Title: Contrivance
Review: Martin Amis is following a tendency by some writers to write a story where complexity seems to be more important than the story itself. He is weaving in and out of several stories within the story to a point where it all becomes contrived and boring. The quest for complexity is also reflected in the vocabulary where Mr. Amis seems to have made a point of reaping the benefits from his investment in a thesaurus. What could have been a well-written story with fine portraits of characters from the more sordid sides of London life is lost in the intricacies of words for words sake.
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