The third installment of this series examining books that ended friendships between authors. If you like this content check out my Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=81722734
I think they met when Amis was the literary editor of the New Statesman and Barnes one of the literary reviewers. Barnes succeeded Amis as the editor once Amis left to concentrate on writing. They did have very similar trajectories, both at Oxford, both won the Somerset Maugham award for young writers with their first novel, both were literary editor of the New Statesman and they were part of the same clique with Hitchins. Barnes and Amis were also regular tennis buddies until they fell out (the tennis matches appear in The Informtion I think). In the end the new way of things eventually resolved itself. Some of Martin and Julian’s peers followed Amis to Andrew Wylie (e.g. Rushdie), but they all ended up back at Jonathan Cape, so it’s sort of gone full circle. Barnes has had more literary recognition over the last two decades or so that’s true, which is partly a function of not falling out with the London literary establishment the way Amis did. The asymmetry on the Booker prize is an oddity, and one that reflects poorly on some of the judges, particularly for the 1984, 1989 and 1994 prizes. One of the judges (Maggie Gee) had subsequently disclosed she hadn’t understood London Fields, and was mistaken in her objections to it on grounds of misogyny. What perhaps is more telling is that they were both overtaken by Ishiguro and Rushdie (and arguably McEwan) from that particular British generation.
I knew about this story between the two. I am a huge fan of Barnes (and a dentist) so I have to smile at the recurrent anecdote about Amis's teeth. Anyway, big writers and bigger egos, but we have to be grateful for the incredible literature they have produced. Personal life is petty for everyone, including famous writers. Thank you for this video.
I remember this feud playing out in literary magazines like The New Yorker at the time. By American standards half a million pounds was chump change for an established writer. Like you mentioned, this had a far more personal undercurrent. In an interview with Charlie Rose, if Amis had been a thriller or "trash" writer no one would've questioned the money amount, but somehow it was crass if one wrote literary books. Barnes is a writer I likely will never revisit, but Amis I do. He has been on mind due the adaptation of The Zone of Interest, a book I book I very much enjoyed. Miss him and his friend Chris Hitchens. Glad they had some kind of reconciliation before Amis died. I don't think that happened, though, between Edmund Wilson and Nabokov...
Thank you for your comment. I have always preferred Barnes a little bit. Not sure why, but his style just seemed to fit me better. Amis was always just a bit too bombastic it seemed. Though that might have just been me picking up on the media presentation of him. I have enjoyed both of their writing from time to time.
Thank you for this video. I had no idea this was going on. I've been an avid reader since the eighties, but haven't as yet read either of these authors although I have heared of some of their work. I look foward to the next one. By the way Proust fought a dual with another writer, but I don't know if they were ever friends, but they did fall-out over a written piece.
It's nice to know that they indeed managed to resolve their differences in the end. Hearing the two talk and reminisce after the passing of Christopher, you'd swear the whole ordeal never even occurred. I've never read much of Julians work, though i have had the great pleasure of hearing it recited on numerous occasions. Maybe one day I'll overcome my own biases with style and sit down with it for longer. Amis, both Kingsley and Martin ive already respected and admired a great deal, though with age i find myself moving away from Martin, and closer to the father. Strange that.
Thanks for your comment. I tend to think people are either an Amis person or a Barnes person. For the most part I prefer Barnes though both have books that are hits and misses for me.
@@BookishTexan Indeed, prose-stylists aren't for everyone because they tend to be much weaker on things like narrative, character development and structure. As someone primarily concerned with the aesthetic side of literature however, I do find Martin's work much more enjoyable. Julian's work though when spoken I've always found to be deeply engrossing, so I understand the appeal and preference certainly.
