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Heavy Water And Other Stories (2000)

Heavy Water and Other Stories (2000)

Book Info

Author
Rating
3.4 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
037570115X (ISBN13: 9780375701153)
Language
English
Publisher
vintage

About book Heavy Water And Other Stories (2000)

Several years ago, perhaps many years ago, I decided Martin Amis's fiction was not worth reading because he was a snarky Brit who wasn't all that funny despite his barbed wit and talent for replicating the various accents of Britain's various social classes. Then I came back to Amis a few years ago and read some novels I liked because they were full, rounded, comical but serious. Now I've made the mistake of trying to read a collection of Amis's stories called Heavy Water that comprises tales written from the 70s into the 90s. I suppose I wanted to see if I was wrong when I first wrote him off. Well, I wasn't. It's just that over time he has become a much better writer. Back then Martin Amis wrote stories as if they were basically jokes. He'd develop a counterfactual conceit--for instance, that poems were treated like blockbusters by Hollywood moguls--and explore how weird that would be. Pretty weird. Or he would spin out a tale told by a janitor on Mars, eager to communicate with earth (or earthlings). Or he would describe a world in which the gays dominated the scene and the heterosexuals (the hets) were forced to play the role of the gays (mocked, dissed, what have you.) Lots of upside down and inside out stuff. Wouldn't it be funny if this . . . ? Wouldn't it be funny if that . . . ? I won't belabor the point. One can see even in Amis's early stories the striking wit, gift with words and images, and pulsing cultural awareness that ultimately made him a significant writer. But he wasn't really interesting; he was the son of a better-known writer who worked his way through his apprenticeship and kept going. Good for him. Skip the early stuff and read what he's writing now.

The stories in this collection vary wildly in terms of length, subject matter, characterization and literary device. Amis moves effortlessly across continents, depicting British and American culture convincingly and creating vivid and unique characters. The stories here have an experimental feel and as with all experiments, some work better than others. Amis is strongest when portraying British working class people, with that classic British dry humor and wit. This is best illustrated in “State of England,” which also deftly handles race relations in modern, ethnically diverse London. “What Happened to Me on My Holiday” is written in a made up dialect that is difficult to grasp at first but worth putting in the effort. It turns out to be a surprisingly effective technique for portraying a young boy’s first experiences with death.I struggled with “The Janitor on Mars,” an odd juxtaposition of intelligent (if sadistic) life on mars and pedophilia in an orphanage here on earth. It was a long read, heavy on scientific jargon that became tiresome for me. Most of these stories have been published elsewhere, three in The New Yorker, as well as in Esquire, Granta and other publications. So clearly they enjoy some critical acclaim. A fun diversion from the ordinary but not for everyone.

Do You like book Heavy Water And Other Stories (2000)?

I finally get why so many people like Martin Amis and so many dislike Martin Amis. He is such a skillful prose stylist that his stories can be as hard to put down as they are to finish because of his nasty characters and view of the world.No, I do not like these stories very much but I admire the skill that went into writing them. Different people will prefer different stories, of course, but I favor the first and third where the author tries to get us to see the world differently by simple switches: in the first story screenwriters live the lives of poets and poets live the lives of screen writers. In the third, being gay is normal and being straight is controversial. While these both seemed clever for a while, both stories continued long past the point where I got the point. I'm not sure either did much to change my thinking about either matter.In sum: if you like Martin Amis, have fun, but I don't think I need to bother with him again.
—Mike Jensen

I read a lot of short story compilations and anthologies. It gives me a taste of different authors and wider range of genres to chew on. I read two anthologies concurrently these past weeks. One was better than the other. This collection by Martin Amis, a British writer, was not the better one.There was not a single common narrative or theme throughout this assorted collection, other than the fact that the stories were based in England. It touched on topics such as relationship, marriage, feminism and even the act of writing itself - but it proved dry, and at most times, felt tedious. There was even an entire story about an accountant's penchant for wanking himself (i'm not kidding) that was just bad through and through. Even the language / style used varied from standard queen's English to local dialects and slangs, and the last one was just a made up language (something like speaking with a blocked nose as in what the comedian Benny Hill used to do). I guess Mr Amis found it funny, but i doubt anyone else would.Frankly, i could hardly relate to any of the characters or stories here because the basic flair of writing a decent conversation is missing. Everything proved to be either truncated, or just blown out of portion.Only the lead story - Heavy Water - slotted in almost towards the end of the book proved bearable. But one gem does not a crown make. Sigh.I found this in a bargain bin, and i hate to say this, i'll probably return it there. It's safe to say it would be a long time before i pick up another book by Amis.~ Shob
—Shob

Picked up a lovely 1st edition hardcover in perfect condition for next to nothing in a lovely second hand bookstore in South Haven, MI when we were on holiday a few months ago. So its a collection of short stories mostly written in the 90s and with a couple of real gems. When Amis is biting and funny he is head and shoulders above everyone else. The satire about the movie business, applied to a poetry - 'his f-cking sonnet did forty million opening weekend' is wicked. And the story about the 'Straight District' in NY with the marginalised hetros campaigning for rights had just the right spot on details.
—Esther

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