Welcome to Litsy!

I moved forward, out of the blackest sleep, to find myself surrounded by doctors . . . American doctors.

Few people lead lives that are remarkable from beginning to end. Especially if they have a secret, something unforgivable in their past. Then they guard that secret by being ordinary, unnoticeable, boring. While this novel had a fabulous concept - telling a man‘s life from end to beginning, building towards the atrocity in youth - it means one has to slog through many boring pages with the secret long since guessed and the effect is anticlimactic.

Took a little trip up to a second hand book shop today. Going to try and acquire all the O'Farrells, read an interview with Martin Amis the other day which reminded me how much I enjoyed the tagged book and lo and behold there it was in the shop. The other was an impulse buy based purely on the cover and the fact it's in good nick!

Mind bending and captivating from start to finish!

Time's arrow
The blind assassin
Day out of days
Plowing the dark

Both of mine started with Martin Amis books, weirdly enough... didn't realize before. I could do these all day and not get bored 😁
#spinepoetry #riotgrams @bookriot

Not book related 💕just sharing 💫

If you've heard that this is told in reverse chronology that's true, but it's also literally in reverse. Which leaves the narrator to make sense of things in this world: "Is it just me or is this a weird way to carry on? All life, for instance, all sustenance, all meaning (and a good deal of money) issue from a single household appliance: the toilet handle." #timeaftertime #augustgrrrl @Cinfhen

Wow, what a mindblowing read this was. It describes life with a reversed chronology. And Amis works this out perfectly, and shockingly.

It is the story of the American doctor Tod Friendly, who keeps wondering about the meaning of life because doctors are the ones who demolish human bodies. He feels something is wrong, but later in life, when he gets younger, he becomes nazi doctor Odilo Unverdorben and then all makes sense. #1001books #manbooker

Just finished Time's Arrow. Reverse chronological disturbing.

#riotgrams #books in the wild. Enjoyed doing this one!

Insomnia reading. 📒📚💛

"They're always looking forward to going places they're just coming from, or regretting doing things they haven't yet done. They say hello when they mean goodbye."

#MartinAmis
#Novel
#ReverseChronology
#Shortlisted #BookerPrize
#WorldWar2 #Holocaust

It's time to start! Going to try to get in an hour before bed! #24in48

Jo: "I was reading my Brilliant Friend and got stuck mid-puberty. I had to put it down. I asked my friend Colin Elzie and he recommended Time's Arrow for a little excitement. He said it plays with time and that it's a real page-turner. My general feeling about time is that I'm always running out of it. I don't sleep much. I'm always asking myself where am I, where should I be right now. I think this will be a good book for me."