So interesting! I recently read “Lives of the Wives:Five Literary Marriages” by Carmela Ciuraru. One of the couples featured included Amis’ father Kingsley. He was quite the handful and alternately dismissive/competitive with Martin. Love the series. Keep them coming. 🥰
Thanks Joni. Yes my understanding was that Kingsley Amis was a less than ideal father. I haven’t read M. Amis’s memoir which I believe explores their relationship
Your video pops up in my algorithm and hungry for more info I just google Amis and Barnes and I am confronted by the tragic news of Amis’s passing. Adding more to the metaphysical irony I had ordered his final semi novel Inside Story from Amazon just last night without any prior knowledge of his death. Amis was one of the first writers I had loved when I got into adult literature and I was obsessed with his style of writing and caustic wit which I tried to imbibe and failed magnificently at. Although I had moved on from that phase into more critical favourites/ serious authors like McCarthy, Coetzee, Krasznahorkai etc. Amis had such a special in my heart. I wished to met the cool man once and tell him that but sadly cancer had some other plans 😢
They were friends at the end. With Martin and Julian sending emails keeping in touch... And Julian said at the end of there last email Martin said "look after yourself old friend" it was his way of saying goodbye. His last goodbye... And Julian said " In a way he did it stylishly, as you would expect". Stylishly and privately.
I remember following this story at the time. So much was made of Amis using the money to get his teeth done. It was petty and revolting. I'm a fan of Amis and I spent the best part of 20 years trying to read Flaubert's Parrot (SPOILER: meh!). I did however read all four of Barnes's crime novels, written under the pseudonym "Dan Kavanagh," about a bisexual private eye named Duffy. Diminishing returns but still fun. "The Information" turned out to be one of Amis's weaker novels. To make matters more complicated, and salacious, Amis's split with Pat Kavanagh came at around the same time that Kavanagh split with Barnes to have an affair with Jeanette Winterson. Kavanagh returned to Barnes and they were together until her death in 2008. I would argue that Amis remains the more revered literary figure and his recent (last?) work of autofiction, "Inside Story" saw him at peace while at the peak of his powers.
I knew you were a fan of Amis’ work so I was hoping for your insights. I knew the story of Kavanagh Winterson and Barnes but for some reason I thought that happened later. I was only vaguely aware of Barnes detective books, but might check. Out the first. The Only Story out me off Barnes again. I think Flaubert’s Parrot led me to read Madam Bovary, then A Sentimental Education, which led me to Balzac and Lost Illusions and into my love of Balzac.
Like 'em both, but prefer Amis's highwire acts in prose. And I consider The Information one of his two or three best. But then, so many people think Time's Arrow is brilliant, and it always struck me as a rather superficial parlor trick. And I loved Flaubert's Parrot. As we say here in Brooklyn, go figure.
Thanks for this, very interesting, I had no idea. I like them both; if I had to rank them I suppose I'd give a slight edge to Barnes, though I've read more Amis. Btw, one of my favorites by Barnes is non-fiction, a collection of essays on painters called Keeping an Eye Open. Glad to know they've patched things up somewhat. Life is short.
For the vagaries of British dentistry I refer you to a piece Sarah Lyall wrotre when she was the London correspondent for the New York Times (I think she also includes it in her collection "The Anglo Files.") She said that when she went to parties (she was at the time married to Robert McCrum who was the literary editor for The Guardian) she was amazed at the number of accomplished well off people that had grey teeth. There was also, at the time, an article in Vanity Fair ( I think) in which A.S. Byatt was quite irate about Amis caring so much about his teeth.
Thanks for the heads up on the teeth. Unlike Byatt I'm all for Amis doing what he wants with his teeth, I just wasn't sure he needed an extra 200,000 pounds to take care of them. Loved your comment!
Thank you for this! I wonder if you have read 'Poisoned Pens' by Gary Dexter. It covers the long and painful history of writers tearing each other down. And sometimes a friendship has to end, especially between writers in the same country competing for a reading public.
I had been aware of this feud back at the time, but had totally forgotten about it. I should try to read The Information. BTW, The Rachel Papers, I read that a long time ago. I wonder if a book like that could be published today & make a big impact.
