Garnet Bowen is a literary gent from Wales, author of one obscure book, disconsolate husband, father and son-in-law. When he gets an offer that requires travel to Portugal, he figures it can't be worse than London. But it is. "Kingsley Amis strikes again. Not only is he funny--and he is very funny, as anyone who has read LUCKY JIM knows--his very absurdities are profound." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
Best known novels of British writer Sir Kingsley William Amis include Lucky Jim (1954) and The Old Devils (1986).
This English poet, critic, and teacher composed more than twenty-three collections, short stories, radio and television scripts, and books of social and literary criticism. He fathered Martin Amis.
William Robert Amis, a clerk of a mustard manufacturer, fathered him. He began his education at the city of London school, and went up to college of Saint John, Oxford, in April 1941 to read English; he met Philip Larkin and formed the most important friendship of his life. After only a year, the Army called him for service in July 1942. After serving as a lieutenant in the royal corps of signals in the Second World War, Amis returned to Oxford in October 1945 to complete his degree. He worked hard and got a first in English in 1947, and then decided to devote much of his time.
This work is a broadly comic novel in that its tone is always light and humorous. Apart from the (relatively rare) comic set pieces, it is full of light-hearted phrases and moments, often deploying the device of ‘the incongruous comparison.’
I read this as it was my book group's choice. Liked it as a quick read, though some of Amis' genial ranting became tedious to me.
I was taken aback by the response of some book group's members: they struggled to finish the novel (and it's only a short one) as they had so taken against the narrative voice and Amis' presumably quasi-autobiographical protagonist, Garnet Bowen. I was not so minded, though I see their p.o.v.. I took Amis to be, at least at this stage of his career, affecting the grumpy old man persona, inviting us to laugh at his excesses and admitting something of his own inadequacies towards the end when, in conversation with his agent, he considers quite reasonably what 'abroad' has to offer, and then admitting that he prefers the comfortable expectations of a London literary life: "I'm ready for things to happen to me all right, as long as they aren't too nasty", and "It's just that the place is located abroad and the people are foreigners, which for the purposes of this discussion merely means that they and I belong to different nations, so we can't understand each other as well as chaps from the same nation can." Endearing thoughts of the rather frightened little Englander, dangerous only when they blossom into political creeds. Which may be a good reason for arguing yourself into a position from which you condemn Bowen.
But I have to say, I laughed a lot.
Feminist readings, however, would find it hard to adopt such a relaxed attitude, as Barbara Bowen is the wife-of-yore, valued absolutely by Bowen for her role as his wife, and for the animation her own liveliness lends to his own daily existence, but nevertheless, taken advantage of.
But that, as they might say, is another reading. Mine was pretty uncritically pleasurable, and though Amis' occasional use of a rarely used word was self-conscious, I still enjoyed it.
Este é um livro que fala disto aqui, deste país. O mote deste livro é bastante convidativo. Porquê? Porque é sobre um escritor que vai passar férias a Portugal. Ou seja, foi alimentada e solidificada toda uma curiosidade para ler o nosso país aos olhos de um estrangeiro.
Garnet Bowen é o escritor e jornalista escolhido para efetuar uma viagem a Portugal. Ele que, na bagagem dessa mesma expedição, leva uma missão. Missão essa que é estilo Casa dos Segredos, uma vez que a mesma é confidencial. Ele terá de investigar a identidade de outro escritor.
A estadia de Bowen em Portugal vai ser repleta de turbulência e de aventuras. Espero que se lembrem daquelas que davam na SIC.
É um livro que se lê de forma descontraída e que nos permite uma leitura leve, enquanto respondemos a mensagens e coisas do género. Não acho que seja "ferozmente divertido", mas tem momentos perfumados com algum humor.
