From a British review of Times Arrow:
"Every once in a while, there's a prize-winning, well-written novel released to critical acclaim that's also readable. This year, that novel has got to be "Time's Arrow" by British writer Martin Amis. It's the remarkable, intense, imaginative and eminently enjoyable story of Tod T. Friendly, an American doctor working in an unnamed hospital in an unnamed city. The story is told from the point of view of a sort of doppelganger spirit, imprisoned within the body and mind of Friendly, who detects Friendly's emotions, but cannot affect Friendly's actions. Oh, and the doppelganger experiences Friendly's life backwards, starting with his death, and ending with his birth. The novel that emerges from this premise an an incredible feat of storytelling, beautifully easy to read, swimming with visual images and so startling that it can stare unflinchingly at what is certainly the ultimate horror of the twentieth century and still somehow be entertaining."
You may need to find the definition of "doppelganger" as it it critical to your understanding of this article's meaning!
ReplyDeleteChirp...chirp...first person to comment (with a salient point) gets 15 points extra credit on the dreaded portfolio project...
ReplyDeleteWhen I hear someone say,"the ultimate horror of the twentieth century," I think of the Holocaust. This could turn out to be a rather interesting novel.
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