The Rachel Papers

Rating:
Summary: Raw, Rude, and Fun with a Capital "F"
Review: "Twenty may not be the start of maturity" asserts first-person narrator Charles Highway at the bottom of page one as he's about to leave his teens, "but, in all conscience, it's the end of youth." I discovered this book last year as I was about to leave my twenties, and I imagine it would have had a much more powerful impact on me had I read it ten years ago. That's not to say this book doesn't pack a punch for those already come of age. Part of that punch's force, I presume, is in semi-fruitless imagining of how I would have reacted back then.

Highway is hilarious in his cynical, pustule-ridden loathsomeness, and many a brooding young American or British intellectual with find aspects of him to identify with. He's blunt, he's crass, but he knows beauty when he sees it. He's also a schemer who manages to have enough sex to warrant several trips to the VD clinic--it's 1973, after all--but not to let that stop him. His pursuit of, attainment of and parting with the lovely Rachel of the title comprises an extraordinary pre-University summertime journey replete with references to famous English poets and sweaty bodily functions. The character he most reminds me of in another book is Philip Roth's Alexander Portnoy.

Amis does such an amusing job of drawing together the lofty and the base in this, his first novel, that I look much forward to his more widely-known works. "The Rachel Papers" will not appeal to everyone, but will achieve a special place in the libraries of angst-filled teens and their older selves.

Rating:
Summary: Highly sexed, precocious first novel
Review: 'The Rachel Papers' exhibits many of the hallmarks associated with first novels (especially those written when young - Amis was 23 when the Rachel Papers came out) by novelists who have gone on to become established writers receiving critical acclaim. On clear display in this short novel are the precociousness, lucid writing style, extensive vocabulary, self absorbtion and tinge of arrogance that marked the entry of a formidable talent on the writing scene.

For Amis fans, this novel is an interesting starting point to mark how Amis's style developed and expanded from here. But taken in isolation, the novel presents several interesting themes that set it in the genre of coming of age novels such as Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth, Julian Barnes's 'Metroland' and the cult classic 'Catcher in the Rye'.

The narrator, Charles Highway is a pustule ridden, bandy legged, highly intelligent and articulate teenager who manages to meticulously plan his way to a considerable score of sexual conquests - including a busty tartlet named Gloria, a path of sexual development working towards the ultimate aim of securing the mousy charms of Rachel herself.

Charles's precocious intelligence far outstrips his emotional development at this stage in his life - his standard reaction to a problem is to consider how, for instance, Keats or Joyce or Blake deals with it on the basis of his vast but immature knowledge of literature - preparing highly literate set piece seduction routines in advance in order to attract and bewitch Rachel, who comes across initially as a standard Bayswater sloane but increasingly garners the sympathy of the reader as Charles's harsh young hormones conquer her affections.

Sex is documented by Charles in the same meticulous detail as his study of literature - ecerything must be just as he has read. In one notorious scene, the lovemaking is described in cringing, training manual detail: 'And her stomach was so flat and her hip-bones so prominent that I had no problem working my hand down the slack. By way of a diversionary measure (as if she wouldn't notice) I stepped up the tempo of my kisses, harrying the corners of her mouth with reptile tounge. It must be so sexy. How can she bear it?' and so on. These scenes give us a pertinent insight into the control freak side of Charles's sexual immaturity, as well as an intrusive view into the young female anatomy of Rachel herself, who is portrayed as a frightened, passive toy, on which Charles can work his way towards sexual accomplishment.

By the end of the novel, Charles has undergone a clear watershed in his life. He is (more) sexually mature. He has encountered the risks of unwanted pregnancy. He has attempted repproachment with his reviled father by way of a carefully written letter and the bubble of academic arrogance that has built up through the novel has been curtly burst by his Oxford University interviewer. Like the rest of us, Charles has grown up the hard way. He, is in many ways, a bad character who hurts those he encounters along the way. But everyone who has passed through the painful rights of passage of those late teenage years will find much to amuse and empathise with in this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Charles Highway is so deliciously rude! One of Amis' best-drawn characters.

Rating:
Summary: A Refined "Youth in Revolt"
Review: I do love reading about conniving, too intelligent for their own good, manipulative, adolescent males. In "The Rachel Papers", Martin Amis has written a coming of age novel that rivals C.D. Payne's "Youth in Revolt". The only difference, and it's a glaring one, is that Amis is British. This means that anything the main character of this novel, Charles Highway, does/says is inherently more refined than that which Nick Twisp ever could. Even though Charles describes his body habits in gross detail and uses bad language ..., he's British and that makes it seem so much more... sophisticated.

In this story, it is the night of Charles' 20th birthday and he is recounting his last year as a teenager. He covers his familial relationships, his pursuit of an acceptance at Oxford, his pursuit of and relationship to the lovely Rachel. Most people don't change that much in a year, but Amis does a splendid job of showing Charles' move toward maturity. It is written in a very honest and very real way.

Because this is a British novel, it might be difficult to grab all the nuances/slang but that doesn't make it any less unreadable.

