reviews this book was given years ago, I have to wonder if it's simply a matter of this humor having aged badly.
Or maybe it is that those things which were considered daring subjects - specifically promiscuity - no longer get the same naughty charge out of their readers. Hard to say.
Despite this novel's brevity, there's just no reason to read it, finally.
