Visiting Mrs. Nabokov and other excursions
by Martin Amis (Harmony Books)
by J. Austin Rutledge
Did you ever notice that the “celebrated” authors of today are always old? I mean, how wrinkled and weathered does a writer have to be to become famous? It seems like all of the famous authors must meet some twisted criteria of being possessed to shit marble and fart dust. This doesn’t seem right to me. Of all the “well-respected” literary writers of today, virtually none are young! It’s as if the younger intellectual crowd gets disregard as unimportant, or having little to say. Well, thank goodness then for the excellent and skillful writings of an Englishman who, in his early forties, has risen to the top of his sophisticated craft, Martin Amis!
The son of British novelist, Kingsley Amis, young Martin holds the torch for the future’s great novelists, satirists and critics. Martin Amis (as anyone who has read him can tell you) is a writer for the ’90s. His books are reflections of what he sees before him in the here and now. In the last few years, Amis has given such gems as Money, Success, Times Arrow (my favorite) and the novel many felt to be the best written in 1991, London Fields. It is in his latest release, Visiting Mrs. Nabokov and other excursions, that we can see this clever and virile mind at work; Amis offers his social commentary with a method so natural and fresh that it breathes.
With over thirty brilliant little essays in this book, Amis fleshes out a depiction of Western Civilization that is about as dead-on accurate as a punch in the nose. Mr. Amis displays a wit and insight that stays with his readers long after his books are finished.
In this release, Amis comes off as a brilliant impresario/tour-guide splashing color upon the many experiences he delves into. Whether it’s interviewing Madonna, traveling with a rowdy British soccer team, or covering the 1992 Republican Convention, Martin Amis has an artist’s explorative eye and a lucid pen.
At times Amis’ depictions can take on a candid, amusing tone, “When it comes to flying, I am a nervous passenger but a confident drinker and Valium-swallower.” And then,with subsequent essays, Amis switches gears, revealing to us the humorous discrepancies of life; try reading “The Rolling Stones at Earl’s Court”. Or, as in his essay on America, arsenal of nuclear weapons, Amis’ words deeply move us. “The nuclear debate is a debate conducted with our fathers- but it is about our children… we will have to take deep breaths, wipe our eyes and stare into theirs, and tell them what we’ve done.”
Visiting Mrs. Nabokov and other excursions is a delightful book of essays about modern times, that entertains and educates. Amis’ keen and pervasive tone of voice bears a resemblance to an afternoon’s talk with an erudite scholar. Keep you eye on the future for this contemporary genius. He has the poise to stay around for a long time.
Enjoy him now while we’re all still young.
