tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19429374.post2803370239699359508..comments2024-01-05T11:53:12.251+00:00Comments on Irk The Purists: AmiscellanyIrk The Puristshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617703600027431810noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19429374.post-18752038763503942252008-09-08T09:53:00.000+01:002008-09-08T09:53:00.000+01:00Cheers Anonymous. If you were ever short of cash, ...Cheers Anonymous. If you were ever short of cash, you could sell it; I keep getting e-mails from book lists I signed up to back in the day, when I was still searching for a copy. At www.half.com, for example, the median price seems to be around $120.Irk The Puristshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15617703600027431810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19429374.post-38431131508758162662008-09-06T01:00:00.000+01:002008-09-06T01:00:00.000+01:00Ah takes me back, I got Invasion of the Space Inva...Ah takes me back, I got Invasion of the Space Invaders for Christmas back in 1981, and I must have devoured ever word 100 time, being an arcade addict at the time. It was a shock to find it the loft and realise it was by an author I admire. And I agree, the writing shines.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19429374.post-16471829538458674272007-02-26T13:39:00.000+00:002007-02-26T13:39:00.000+00:00I blow hot and cold on martin Amis. I haven't read...I blow hot and cold on martin Amis. I haven't read that many of his books. I read 'The Rachel Papers' which was amusing but a bit unmemorable. I have 'Time's Arrow' and another one of his whose title escapes me, on my shelves awaiting my attention, but the one I really liked was 'London Fields'. It's been praised and criticised all over the shop, but for me it's like a more literate Irvine Welsh. The characters are stylised but still real enough to be believable, and the resolution of the detail of their intertwining lives pulls you in until you really know and feel you care about them, something Welsh has never done for me. This is despite the fact that you wouldn't say you actually like any of the three main protagonists. Take all their good points and you might have enough to put together one decent person, but as individuals, they're all fuck-ups. I suppose it's Amis's way of exagerrating the flaws of ordinary people, until they become grotesques, that lifts an essentially mundane, soap-ish plot into the realms of David Lynchian nightmare. Come to think of it, Lynch could probably make a decent fist of directing a film of the book. Now then...BrianThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00445659683392057709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19429374.post-83373528889499792972007-02-20T20:03:00.000+00:002007-02-20T20:03:00.000+00:00Postscript: after a lot of scoping around the inte...Postscript: after a lot of scoping around the internet, I finally snagged a copy of Invasion Of The Space Invaders, for less than £150, but considerably more than £5.99 (courtesy of Abebooks). It arrived at the weekend, and I'm trying to handle it as gingerly as possible, given its expense. Despite this, I've had a quick flick through, and it's terrifically well written, harking back to the lightness of tone found in The Rachel Papers or Success, rather than the leaden, laboured, pre-millennial prose of, say, The Information or Heavy Water. I suppose the subject matter helps.Irk The Puristshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15617703600027431810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19429374.post-67366621075018421412007-02-16T09:15:00.000+00:002007-02-16T09:15:00.000+00:00as i've just mentioned over at mine, amis is one o...as i've just mentioned over at mine, amis is one of my partner bry's favourite writers; i've yet to read any myself. the village voice link piece is very interesting, thanks for that.<BR/><BR/>hmmmm, early books of which the author isn't proud. did you see the stephen king interview on tv a few weeks ago? that was fascinating. he wrote "carrie" in a week or something and threw it in the bin because he thought it was so crap. his wife rescued it.<BR/><BR/>when i was 15, i threw my diary from when i was 13 in the bin, and i deeply regret it now. and one of my exes stole 3 years of diaries from me, from my late teens, and that makes me very sad; i remember there was some good writing in there :( <BR/><BR/>i back up religiously now, i can't risk that happening again.Jude Calvert-Toulminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12112993362990797264noreply@blogger.com