The War Against Cliche is the kind of book I love re-re-re-reading. In it, you can find lots of reviews that Martin Amis wrote since the first days of his career as a literary reviewer until 2001. He mostly reviews literary works, ranging from popular novels to the canons, but you can also find several reviews on non-fiction non-literary works like Hillary Clinton’s book and Andy Warhol’s diary. All are reviewed in the holy Amisian way. They’re sharp, they’re to the point, they’re honestly admiring or denouncing.
For the ones on literary works, you can find how Amis repeatedly quotes sentences or words that highly show cliches. He gives sharp remarks as if addressed mainly to the author of those reviewed works. But, once he shows a huge interest in the book, he gladly and sincerely gives praises. Look at how he reviews Michael Chricton’s The Lost World, and compare it to his reviews on Vladimir Nabokov’s works.
In his reviews, you can find how being a Amisian reviewer is quite a hard job. While most reviewers review ONLY what they read in the books they review, Amis reviews the book AND compare this book with 1) other books previously (or sometimes later) written by the same author, 2) other books in its genre in the history of world AND judges whether this particular book is good or bad. Well, you may say that this kind of review MIGHT ONLY BE WRITTEN by a book-addict novelists or literary critics. That’s why, it’s no wonder if you hear people call Martin Amis a strongwilled practical literary critic of our age.
Well, just enjoy it, pal. I bet you won’t regret your decision to read this book. Btw, everytime I plan writing my reviews on literary book, I read any single review in this book. Hehehe… it’s kinda review bible to me. Hehehe…