In short, this is a humorous book but not as laugh-out-loud funny as "Youth in Revolt". But then, it wouldn't be oh-so-British if it was, would it?

Rating:
Summary: Really, Really Good
Review: I LOVE THIS BOOK! I bought this book on a whim while on vacation with a couple of my friends and they ended up disgusted with me because I stayed in the hotel reading rather than going out with them. This is a typical coming of age story about a boy (the ubiquitous Charles Highway) and Rachel, the girl he plans on seducing but ends up falling for. Nothing new here, plotwise, but the novel works so well because of the narrative voice. Not since Holden Caulfield has an adoloescent boy come across so well in words. Martin Amis' true genius lies in his ability to capture the bravado, insecurity, and insight of a character on the verge of manhood. Truly extraordinary.

Rating:
Summary: The Rachel Papers
Review: Just read it. I thought the book was alright. Charles just seems like a typical teenager who thinks they know everything there is to know, is a bit disgusting and thinks about sex a lot(and getting it). I also had to the get out the old dictionary as Charles dazzled us with his elevated vocabulary. Despite this he still seemed a bit of a prannet.

This was Martin's first book and it seems semi-autobiographical as Charles's father is literary successful and he is also precocious and Oxbridge bound.

In last chapter involving Charles getting dissed at the University interview, i think was a bit of a come-uppance for him. Also Charles showed how immature he is by not telling Rachel she could have been potentially pregnant and then dumping her.

The character Norman was a bit of a grotesque spiv-like but still believable. Bit strange that he would have hooked up with Jenny his sister though.


Rating:
Summary: File 1, File 2, File 3...
Review: Ladies, read this one together with your man. I did! And it was wonderful. This is such a great book. Martin Amis takes us to a place that most just let pass by without a thought. The coming of age, leaving the "teen" years and entering a new world.

Charles Highway, is not that "average" person. He takes note of the people and events that happen in his life, yes, actual notes on them, and puts them into the appropriate files. Which brings us to "The Rachel Papers" Her very own file created by Charles, for Charles!

Charles is a very smooth and intelligent seducer, planner, player, schemer and con-man. Example...Rachel is coming over, rock posters are replaced by fine art posters, specific books are placed in strategic places around the room, as well as the musical choice to be playing as she enters the room. He definately is setting the stage. What starts out as a scheme to seduce and conquer Rachel, slowly turns into feelings of first love for Charles. Sending his logical head in to a tailspin. Leaving him confused and challenged as how to plot his next step. He's also dealing with his sister and brother-in-laws shaky marriage, his fathers' mistress, yet devotion to his marriage and family, his socialite mother, his involvement with two other girls, both of which keep his mind occupied with questions. As well as trying to schmooz his way into Oxford!

This book was a delight to read, we laughed out loud, and could identify with alot of what was written in these pages, the truths, to our amazement. Martin Amis' smooth style and keen insight, makes this a perfect read, for anyone of any age. One you may even read it for a second time, just because it was so good the first time around !!!

Don't pass this one by!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Martin Amis is seemingly one of those folks who are simply too smart for their own good. His intelligence percolates through his novels, including his first novel 'The Rachel Papers'. The prose is so well done it feels over-cooked. It is supposed to be the narration of an over-sexed pompous brat. Yet the vocabulary used would confound most Mensa members. Such intellectual arrogance wears thin after awhile despite some very humorous and touching moments. It overshadows the good.

'The Rachel Papers' is about a rather snotty nineteen year old trying to get into Oxford University, circa 1970. For some strange reason he documents the main characters of his life, including his love prospects. And in walks Rachel, a somewhat more balanced individual who seems to have some surprises of her own. Love (or near love), sex (very graphically detailed), and teenage trauma abound. Martin Amis also throws in some rather good observations of teenaged angst. But again, the overall style is one of intellectual arrogance. A shame really.

Bottom line: a story about brat with a limitless ego and libido. Good reading material? No, not really.

Rating:
Summary: One of Martin Amis' finest!
Review: Perhaps I am biased, being a Martin Amis fan AND in my early twenties, but I believe this to be one of the best coming of age novels since "A Catcher in the Rye" (yes, I know, how unoriginal). Of course, Charles Highway is a few years older than Holden Caufield, and the crude style of "The Rachel Papers" reflects that. There are raunchy observations throughout and Martin Amis' description is perfect. As writer Kinglsey Amis once said about his son Martin, "he carries the most mild incuriousities to a fanatical extreme." Yes, and that is why we love him so. Without resorting to predictable punch-lines, Amis show a keen eye for the shallow and self-obsessed interior dialogue of a soon-to-be adult. Not surprising, since Amis penned this novel (his first) when he was 24, or somewhere around there. The Charles Highway character is wonderfully developed and painfully familiar. You are sure to make friends with him early on, unless you are inhuman. Thanks.

Rating:
Summary: Not as well written as London Fields, but still very good.
Review: This was Amis' first novel. It was an interesting tale of a twenty year old. I wasn't sure whether it should be 3, 4, or 5 stars. I guess I made it five becuase there was a distinct voice here and can be looked at, and psychologically deduced at, on many levels.