Li o último livro do autor, "A Sorte de Jim". Um bocado sem sal, com pouco do que o caracterizava como um livro divertido. Mas um autor não se deve analisar por apenas um livro. Pelo que surgiu a oportunidade de ler este "Gosto Disto Aqui", tido como <> e << O romance que a atribulada estadia em Portugal inspirou >> Comecei a ler e fui confrontado com páginas e páginas de referências a escritores e literatura inglesa. Posteriormente veio o assunto de política inglesa versus portuguesa, e mais tarde a caracterização de inferioridade de Portugal perante Inglaterra. Ora, nunca gostei muito do Reino Unido, nem tão pouco conheço muitos dos autores referenciados neste livro, e muito menos interesse tenho sobre a política inglesa na altura de Salazar. Fui lendo, lendo, lendo e não passava do mesmo. Apenas um grupo de ingleses a viver em Portugal, falando da sua literatura, política e superioridade. <> foi uma designação que não consegui visualizar, pois as piadas ou situações pouca graça tinham, chegando mesmo a ser forçadas. "Romance"? Onde? A estória deste livro leva um casal de férias para Portugal, casal esse que pouco tempo passa junto a não ser nos encontros sociais. E só a umas 30 págs do fim do livro se consegue ter a esperança que algo de romântico aconteça, mas na verdade não se passa nada. Resumindo, é a minha opinião apenas, bastante subjectiva, mas este livro deixou-me com vontade de o acabar rapidamente. Não por estar a gostar, mas sim para acabar com a tortura literária a que me expus. Outros leitores decerto gostarão, mas infelizmente a mim não me convenceu minimamente. Se tinha dúvidas em relação ao autor, estas dissiparam-se finalmente. Kingsley Amis está definitivamente riscado da lista...
I have an increasing fondness for Kingsley Amis as a writer and, other than Lucky Jim, this is first of his books that I have read where I also have a significant empathy for the protagonist.
This is slightly worrying as all of his protagonists are portrayed as fairly flawed human beings, often autobiographically sharing some of their flaws with the author. Amis had a few particularly famous flaws including some flashes of possible anti-Semitism, and towards the end of this book there is a hint of homophobia on the part of the protagonist. Some, but not all, of this can be put down to the era that he was mainly writing in.
Having strong, believable, flawed and very human characters that we do empathise with is a mark in itself of what a great writer Kingsley Amis was. We are all flawed in some ways, and while I hope my own flaws aren’t those of Amis or his characters, I undoubtedly have others.
Being a kind of ex-pat in Portugal myself who "likes it here", I read this brief novel from the 50s. The Portugal Amis evokes is the period of Salazar's despotic rule, but much of it is still very recognizable, especially among the ex-pats in the Estoril-Cascais area. Unfortunately, the novel doesn't really take off. Most of it is rather effete banter, nothing happens, and when the "hero" finally encounters an amorous Portuguese girl, he doesn't get beyond first base.
A decent Amis: each sentence packed with wit (sometimes overstuffed) about a man who is forced to do something he hates and finds himself the same man he was afterwards. It lacked the depth of Lucky Jim, which is presumably why that work is so much easier to find than this. Still, an entertaining read.
This could be the thirteenth novel by Kingsley Amis that I read and exulted in and I am looking forward to passing thirty, Alhamdulillah, this Magister Ludi has been a prolific and inspired author, his Lucky Jim is one of The All-TIME 100 Novels http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10... and is also included on the Ninety Nine Novels list of Anthony Burgess (who is reported to have been a kind critic in the phenomenal Belles Lettres Papers), along with The Anti-Death League, Amis Senior has won the prestigious Booker Prize, and has been named the best comedy writer of the last half of the twentieth century…
I Like It Here – I could say that again and again, when talking about the worlds created by Kingsley Amis, and thinking of the Umberto Eco quote, regarding the five thousand lives that a reader experiences, against the only one of the individual who does not read, the books of Master Kingsley dispatch the readers to some of the most fabulous Edens we could – actually we could not, he does – imagine
This is an autobiographical novel, using the experience of the author, who had spent time in Portugal, to fulfill the conditions for his Somerset Maugham Award – he refers to the divine (this is my view, I do not know about Kingsley Amis) Maugham, a couple of times, the room had the Maugham look, the Far East, not the Riviera subdivision, something like that, I hope – and he might have shared with his main character a fear of the abroad, a reluctance to leave Here aka Britain and venture in the unknown.
