Orlion reviewed Time's Arrow by Martin Amis
Review of "Time's Arrow" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This book is one long gimmick. Imagine if you told the story of a life: backwards! An interesting idea: one that can turn sour very quickly. How do you make a coherent plot? And wouldn't people talk backwards as well? What about normal bodily functions? I mean...ewwww...
Amis' answer to these problems is the simple but brilliant application of a secondary conscience in the head of our main character, Todd Friendly. This narrator thinks like the reader and, after the first conversation, translates the lines so that you, the reader, can at least understand without straining yourself too hard.
The second aspect that makes this novel work is that Todd Friendly is a doctor. This leads to some interesting interpretations of what is going on as the narrator views the treatment of patients as, essentially, taking a healthy person and beating them up, inserting glass or bullets, and sending the …
This book is one long gimmick. Imagine if you told the story of a life: backwards! An interesting idea: one that can turn sour very quickly. How do you make a coherent plot? And wouldn't people talk backwards as well? What about normal bodily functions? I mean...ewwww...
Amis' answer to these problems is the simple but brilliant application of a secondary conscience in the head of our main character, Todd Friendly. This narrator thinks like the reader and, after the first conversation, translates the lines so that you, the reader, can at least understand without straining yourself too hard.
The second aspect that makes this novel work is that Todd Friendly is a doctor. This leads to some interesting interpretations of what is going on as the narrator views the treatment of patients as, essentially, taking a healthy person and beating them up, inserting glass or bullets, and sending the 'victims' away.
Amis is able to be spot on and witty with many of his observations of what is different in a reverse time stream and what ends up being similar or the same. This is played to great effect as we see a great crime appear to be a wonderful miracle when time is reversed.
Time's Arrow is a gimmick done as it is suppose to be done. In fact, I do not think there is much else that can be done in a "backwards story" that won't be treading ground that Amis has gone over. This makes the novel itself a unique exercise that will no doubt become a classic, even if the actual plot itself is pretty mediocre. But the plot is not what's important, but the insights gained into the human condition when that condition is reversed. Just be careful, if you read too much of it in one sitting, the forward motion of time will seem odd to you for a bit.
