joi, 6 octombrie 2022
marți, 4 octombrie 2022
luni, 3 octombrie 2022
I Want It Now by Kingsley Amis, author of the fabulous Lucky Jim, included on The All-TIME 100 Best Novels list, and more than twelve other masterpieces http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/05/lucky-jim-by-kingsley-amis.html - 10 out of 10
I Want It
Now by Kingsley Amis, author of the
fabulous Lucky Jim, included on The All-TIME 100 Best Novels list, and more
than twelve other masterpieces http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/05/lucky-jim-by-kingsley-amis.html
10 out of
10
This is
very awkward, for I see this novel as perfect, absolutely magnificent and yet,
it does not even have a Wikipedia page, on goodreads and other sites it looks
as if only a few hundred people have rated it and perhaps a few thousand have
had the chance to read it…this is one of those rare moments when I wish I had a
larger audience (than the two who may bother to reach the end of this note,
which comes after about 30 lines or so, spoiler alert) so that I could tell
them go ahead and read the book – which would have the downside that they may
then say ok, we have had enough of this chap (or Jap and sap, as Vassilikos
keeps saying in the divine I Want It Now) and we will stop having anything to
do with him…
There are a
few possibilities here, in order to explain my euphoria, all one needs to do is
think of the comedian that took If by Rudyard Kipling and gave it another
twist, instead of reaching the conclusion that ‘if all around you are losing
their head and you keep yours’, then you are a man my son, he says you need to
see a specialist and fast, which could be the most probable case here – nobody
saw much in this opus and for me it is a Magnum – but there are alternatives and
one that strikes me is that most readers do not have the time, or alas, the
predilection, and they limit themselves to the best known, acclaimed books by a
few celebrated authors and do not go on to read a dozen by the same.
In the case
of Kingsley Amis, there are at least a dozen chefs d’oeuvre if you ask me, and
I discovered I still have another dozen to finish, if not twice that, which
would surely help me reach euphoria in the near future, just as it happened for
Take A Girl Like You http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/take-girl-like-you-by-kingsley-amis-one.html and others - a list might be
provided at the end, or if not, you can search the net, or for my take on the subject
of this Magister Ludi, you can look for the name on the blog and, as they say
in this world of share, like and subscribe, stay tuned!
The main
reason why I love this novel might be the degree to which I identify with
Ronnie Appleyard, which seems on the one hand such a relatable fellow (Jap,
sap, as our Greek tycoon says) and the absolute role model for the average
human, one that has plenty of flaws, some of them visible in our protagonist,
and finds it difficult to see himself/herself/themselves in the superheroes
that have invaded the screens of the present…besides, to begin with, Ronnie is
quite obnoxious, to the point where the common reader would say, well, this is
where I am so much better that the ‘hero’ who is actually something of an
anti-hero, at least for some chapters, until some redeeming process comes into
place…
Even then,
we will not have a transformation that we see in Superman and much of the ‘art’
that is on offer now, and the main character stays accessible, he will still
have to work on his flaws and he knows, admits to it, so we know that the
couple will have something to keep them busy, after we close the book…I was
worried that the ending I like (we all want to see a bright future) will not be
in sight, but spoiler alert, I have not been disappointed and furthermore,
there is food for thought, we can envisage different scenarios, and we do not
have the easy exit of cheap novellas, the feuilletons that are shallow and
pointless…
The writing
is superb, divine and there is a feeling of envy, one would wish to have the
talent, skill, ease with words, inspiration, humor, and the twist of the phrase
that is absolutely glorious, but then why spend time writing (this note for
instance) and waste time you could spend enjoying the nectar and ambrosia of
the gods, Magister Ludi has so many novels for you to enjoy that as I have read
in the introduction once, I envy you, for you may just encounter this Supreme
joy and you enter a World like no other
Ronnie
Appleyard is a successful young man, we would call him a talk show host today,
and he evolves from being someone like Carlson (though this is a hyperbole) to
becoming more of a John King, under the influence of Simon Quick aka Simona or
Mona, the outré girl that he meets when attending a party – the anti-hero (he
is one at this stage) likes the woman and he tries to get her to bed, for we
know at that time that he is interested in money and sex, not so much in power,
but other things do not come into his radar so much…
I Want It
Now is also a fabulous satire that gives readers an insight into the world of
the rich, we see how selfish, abusive, ignorant, pretentious, evil (think Musk
and his tweets, or better still, the disgusting trump – the lack of a capital
letter is intentional here – with his inflated wealth, but immense vileness)
the wealthy can be, and the epitome of that is Lady Juliette Baldock, who
becomes an antagonist for our hero, the mother that has traumatized her
daughter, Simon, and wants to use Ronnie…
The latter
is at the start a reckless, self-indulgent, superficial, rather unlikely
protagonist, reminding me of One Fat Englishman http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html - he admits that he would have
married a woman for her fortune (only she had the face of a horse, thought Van
Gogh was studying at the time) and this is what he intends to do with Mona,
once he gets his plan working…
However,
Lady Baldock only intends for the man to amuse the girl, have sex with her, but
he is meant to be just an intermezzo, until she finds the rich man that will
fit the description, and a battle ensues, especially after Ronnie sees that he
is in love with Simon, his analysis says that he had fallen in love at first
sight – we might think Blink by Malcolm Gladwell http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html it is just that he would realize
this later, and it seems peculiar, for their rapprochement had gone rather
wildly, with the woman falling into his arms, asking the host of the party for
a…room, so that she can have sex with her man – when he says they can get to
his flat, she responds ‘I Want It Now’, for she was a spoiled brat at the time
– and this is one of the humorous scandals we have throughout this phenomenal
saga, which is also one of redemption, a bildungsroman, where we meet the main
characters when they are quite lamentable, and then we see them grow,
transform, get wings, fly to incredible heights, all powered by their love for
each other…
http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html