The Rachel Papers (Paperback)

The books narator, Charles Highway, is the most charasmatic and endearing charactor in a book since Holden Caufield. The story he tells is a simple one concerning a short time in a young mans life when he has his first proper realtionship. The basic storyline - Charles vows to have a sexual relationship with an older women before he reaches 20, and is prepared to use every means possible to impress the girl he finds (Rachel).

The books is funny and witty as well as touching. Don't be put off by the crude lanuage, Martin Amis has some serious things to say and his observations on teenage attidutes are frightingly accurate. This is a very relevent book. If you looking for non stop action, then look else where, but if your looking for a funny and moving novel that won't take long to read (but an age to forget) then I can't recommend this enough. Ignore people who say the book is too high on crude sexual content, this is nessary to accuratly portray teenage attidutes to sex. Amis is a very hard hitting writer who doesn't hold back in what he says, so the easily offened may be, well, offended by this book.

This, as the title of my review says, is the best book I have ever read. I admire Amis for his bravery and his ability to create a charater so flawed and then have you almost weeping for him. If you liked The Catcher In The Rye or A Clockwork Orange, you should love this

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Having read the book at the same age as its protagonist, nineteen, I found the way in which Amis gets inside the mindset of that age unnervingly brilliant. In the repulsive yet compelling (and in this way prototypically Amisian) character of Charles Highway he not only deconstructs the adolescent psyche from the inside out, but forces readers of Highway's age to do the same to themselves. As such I consider it required reading for male teenagers.

However, it is highly recommendable to readers of any age or sex. Highway is surely one of the greatest characters ever created; the novel's brilliance is derived from this, and no further embellishments are necessary. This is character vile enough to reuse a condom, yet meticulous enough to keep individual notebooks about each member of his family. One highlight is his Anxiety Top Ten. Without giving away Highway's biggest problems I'll list the bottom end: "(7) Being Friendless (8) Insanity (9) Rotting Feet (10) Pimple in Left Nostril."

Highway's arrogant precociousness, shameless egotism and almost unbelievable repellence make for a unique narrative voice (the book is in the first person), which is simultaneously hilarious, foul and cringe inducing. The very essence of adolescence then.

It is noticeable that The Rachel Papers is the work of a young writer, but it is clearly the work of a great one and typically the work of Martin Amis. His way with words is less dynamic than usual, but more enthusiastic, and perfectly suited to his narrator. It would be possible to criticise some of the other characters, particularly Highway's seducee, Rachel, as being somewhat undeveloped, but they are all drawn without a line out of place, and if they seem flat, or neglected by the author, this can be attributed to Highway's self-centredness.

This is a flawlessly written novel in that the narrative voice never misses a step, and nothing ever falls out of place. The emotional core of the story is hidden beneath a perfectly measured layer of lightness. There is always some noticeable weight, but it is largely hidden beneath Highway's character and this makes him even more repugnant and entrancing, and makes The Rachel Papers an exceptional book.

I think the people that would enjoy this book the most are possibly males around the same age as, and who identify at least somewhat with, Charles Highway. Ultimately, beyond the hilarity of the prose, it's quite a sad and moving book. It maybe slightly immature for the older reader, but then again, it is exuberantly funny and cleverly written.

The main accusation levelled at Martin Amis about this book is that it is almost entirely autobiographical, a claim he refuted to some degree in Experience. This didn't stop it winning the Somerset Maugham Award, and it won't stop you enjoying this great piece of writing.