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\nHere’s the first thing I thought of when I heard the news and it may be tangential but whatever: <\/p>\n
I was reading an interview with him once, and he went on and on for about 2 minutes about a poem he loved. He said it helped him as a writer. Every time he read it, it reminded him of the mindset one should have as a writer. See things fresh, or try to. Don’t fall back on received wisdom. NEVER rely on the pat phrase. NEVER resort to cliche. Being like this takes discipline. It’s not automatic. It’s a practice. And the poem Amis talked about was there for him as an example. <\/p>\n
I was very intrigued by how Amis talked about the poem. I had never read the poem. I hadn’t even heard of it. I looked it up immediately, read it, and it instantly became an all-time fave. I was stunned by this poem and every time I re-read it I feel the same awe, I feel what Martin Amis said he felt.<\/p>\n
So thank you Martin Amis, and for lovers\/personalizers of literature everywhere, for loving stuff like you do, and for passing on the word.<\/p>\n
A Martian Sends a Postcard Home<\/big> (1979) Caxtons are mechanical birds with many wings they cause the eyes to melt I have never seen one fly, but Mist is when the sky is tired of flight then the world is dim and bookish Rain is when the earth is television. Model T is a room with the lock inside \u2013 for movement, so quick there is a film But time is tied to the wrist In homes, a haunted apparatus sleeps, If the ghost cries, they carry it with sounds. And yet, they wake it up Only the young are allowed to suffer with water but nothing to eat. alone. No one is exempt At night, when all the colours die, and read about themselves \u2013 UPDATE: My brother was the big Martin Amis fan, and I was familiar with him mainly because I was a fan of Christopher Hitchens, and they were, famously, BFFs, along with Salman and Ian and a couple others. I also paid very VERY close attention to what writers supported Salman Rushdie during the fatwa and which ones wussed out. (Same thing with Charlie Hebdo, but I digress.) But what’s interesting to look back on and remember is just how huge he was, how omnipresent, that even someone like myself – who didn’t specifically follow him – was aware of what he was doing. I read his essays. I remember some of the reviews of his book on Stalin. And the furor he seemed to cause periodically. He had BEEFS with people. All those guys did, sometimes with each other. But what I am struck by is how … the culture, as they say, was so different then – and it was such a short time ago, really. The 1990s. Where there wasn’t some central place for a “discourse” being whipped into a frenzy on a 24-hour news cycle (i.e. Twitter). There were dust-ups and headlines and scandals, but you found out about them the old-fashioned way. Newspapers. And so books came along which seemed to just TAKE OVER. Like Infinite Jest. And you could read a couple of reviews, but you didn’t have the noise of “discourse” in your head. You were just kind of a part of the culture, and so you were aware of things that got big enough for you to be aware of, and you weren’t up-to-the-minute up to date on every mean thought, hot take, fanboy gush, and etc. This was all brought back to me (again, it’s amazing how long ago it feels) when I read Dan Kois’s piece on Slate about Amis, and that famously high advance he got, which made headlines around the world, and even though there wasn’t a Twitter to coalesce around a discourse, there were articles and interviews and shots fired and long pieces quoting every writer on the planet, weighing in on the huge advance, and Amis’ expensive dental work, and … and … and … My point is: I wasn’t even reading Martin Amis’ books at the time but I remember the scandal, I remember following it, because it interested me. It was a time when scandals had to get huge enough to even MAKE IT to people. Twitter is all-scandal all-the-time and then the collective whirls on to the next thing. Anyway, I thought I’d share Kois’ piece<\/a> because I thought it was good and really captures a certain moment in time and Amis’ dominance in it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s the first thing I thought of when I heard the news and it may be tangential but whatever: I was reading an interview with him once, and he went on and on for about 2 minutes about a poem … Continue reading
\nBy Craig Raine<\/em><\/p>\n
\nand some are treasured for their markings \u2013<\/p>\n
\nor the body to shriek without pain.<\/p>\n
\nsometimes they perch on the hand.<\/p>\n
\nand rests its soft machine on ground:<\/p>\n
\nlike engravings under tissue paper.<\/p>\n
\nIt has the property of making colours darker.<\/p>\n
\na key is turned to free the world<\/p>\n
\nto watch for anything missed.<\/p>\n
\nor kept in a box, ticking with impatience.<\/p>\n
\nthat snores when you pick it up.<\/p>\n
\nto their lips and soothe it to sleep<\/p>\n
\ndeliberately, by tickling with a finger.<\/p>\n
\nopenly. Adults go to a punishment room<\/p>\n
\nThey lock the door and suffer the noises<\/p>\n
\nand everyone\u2019s pain has a different smell.<\/p>\n
\nthey hide in pairs<\/p>\n
\nin colour, with their eyelids shut.<\/p>\n