Yet another dirty story of a dirty man. “Money” is the story
of John Self, a commercial director working on his first feature Hollywood film
and all the ridiculous people from his life in London, in New York and Los
Angeles who he has to deal with.
In reality it’s another British story that seems to have the
moral that when men are young they are horrible narcissists and then they
eventually grow out of it and that’s OK- see also “A Clockwork Orange” for a
more extreme version of this. Like “Clockwork Orange,” “Money” has a genuinely likeable
protagonist who you can’t help but root for even as he engages in horrific
behavior. Perhaps it’s because the narrator is so kind to the reader, addressing
him or her often and kindly. It’s an interesting technique that works quite
well- like someone is telling you a story about what is currently happening to
them.
Another interesting note is the author, Martin Amis, places
himself in the novel as one of the characters. He’s a grumpy fella who makes a
lot of money but doesn’t know how to use it, according to Self. He is one of
the writers brought in to work on Self’s deeply troubled movie where every
actor is cast into a character that is their opposite- and it goes on from
there.
While it was a fun, if transgressive, story to read- it was
also hard to get into the story beyond “Here are some horrible people: Let’s
look at them being horrible.” I think it sits in it’s place on this list
because people like Hollywood-type living and they believe these people can’t
be normal people- they must be either gods or monsters. There wasn’t any
harmony to the melody if you catch my drift. It was a big old hunk of meat
without any garnish.
My reading has slowed down because my writing has picked up.
Time I would normally spend reading is now dedicated to writing, but I’m still
kicking along. Next up is “The Man who Loved Children” and “To the Lighthouse.”