One of the ways we enthuse in great writing is by identifying with the protagonist, recognizing the pleasures he describes, or the pains as having been our own – Proust might be the best in describing the joy and elation felt when he finds that what the novelist reveals is something he had felt or thought and it is so similar they share a unique moment, a fantastic connection is created and he is so proud…this is more probably something I experienced and I remember reading about in A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/10/a...
Thus, I share the apprehension, the reluctance to get abroad, only it does not focus on Portugal, I have been there and enjoyed it – I think, for this was a tumultuous period, when sex was almost always on my mind and the scenery, people, tramways and everything else with few exceptions have gone missing –but I would give a miss to a new trip to Egypt and such places where there is an overwhelming bustle, a sense of havoc and lack of space, the continuous, aggressive push for sales and apparent mocking of foreigners, at least this was the experience of a trip taken in the middle of the nineties…
Garet Bowen is called Garnett by his mother-in-law –‘Mother- in-law what law says she's my mum’ – is the alter ego of Kingsley Amis – the mother-in-law experience is another one that offers similarities, albeit in my case, it would not reach the stage of legal consecration, for I had had an affair, maybe a fling as seen from the other side, with Miss Romania, sometime in the same nineties, only her mother opposed the union and therefore it would not happen, albeit we could be sure that the woman (the younger) was not all that convinced she wants to become the better half, or else when would have gone against the parental interdiction, after all, she had chosen me for some months, knowing full well this was anathema, for she introduced me as a platonic friend, clearly she would have said he is gay in another context and maybe she did and that is why the Leo would come to my place enraged and thirsty for blood, when she would eventually find that the precious offspring was staying with me…
Bowen agrees with the successful publisher Bennie Hyman to try and trace a mysterious author, Wulfstan Strether, for some money and the chance to write an article…the writer that had managed to keep his identity secret had just sent a manuscript and the publishers need to assess the authenticity, they nicknamed him Buckmaster, apparently inspired by looking at a sex shop, or an outfit selling underwear and intimate items anyway…the hero would travel to the house of the man who pretends to be Strether, with his wife and three children in the first place, and then, towards the end of his stay in Portugal, Bowen would become the guest of the author or his shadow, with some amusing results.
A few incidents would add color and mirth, though for the hero, maybe anti-hero as well, it is a strain, for one of the aspects he dislikes about abroad (which he comes to enjoy so much, that he would be determined to repeat the experience as soon as possible and take the spouse for a trip next year, again) is the difference from the other countries and the Here in the title (he Likes It Here, remember) which is explained in the classic of psychology Influence by Robert Cialdini, among other masterpieces http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/05/i... - this is where we find about the principles of Influence and one that is affecting Bowen aka Kingsley would be Social Proof.
The alleged famous author is visited by a middle aged man accompanied by a sensual beauty, and the nervous host demands that Bowen takes the woman for a drink, so that he can a have a talk with the other guest and it looks for a while as if our friend will have sex with the gorgeous unknown, the way things progress, until he is…bitten by a hornet and the so far inevitable progress is stopped, then somewhat remorsefully, the man thinks of his spouse, who is by now back in Britain, because her mother had fallen in.
