Lucky Jim
Back to the list, and I thought I'd go for some comedy this time with Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis.
This follows the trials and tribulations of Jim Dixon, a university teacher in a new university History department. He has little interest in his subject, plans his classes around attracting the pretty female students and spends a lot of time worrying about whether his contract will be terminated at the end of the year.
I have to admit that I had rather a love-hate relationship with this book. I found the first couple of chapters like dragging myself through a huge bog of boredom (ok Amis probably has a better turn of phrase than me, I admit). However, then I took it with me for a 2 hour train journey and suddenly it came to life. Maybe it is the sort of book that you need to sit down and appreciate, rather than snatching a few pages here and there on the bus and tube. Anyhow, I had no difficulty in reading it non-stop for the whole journey, and it almost made me laugh out loud!
I particularly enjoyed the description of the hangover which in part triggers Jim's troubles:
"His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he'd somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by the secret police. He felt bad"
I get the feeling that this book is probably a lot better than I have given it credit for, and that I should probably have given it more of my attention to do it justice.
May well be worth revisiting at some point in the future, but for now, onwards and upwards.
This follows the trials and tribulations of Jim Dixon, a university teacher in a new university History department. He has little interest in his subject, plans his classes around attracting the pretty female students and spends a lot of time worrying about whether his contract will be terminated at the end of the year.
I have to admit that I had rather a love-hate relationship with this book. I found the first couple of chapters like dragging myself through a huge bog of boredom (ok Amis probably has a better turn of phrase than me, I admit). However, then I took it with me for a 2 hour train journey and suddenly it came to life. Maybe it is the sort of book that you need to sit down and appreciate, rather than snatching a few pages here and there on the bus and tube. Anyhow, I had no difficulty in reading it non-stop for the whole journey, and it almost made me laugh out loud!
I particularly enjoyed the description of the hangover which in part triggers Jim's troubles:
"His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he'd somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by the secret police. He felt bad"
I get the feeling that this book is probably a lot better than I have given it credit for, and that I should probably have given it more of my attention to do it justice.
May well be worth revisiting at some point in the future, but for now, onwards and upwards.
posted by Kate at 11:47 AM
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