Inaccuracies.
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Was reading the reviews of one of my favourite book and noticed a couple of little errors - namely this book is not set in the "jazz age", it is set in the late fifties as far as I can discern. This I know because the follow-up "Difficulties with Girls" is set a few years later when homosexuality has just been legalised. Plus it is somewhat obvious from the novel that it is the late fifties (the styles, the music, the cars and the attitudes plus the mention of "the war" as an event within recent memory (although perhaps come to think of it that's where the other reviewer's confusion arose...)
Anyway, that's beside the point because this is a fantastic and very witty novel.
It has been accused of being extremely sexist which I think arises out of the somewhat condescending characterisation of Jenny Bunn, a beautiful young girl with a heart of suet. I don't know whether Kingsley Amis was just a man of his time or whether her Women's Realm reading, girdle wearing, knees-togetherness was representative of certain females of the period (I actually suspect it might have been but am too young to remember and too old to have a granny alive to ask about whether or not she held onto her ha'penny til she were wed )but I'm guessing the answer is a bit of both. He certainly seems to write a convincing if old-fashioned woman well.
Jenny is treated badly by the male protagonist and throughout is viewed less like a person and more like an Italian sportscar or a swiss watch by the men around her. She clings fervently to the idea that you don't lose your virginity until you're married and that you don't have to do anything you don't feel comfortable with. The first of these ideas has fallen out of fashion, but the second has never been more prevalent for young women.
The novel is an interesting exploration of the way men view women - as objects of sex, fear and ridicule respectively, but seldom with respect - and the way women view men, whether as husband material, meal tickets, or prizes in a game. I used to find it hard to decide whether Amis was poking fun at oppressed women or at the world which oppressed them and I'm still not sure but I think that this is a wonderfully arch and cynical look at how the sexes interact and still relevant today.
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Perfectly 30's fun with Ormerod, Standish and Bunn!
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Kingsley Amis novel about a virgin searching for her perfect match is witty, vibrant and intelligently written from the very first chapter. The novel explores the innocent and determined Jenny Bunn, the hilariously dim-witted Dick Thompson and the superficial and arrogant Patrick Standish. Amis fabulously comic novel gives an account small group of people's journey through the Jazz age of the 30's in which no-one is quite what they seem. You will laugh and laugh, I must admit I will always have a soft spot for the fabulously pretentious Julian Ormerod, 'Well, I thought we might look in at one or two of these joints where ladies remove their clothing for financial reward.'
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a response to a reader from london
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...Although the current tv adaptation is a good stab at a difficult book to dramatise (what with all the interior monologues and all), alas i have to regurgitate the old lament "not as good as the book". As for the accusation of being dated, well a book after all is a product of its time, and this was written at the turn of the 50's and 60's, the starkest contrast of any two decades in a sexual context for many a year.Bravo to Kingsley for coming up with a book with the classically 50's Jenny Bunn, and the slyly prophetic Patrick Standish, and being able to mix the two seamlessly... Amis has wonderful prose and one finds oneself coming across numerous passages and paragraphs that need reading two or three times, purely to take in their craftsmanship. His humour is wonderfully timed and paced, and while i admit that this particular book is not in his best three or four, it is still well worth a look. If you find something you find interesting in this, then go straight to the top and get hold of a copy of 'Lucky Jim', and 'The Old Devils'. The Old Devil himself was, as almost always, on top form.
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Very dated, very not funny
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...I can see it being a watchable TV series, but the book is terribly dated, the jokes aren't good at all, and the characters are weak stereotypes. In particular, Jenny, the heroine, is impossible to like or believe in. Her thoughts are not the thoughts of a young woman. ...If this were released today it would be roundly criticised.
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