This experience and a scandal between Buckmaster or the man claiming to be him and his driver would help solve the mystery, all helped by something the fraud or the genuine author says at the tomb of Henry Fielding, where the classic is praised, but nonetheless we hear that he cannot be placed next to the colossus of the twentieth century (something of the kind, I do not put here the exact words) and this would help solve the enigma and we hear that it is the authentic Strether, it could not be otherwise…
Some other favorite quotes – ‘Bowen had nothing against Graham Greene, but wished he would die soon, so that his lecture on him would not keep on having to have things added to his lecture every eighteen months or so...with a new book out…A couple of months abroad would be like making a determined start on Finnegan’s Wake, an experience bound in itself to be arduous and irritating, but one which could conceivably render available a rich variety of further experiences…’
Going to bed with her was fun, as if the Iliad or some other grueling cultural monument had turned out to be a good read as well as a masterpiece…
“Bowen thought about Fielding…Perhaps it was worth dying in your forties if two hundred years later you were the only non-contemporary novelist who could be read with unaffected and whole-hearted interest, the only one who never had to be apologized for or excused on grounds of changing taste…And how enviable to live in the world of his novels, where duty was plain, evil arose out of malevolence and a starving wayfarer could be invited indoors without fear…Did that make it a simplified world…Perhaps, but that hardly mattered beside the existence of a moral seriousness that could be made apparent without evangelical puffing and huffing’
Amis's third novel, from 1958, is widely seen as one of his slightest and lightest. Perhaps not the best Amis to start with.
A man called Bowen is our protagonist. He doesn't like the idea of going 'Abroad', which, for him, basically means the hot southern European countries lining the Mediterranean. He then has to spend a prolonged stretch of time, with his family, in Portugal.
Bowen acts as commentator on the stupidity and unpleasantness that we meet in the course of the novel and, intelligent, skeptical and wary, he is suitably witty and skilled in this role. Amis's use of irony makes Bowen a target, also, of the satire - the central theme is Bowen's peculiar Little Englander prejudices about foreigners and going abroad.
It's a book littered with literary references - Bowen is a writer and a critic - and it's wittily funny throughout. However, the Portugal section of the narrative, which is most of the book, lacks structure and seems a bit like a loose set of notes, impressions and experiences. It drags in places, for example when talk of the Portuguese dictator Salazar intrudes into the narrative. Perhaps, in sections like these, Amis was trying to lift up the loosely-structured impressionistic material to a higher plane but the the discourse on dictatorship doesn't go anywhere and seems forced.
There's not much of a story here but this light-weight Portuguese adventure, seen through the eyes of our funny, satirically-minded narrator, is an easy and diverting enough read.
Typically witty short novel by Kingsley Amis. Well-written but light and well-paced. Ironically, given its theme, it would make a great book for a holiday. It describes two months in the life of Garnet Bowen, Welsh-educated English junior academic and budding playwright, who is a xenophobic (in the sense of fear rather than hatred) Little Englander who distrusts foreigners and "abroad", feeling that life in his comfortable English rut is preferable to stepping out of his comfort zone and trying to understand people who have different rules and customs and refuse to speak English. A combination of factors lead him to travel on a "working holiday" to Portugal with his family, where discomforts, difficulties and mishaps befall him. The "working" part creates the subplot of a little detective work about a famous, reclusive author, Wulfstan Strether, who has not been heard from or of for many years but has suddenly sent a manuscript to Bowen's employer. Strether (who may or may not be a fake), turns out to be as pretentious as he sounds, and supplies an excuse for some gentle fun-poking at the literary world and "great men" generally. And, avoiding spoilers, that's it really. It rattles along very nicely, there is no padding and few dull bits, and some very good jokes which I won't quote to avoid spoiling the fun. Very enjoyable.
Comprei este livro porque foi uma oportunidade e também porque mesmo antes disso o título me tinha chamado a atenção. Só quando peguei nele para o ler vi o antetítulo: «O romance que a atribulada estada em Portugal inspirou». Expectativas altas portanto.
Mas não me encheu as medidas e, para dizer a verdade, tive de fazer um esforço para passar o primeiro terço do livro. Além de não o achar tão divertido quanto é aclamado, deparei-me com inúmeras referências culturais que me são desconhecidas.
