Other People

This is one of Martin Amis's earlier novels, written during the phase where he seemed to be aiming to emulate the early career of Nabokov in producing short, stylish novels that play with the conventional rules of reality and narrative structure. Other People can seem perplexing, but I think it is essentially an interesting angle on the social phenomenon of downward mobility - well off people going off the rails and plunging into messy troubles - which was a prominent one in 1970s London. The heroine, Mary Lamb goes through an amnesiac process. She finds it difficult to remember nouns, common terms, the names of familiar objects. The whole world is a riddle for her. Thus a newspaper is a 'dirty sheath of smudged grey paper that came and went every day'. She wanders innocently through shabby London society, commented on by a mysterious narrator, leaving a trail of destruction wherever she goes. Through a mysterious policeman, Prince, she learns about Amy Hide, a girl who has disappeared. Amy appears to be Mary's doppelganger, another Nabokovian technique Amis has raided in this novel. Eventually, this strange netherworld comes into focus and it is revealed what has happened to Mary during her life. Other People may seem odd, but I think it is one of Amis's most stylish and heartfelt fictions. The character of Mary Hide is endearing in a way that Amis's characters rarely are. Amis himself has suggested that 'Other People' can be read as a sort of sequel to his later novel 'London Fields'. Readers of 'London Fields' who know how that book ends will have a useful lead into this one.

of the fiction that i've read by Amis, this one's my favourite. the opening is unforgettable; hallucinogenic, beautifully observed, carefully ordered. and then on to a cross-section of London life; the drunks with their endless sitting around in the living room; the would-be muggers who, with brilliant nonchalance, are described as doing something so depressing that practically no one else can bear to do it; the moneyed idlers with their tragically empty lives, their sleeping around and their Kamikaze deceits. one stylistic tic i could have lived without was the author's habit of repeat phrasing sentences. but the only genuinely damp squib in this case of literary fireworks was Amis's slightly juvenile obsession with murderers and murderees. as in London Fields, the ending is abrupt and offhand. having built up such a well-observed portrait of life, the end sequence feels amateurish and out of place, as if Amis doesn't have quite enough faith in his ability to chronicle life as it is, and must fall back on chicanery to hold his readership's attention.overall though, a phenomenally good piece of writing.

Often I find myself reading between MA and Jeanette Winterson. In many ways they are rather the light and dark side of the heart. While not as tremendous a book as "London Fields", "Other People" takes an intimate look within the daily human life, often turning these looks to challenge the reader to look within-have you ever noticed that even when you are not thinking of them the dark portions in your heart often caffeinate your mind (I'm merely writing out of my head and not quite quoting). JW often writes of the soaring heart of Love and Passion and MA as well, yet his perspective is rather more on the pragmatic side-when we break it is nearly impossible to be put back together again. I devoured this novel and my only regret was that it came to an end. I could have followed the amnesiac Mary through her discovery of humanity for months.

This was my first foray into the world of Amis and I am very happy that I tried this guy out. Very impressive. Amis is truly gifted. By his brilliant use of the English language, he gets the reader to look at things his way. While this is the goal of all writers, not many are as successful as Amis. The only drawback, hence the four stars instead of five, is the ending. While it was a very intriguing novel, I was left thinking that I had missed something by the end of the book. Either that, or Amis got a little tired of writing and ended it prematurely. All in all, however, it was well worth the read.