London Fields

By: Martin Amis

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

The murderee is Nicola Six, a "black hole" of sex and self-loathing who is intent on orchestrating her own extinction. The murderer may be Keith Talent, a violent lowlife whose only passions are pornography and darts; or the rich, honorable, and dimly romantic Guy Clinch. As Nicola leads her suitors towards the precipice, London--and, indeed, the whole world--seems to shamble after them in a corrosively funny novel of complexity and morality.

©1989 Martin Amis (P)2010 AudioGo

Distrubing comedy

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Of course I would recommend it, however you should listen alone or at least not in mixed company.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Not what I excepted, and not very comfortable.

Which character – as performed by Steven Pacey – was your favorite?

Niccola, was great, and so was Keith, and Guy, but the writer Sam was my favorite.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Many laugh out loud for many seconds, parts, and a few stop the recording and pull over to laugh moments, really too many list.

Any additional comments?

I don't usually go for novels from the English 80s but this one does nicely with the time period, and language. However it is dark and uncomfortable, I don't mind telling someone I know will not and has not read this or anything like this, but I don't know that I would want to admit to someone who was familiar with the work how much I enjoyed it, guilty indulgence or symptom of a diseased mind.

RIP Martin Amis. classic blistering satire.

the rilliant performance reading, sizzles with energy, humor and a quite nasty social critique. very entertaining, and has aged surprisingly well. Even if you come away hating yourself for finding it as good as it is.

Brilliant, Funny, Dark

My favorite Amis novel. I was skeptical about the audio book as there is a meta narrative component but I was surprised how smoothly it flows. The narrator's performance is top notch and the character's accents are spot on. Thoroughly enjoyable if you are not easily offended, and can distinguish between what a fictional character says/ does vs. what the author says/does.

Brilliant

Have you listened to any of Steven Pacey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The book is not only very clever (I'm sure lots when clear over my head), but the narrator is absolutely fabulous. He made the experience of listening to this masterpiece like true theater, never stepping out of character, no matter which character he was playing at the time

Stunning

There will never be anyone like Martin Amis. These characters are so awful, and yet the novel is hysterically funny and intensely heartbreaking. Well done, Martin. Well done.

Masterfully dome

the voice portrayals, especially of the lout Keith,make me feel sorry for anyone who reads this in print. it feels a bit long. lots of stories to tie up. but so vivid and entertaining. feminists cannot possibly believe that Amis shares his Characters' attitudes about women. see this main female character, for instance.

Brilliant book, brilliantly narrated!

This is an astonising novel in which the modern English idiom is used with extreme hyperbole at once to amuse, to titilate, to shock to sadden and to horrify. It is a sweeping, lyrical and philosophical story with its characters persisting in one's memory like long absent dear friends. It is laugh-out-loud funny, highly literate and, at the end, a tear-jerker. If there is a Hell down there, I'm sure old Kingsley Amis' suffererings are compounded by the degree his considerable literary talent is surpassed by his own son (DNA check?).
Steven Pacey is the best narrator I have so far heard on Audible. I assume he is English, but he recites in a faultless and lively Mid-Western drawl, and masters several other voices and accents perfectly. He is such a pleasure to listen to that I would advise people NOT to read the book but to listen to it on Audible. It is a far richer experience.

Brilliant writing and performance.

I can't praise this book and it's masterful performance enough. A dark book but the writing is constantly surprising, funny and original. It deals with all the essential themes- time, existence and death. So original and nothing like I have ever read. This is a top performance. The reader is genius with character.

Great novel brought to life by remarkable narration

I read London Fields many years ago and loved it. But the narrator of the audiobook version gave me a new level of appreciation for Amis’ work. Juggling the various voices deftly and slipping in and out of timeframes without making me ever lose track is quite a feat. Highly recommended.

Big chewy novel, excellent narration

This was my first exposure to Martin Amis--I'd seen a couple of references by literary types who'd cited this as one of the top 50 or 100--or whatever--novels of the late 20th century.

For the close listener, this is definitely a very satisfying, dense work of fiction by a very talented and original writer. And for all its literary merits, it's a surprisingly entertaining and engaging listen.

Written in 1989 and set in 1999, parts of the book admittedly have a somewhat dated feel. The digressions on pornography and masturbation, for instance--which at the time of publication were still viewed as quite modern and "raw"--seem almost quaint by today's standards.
Yet other things, like Keith Talent's obsession with TV and video (and even his being featured in an early version of reality TV) are oddly prescient considering their pre-internet context.

But be prepared to rewind; Amis doesn't spell anything out, and there are enough soliloquies and extended rants (after all, this is 21+ hour download) for you to drift off and miss an essential character detail or plot point.

Fortunately for such a long book, the audio narration is unbelievably good. Pacey's American accent as the New York-born narrator Samson Young is almost flawless (think a smarter/sarcastic Regis Philbin) although he does give himself away with certain pronunciations (i.e., he pronounces urinal as "yurINEnal" instead of "YURinal", or calf as "koff" instead of "kaff"). But I have yet to hear an English narrator master a totally perfect American accent, so that's a pretty small quibble...
And it's worth having an English actor reading the novel because where he really shines is in his portrayal of East-ender Keith Talent. As such, this performance alone is worth the audio download, innit?

I just learned that a 2014 movie version of this is scheduled for release this fall. I have my doubts that a film adaptation could successfully capture the scope and appeal of the novel, but who knows?