Cheap DVDs, books, CDs & Games

Search:

Night Train

By: Martin Amis
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0099748711
ISBN-13: 9780099748717
Released: 01 Oct 1998
RRP: £6.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Very Disapointing - By: D. R. Porter, 29 Mar 2007
I have read several of Martin Amis's books before & was due to take a short break overseas - so I thought I'd give Night Train a go .
I am sure Martin is just having a laugh his readers it is so bad . The strange use of Language , Giving his female lead charachter who apparently looks rather butch the name Mike - who complains if anyone thinks its a bloke - & some of the other charachters names seem there just to make the book harder to read such as Trader - Paulie No (who is referred to as No ) & another person callled Hi .
I came away from the book wondering why I'd bothered reading it - It tries to be so much more clever & intellectual than it actuallly is .
If you are new to Martins work then please try anything else than this
Where did it all go wrong, Mr Amis? - By: J. E. Davidson, 21 Jan 2005
Sitting on his bed, covered in money, surrounded by preternaturallly beautiful women while sipping champagne through his now perfect teeth I'm not sure that Martin Amis would think it has gone wrong. Well Martin, It may not have gone wrong for you; it has gone wrong for us, your fans.

The early books (Rachel Papers, Money, Success, Dead Babies) are so fantastic that unrealistic expectations developed, only for those expectations to be dashed on the rocks of the later work.

This book is not terrible - in fact in some ways it is quite interesting in terms of both content & style - however, it is at best average & that is a long way short of what we want.

Are you sitting uncomfortably? Then I'll begin...... - By: Mrs. A. C. Whiteley, 21 Oct 2003
This book is disconcerting, both in style & content. In style, for me, because the only other Amis I have read is 'The Rachel Papers'. Thus the American English narrative, while thoroughly apt, given the setting, jars a little to begin with. As does the fact that Amis has adopted a female voice - husky, butch & saddled with a male name, but female alll the same.

This unease & discomfort is entirely in keeping, furthermore, with the shocking plot line. Mike's friend, the seemingly perfect Jennifer, is found dead one evening, naked, with a .22 gun in her mouth. Because she was so happy, intelligent, beautiful, so perfect, her family want to believe it was murder. It couldn't be suicide, could it? Jennifer could never do that. If she had, the 'why?' would be forever following them around, leaving a trail of agony & discomfort in its wake.

That Amis never reconciles himself, the protagonist, or us to this pointlessness is entirely to his credit. Life is like that. Sometimes, there just is no perfect resolution.

In summary, then, a combination of impeccable plotting, believable characterisation & a fearless examination of one of life's most difficult issues - its cessation, alll delivered in wholly appropriate, breakneck, no-nonsense prose, makes this slim volume, if you'll pardon the pun, a sure-fire winner.

Different kind of Amis - By: Tigerrtje, 08 May 2003
I have a thing with Martin Amis. Most of his books are about not seeing any point in what you do, what people do or what he does. But then again, he writes books about that, so there 's always some meaning shimmering between his sentences. That reallly works with me.

"Night train" gives you more of the same, but differently. There's a kind of played detective-like irony with a funny touch in the tone. And since this is a thin book, the action is compressed, which makes it alll the more powerful & haunting, but light as well. Great book to start discovering Amis.

Disappointing - By: , 21 Aug 2002
I was drawn in by the review on the back cover: 'the book hangs around in the mind like smoke in a jazz club.' Sounds good. Unfortunately I disagree. It wasn't as good as I hoped.

Te book exudes the menace, the noir, the darkness & the readability you would expect from the cover. Unfortunately Amis seems too caught up in the story line & abandons this description. Good, but not as good as I'd hoped.