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NIGHT TRAIN
BY MARTIN AMIS
Review by Claire McManus
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Our book club's novel for February was Night Train, by Martin Amis,
which we'd selected from a series of proposed books that our members
described as "quirky" or "out of the ordinary." We
picked Night Train not only because of the author's reputation but also
because of its brevity (175 pages).
Our discussion started with a fairly lengthy of what exactly genre fiction
is. Night Train has all the elements of a traditional hard-boiled mystery:
a hard-edged, bitter, cynical female cop who has been done dirt by the
world, and who is barely holding on to her few remaining relationships.
It also has what one would consider a traditional plot—the narrator's
("Mike" Hoolihan) mentor's daughter has committed suicide,
but no one can accept this—and Mike is dispatched to find out
what really happened. And, finally, the book is told in what could be
considered the common sort of criminal/underworld/police patois that
we have seen in noir fiction for decades (and which led some of us to
wonder if people ever really talk(ed) like this, or if this is a hyperstylized
made-up language that is "real" only in the world of fiction).
So why, then, does the book feel so surreal, and so non-standard? The
book takes place in an unnamed American city with a reputation for being
tough, but the language seems more British than American, beginning
with the opening line "I am a police." Such an opening line
almost sets up the expectation that you're going to be in a world you
don't recognize or know much about—and that does indeed turn out
to be the case. While the investigation does proceed on a more-or-less
understandable, the book's final "reveal" is disturbing and
completely unexpected (I can't say more without spoilers, but anyone
who has read this book will know what I mean).
And it was in the ending that we had our most intense discussion, with
the members pretty evenly divided. Some felt that reading the book had
been an off-kilter experience for them throughout, as if they were caught
in a strange alternate reality somewhere between fiction and real life.
Others felt that the book and the ending were all the more satisfying
because they are more "realistic" in terms of what life is
really like—inconsistent characters, a series of events more than
a "plotline" created and maintained by an author/narrator,
and a conclusion that doesn't fit anyone's expectations of how a crime
novel should end.
All in all, while we were divided on how much we "liked" the
book, we all agreed that it was a singularly worthy read—a book,
unlike so many mysteries, that can sustain long bouts of discussion.
What I personally found so interesting about the discussion was that
I was able to see all points of view. I understood why some people felt
so passionately about the book's ground-breaking aspects, and I also
understood why some people felt so frustrated (even robbed) by it. This
is certainly an important book, and I think it's worth a read if you
can handle intense discussions of suicide, alcoholism, and many other
unpleasant things about life.
For next month's book, we've decided we're going to try some newer writers.
We're looking forward to reading some newer writers and seeing how they
carry on the great tradition of mystery and suspense books. I look forward
to posting our thoughts.
Return to Spring 2007 Table of Contents ©
2007 SPINETINGLER Magazine - All rights reserved
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