I have not read The Rachel Papers, but I watched the movie a long time ago. The movie seemed very much a perhaps more sophisticated version of the 80s sex romp movie. If the book is similar then I'm not sure it could get published by a major publishing house in today's reading world.
Interesting subject. I read a good review of ‘Money’ a while ago. Thinking about picking it up when I come across it. Have you read it? What do you think of it?
Read it early 90s. First half like a dose of the flu. 2nd half total page turner as the central character Will Self is mercilessly destroyed ripping off Lolita.
yes I heard about the break up of their friendship and I've read three or four books by both men but didn't know people said the information was actually based on that I know amis almost won the booker for london fields but a feminist on the review board objected to what she saw as the book's misogyny glad to hear they're reconciled but sadly from my own experience know even when friends manage to patch things up the relationship can never be what it was
Interesting series, I was vaguely aware of both writers, I have Martin Amis's biography of Stalin on my shelves "Koba The Dread", which I wasn't too impressed by (Simon Sebag Montefiore is the biographer I'd recommend for anyone interested in Stalin). I think I read Time's Arrow, where the timeline goes backward, which was clever but made the book for me less readable. Julian Barnes's Flaubert's Parrot has been on my want to read list for ages (along with four or five hundred other books), Flaubert is also an author I "want to read". I watch my Booktube videos and think I could have done with some cosmetic dentistry, the curse of British teeth...
For me - British but not in the "literary scene" I always found the party scene and the personality driven elements of the "literary scene" to be somewhere on the distasteful / uninteresting range of the responses. I have read some Julian Barnes but Martin Amis - I haven't read anything by him Not sure that will change.
I think The Information was the last book by Amis that I read. I read The Only Story by Barnes a few years ago and thought it was disappointing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
I think Martin Amis had all his teeth removed, and there was some risk of losing his entire jaw. Your teeth are where you live, as I believe he once wrote. Teeth were a recurring motif in his work.
@@BookishTexan in the Amis man reverts to neanderthal after a blow on the head in a bonkers 911 Royal family Chav-to Middle class London Fields. Contains the immortal line : all violence comes out the arse hole. In the Houellebecq in a future eco dystopia a clone of a French comedian from our time who are immortal by endless replacement tries to find out what was love? What was sex? And why his original commitd suicide?
@@vandolmatzis8146 yeah it was pretty definitive caused punch ups in TV studios in France . What novel has 6 pages of verbose praise before it even begins ( write a parody for an unwritten novel) The first page a nation in decline male relations were sadistic lived up to the hype. Blew me away. It was my first Houellebecq in 2003 just as the Iraq war started. But he was the first to mention the elephant in the room
_First!_ Man? I had a $15 chicken dinner at Popeye's today, after doc appt. Whew! Almost fell asleep in the train OMW back lol! I read _Time's Arrow,_ back on the day . . .
I had never heard of either of these authors til this video! I guess that is a random weird hole in my knowledge. :) I want to see his rap-star grill if he spent $500K (or pounds) on some teef!!!
are you mistaking pat kavanagh for her half-sister, julie? She was in a relationship with Amis and wrote about it for an article. Unless you know something others don't?
Harsh. "Time's Arrow" is a flipping masterpiece and the sheer arrogance of "Money" is breathtaking. I would recommend his autobiography, "Experience" and his last work of fiction/autofiction, "Inside Story" as examples of an enfant terrible who grew up to become a mensch.
@@GuiltyFeat I found the reverse time aspect of Time's Arrow too flimsy to bear the weight of a Holocaust narrative. And there is no forgiving the caricatured working class portrait in London Fields. Lazy and snobbish writing. We're just never going to agree on Amis.
I don’t think anything ever goes over Marc’s head. Just because a person doesn’t agree with your views of a book doesn’t mean they didn’t understand it.