Em resumo, Bowen é um antigo jornalista e agora freelancer, pai de três filhos, a quem lhe propõem a missão de vir a Portugal com a família investigar a verdadeira identidade de um misterioso escritor. Tudo se passa no período do Estado Novo, o que tem o seu quê de curioso, uma vez que tudo é visto aos olhos de um inglês (este é um dos romances mais autobiográficos de Amis). Fala-se do estranho hábito de todas as casas portuguesas terem bidé, de ser possível «fugir» à tropa graças a atestados médicos, de novos ricos. Mas também de um país com sol e barato, com raparigas que lançam sinais quase ilegíveis.
Se alguém tiver lido, e gostado, gostava de ler a vossa crítica.
Amis' writing is a delight, as usual. Especially enjoy his indirect, oblique approach.
Notes: I read the 1993 Chivers Press (England) Large Print edition. (280 pages) 10... I like it here, you see. (vs going abroad) 17... as close as an oyster (tight-lipped) 25... acute prejudice about abroad ... a disinclination for change, dislike of fixing up complicated arrangements, and a fear of making a fool of himself. 28... Portugal 39... typo? Graham Greene's The Quite (sic) American 52... risk of daughter going overboard, drowning 76... if she were compressed to 3/4 of her actual width, she would have been very attractive 108... ... Good. ... Better. ... Best. 113... when Bowen tried to probe [Strether] further, he met w/a reticence that could not be penetrated w/out seeming, or indeed being, vulgarly inquisitive. 123... doss (Brit.) sleeping in a convenient place 186... motor-bike ride ... If he lived, he would ever after work harder, do more with the kids, ... Add 'eat and drink less' to his everafterward list. 241... Barbara's letter ... x (bitey one) X (open mouth one) 274... going abroad teaches you how important small comforts are.
Such a shame, really. The start was strong, I was giggling the whole time hearing grumpy Bowen moan about the prospect of “abroad”. But I think it was once Oates was introduced, man, I completely lost interest. It was less about the crazy things happening, and more about the “wild and silly” things these characters were saying, mainly their opinions on political matters. As you may or may not know, I have a very loose grasp on politics. I can laugh at your average stereotypes, sure, but a deep criticism of our Labour party? Sorry, I can’t follow. Call me stupid, please I do it every day, but that’s just how it is.
eponymous sentence: p8: "...I like it here, you see...."
ocr: p112: Afilhado stepped without fuss into a pair of wet plimsolls--they somehow yielded a plausible harmony with his military style jacket and clerical. collar--and told Bowen a story to tide him over this otherwise rather unrewarding interval.
p130: "Born." "Sim," she said, laughing in a very healthy, out-of-doors way. "Muito born."
p153: He'd have been perfectly safe in sticking to. humility, reverence and what-have-you.
Four books in but haven't acclimatized yet. Kingsley's likely going to be a miss for me.
The title is spoken by the main character as part of his objections to the moral, practical and literary complications arising from foreign travel. The irony that the life he claims to like is beset with minor and major frustrations is unexplored. The most successful part of the book is the Somerset Maugham/Henry James reclusive author, but you can see why Amis thought it his worse book, incorporating straightforward reportage and lightly-veiled depictions of his friends. I discuss this in episode 25 of Amis Papers podcast.
My literary journey with Kingsley Amis continues to delight, this time with his sharp and sardonically humorous novel, "I Like It Here". As with all of Amis's works, this book is brimming with his trademark wit, but it's the acute cultural observations and incisive social commentary that place it firmly in the 5-star category for me.
In "I Like It Here", we follow the hapless Wendell Wilkie Garnett, a discontented playwright who finds himself reluctantly swept off to Portugal for a work assignment. Garnett's initial aversion to Portugal, founded on a stubborn refusal to appreciate anything beyond his beloved England, eventually evolves into a grudging fondness, providing a satirical lens through which Amis scrutinises both British and Portuguese idiosyncrasies.
What struck me about this novel is Amis's ability to create characters who are at once exasperating and engaging. Garnett is a quintessential English curmudgeon, grumbling about foreign customs and pining for his home comforts. Yet, his humorous observations, internal monologues, and social blunders make him strangely endearing. We may shake our heads at his obstinacy, but we can't help but chuckle at his exploits and empathise with his predicament.
Amis's mastery of dialogue is on full display in this novel. His characters come alive through their conversations, their personalities expressed as much through what they say as how they say it. Whether it's the sharp repartee between Garnett and his wife or the awkward exchanges with his Portuguese hosts, every dialogue crackles with authenticity and wit.
Above all, "I Like It Here" is a love letter to England - albeit one penned with a sarcastic grin. Garnett's nostalgia for home, despite its flaws and eccentricities, is something many readers can relate to, and Amis captures this sentiment with remarkable precision and poignancy. His portrayal of the British character, in all its glory and absurdity, is both affectionate and acerbic - a tribute that feels quintessentially Amis.
With its incisive cultural observations, engaging characters, and sharp dialogue, "I Like It Here" is a quintessential Amis novel. I enjoyed every moment of this hilarious and thought-provoking exploration of identity and belonging, and I wholeheartedly award it 5 stars.
The main character isn't the most sympathetic in the world and the story is somewhat episodic, it felt at times like the novel wasn't entirely sure what it wanted to be or where it wanted to go. But maybe that is the point of it. Not totally unenjoyable, but not as good, in my opinion, as Lucky Jim.
Amis brings his unflappable voice to the comic vacation story—The Englishman Abroad. He wraps the amusements in a literary mystery tale, part of the vacation is spent investigating the legitimacy of a reclusive author, and I’m almost certain cultural differences keep me from grabbing all the charm at hand but it’s good fun and one gets enough jokes not to complain too much.
1958. A fairly early novel, apparently. He seems to be writing the book that his main character decides to write [at the end of the story]. My attention wavered in and out, but there were many very funny sentences and incidents, esp. in the first half, and he does well at very much exaggerating the Englishman who is determined to dislike 'abroad' and everything associated with it. At the same time, he does a good job of noting, and often illustrating, the things about touring abroad that make people feel uncomfortable or fearful or inadequate.
A minor theme is about successful novelists and their personalities, and we hear the protagonist's opinions on a number of them.
Remarkably many brief remarks that are hard to interpret as other than misogynist. Amis, or at least the protagonist, clearly feels highly uncomfortable about women in general.
I'm glad I read the book but am also glad it is a short one, as it does not too terribly enrich one's life.
"Gosto Disto Aqui" tinha tudo para ser uma boa leitura: um escritor de qualidade inquestionável, uma sinopse que desperta curiosidade, a promessa de ser "ferozmente divertido" e uma capa que chama a atenção do leitor em qualquer livraria. Mas foi um banho de água fria. Personagens apáticas que nos fazem bocejar e que vamos esquecer quando chegarmos à última página, um profundo desinteresse em melhorar o cenário e envolver o leitor, um relato autobiográfico que ficaria bem numa gaveta para gáudio do autor e sossego do leitor. Não é um livro mal escrito, mas é uma história que não aquece nem arrefece, e, sobretudo, que não deixa saudades.
Soothing and breezy, like certain old films in which nothing much happens but the sets are well-dressed and the dialog is clever (if unnatural) and the locale is exotic but safe. Martin Amis fans will recognize Mark, from his familial association, not his prose style (Papa doesn't give him much to do or say). Lot's of good one-liners here and nearly every chapter ends with an arched brow. The book ends that way too and didn't everybody have a good time? Yes. Quite. Not quite.
A weak novel. He must have felt that he could make some extra royalties out of stringing together his experiences in Portugal to form a novel. However it doesn't work. I bought it because I lived in Lisbon myself for 6 years in the 80s - but it brought few memories of that time back.
Would have been five stars, but that dinner party scene was murder to read. I suppose it was intended that way, but still.
Almost as funny as the novel itself are the Portuguese reviewers pretending to dislike the novel, no doubt in defense of their country's honor. Hilarious.
Far from his best work, but still amusing. This wanted more long passages of hilarity and more redeeming qualities for the deeply flawed protagonist. I had hoped for more.