Lionel Asbo: State of England (Vintage International) Paperback – May 7, 2013
by Martin Amis (Author)
5.0 out of 5 starsAstonishingly Original
ByL. YoungVINE VOICEon July 17, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
In an outstanding novel an author creates a unique world, populates it with fascinating characters who remind us of the best and worst in ourselves, and is in total command of the language in which he tells his story. Martin Amis has achieved all three in his astonishingly original new novel, 'Lionel Asbo: State of England'.
Amis brings us into the world of modern day London, that he sardonically refers to as that 'great world city', specifically into the lower class world of Des Pepperdine and his Uncle Lionel Pepperdine who has renamed himself Asbo after England's
notorious 'Anti-Social Behavior Orders'. Uncle Lionel a thoroughly detestable, sociopathic thug is the focus of the novel which is a superb send up of class, celebrity culture and the press. Lionel's foil is his thoughtful nephew Desmond who is trying to get ahead in life through educations. Des must fight against the dysfunctional family in which has has been raised; his mother gave birth to him at 12, at the same age that Desmond's gran gave birth to Desmond's mom. After Des' mom's untimely death Des is raised by Lionel, just six years his senior. While Des fights against his mileu, Uncle Lionel has succumbed to his, a world in which crime and violence is the norm, stealing nothing more than a 'way to earn one's crust'.
What happens when Lionel wins over 100 million pounds in the Lottery is the crucible through which Amis launches his satire. At times hilarious (as when Lionel grapples with a lobster dinner in a posh restaurant) and at times horrific, Lionel is a doppelganger of Alex in Anthony Burgess' futuristic novel 'A Clockwork Orange written almost fifty years ago. Like Burgess, Amis has created a unique world and a unique vocabulary in which to explore it. As a Yank I'm sure much of the humor sailed right past me given the British lingo in which the novel is written. But for American readers my advice is persevere and experience this audacious novel.
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3.0 out of 5 starsBritish Brute
ByCheddieVINE VOICEon July 13, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
Martin Amis intertwines two disparate characters in this satirical novel - Lionel Asbo, a violent brute who revels in his ignorance, proud of having gone wrong at a record early age, and his nephew Desmond ("Des"), an anomaly in Lionel's world, a bright teen who enjoys school, much to his uncle's scorn.
Lionel's birth name is Pepperdine, but he characteristically chooses to use Asbo (an acronym for his behavioral diagnosis - Anti-Social Behaviour Order). At the start, Lionel works at the "hairiest end" of debt collecting, assisted by his two "psychopathic pitbulls," presaging a later drama around "Who let the dogs in?"
Lionel's path in life is all too clear, but Des, who lives with "Uncle Li," wants more than a life of petty crime. Unfortunately, Des stumbles on his path with his grandmother.
Grace, 39, Lionel's mother, has had seven children by the time she's turned 19, including Des' mother at age 12. Her impressionable, inexperienced grandson is seduced into a sexual affair, and thus setting up the novel's two dramatic storylines, such as they are. What stupid, vicious thing will Lionel do next, and will vengeful Lionel discover that Des "gave his Mum one?"
I love language, and Amis is a very, very good writer. At first, it was great fun to read Lionel's convoluted turns of phrase, always satirically mocked by the author for their poor grammar and pronunciation. But after 250+ pages, they became almost as dreary as Lionel's outlook. And Lionel loves to talk as much as he loves his mayhem.
Much as normal people take holidays, Lionel, dumbly and sometimes deliberately, takes prison breaks. As he says, "When you in prison, you have you peace of mind. Because you not worried about getting arrested." During one stay, he amazingly hits a giant jackpot of 140 million pounds, throwing a flammable accelerant on his behavior and making him a tabloid celebrity ("Lotto lout"). Even more amazingly, Lionel parlays his jackpot into a string of boffo investments.
Lionel, true to form, does no good with his immense wealth and, if possible, acts worse, cruelly teasing his relatives, all desperate for a taste. (Des calls him "Mean Mr. Mustard). There are some amusing moments - Lionel in an epic battle of bad taste with a lobster in a refined restaurant - yet Lionel's ignorance plods on chapter after chapter in an incessant, progressive parade of crudeness (he cools himself on a hot day by pouring a cold bottle of exceptionally fine Champagne down his pants) and malice.
In the end, Des says, "I loved you, Uncle Li." And Lionel responds, "Mm, well. I tried being loved. Thought I'd like it. Didn't do a **** thing for me." Well, I thought I'd like the book more than I did, but Lionel wore me down too.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA tale of great murf and sorrow, like
ByScott SchiefelbeinVINE VOICEon August 27, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
Martin Amis turns his wicked sense of humor on England's fascination with its pop-culture roadkill (it's somewhat comforting to know that America's Kardashian mania has British roots) with "Lionel Asbo, State of England." Amis uses the titular oaf to skewer both modern Britain and the idle rich.
Asbo is the typical British low-end thug, thick of brow and accent. Amis has a great time creating the dialect of Diston, the low-life neighborhood Asbo calls home. Asbo was actually born Lionel Pepperdine, but had his name changed to Asbo in honor of his Anti-Social Behavior Order - he's a career low-life and psychopath. He plays with deep thoughts and soliloquies, but it all plays for spectacular humor as Asbo cannot master the intricacies of the "th" sound. Asbo's the kind of guy who wants his mum to accept her advanced age and just die quietly - she's 39, after all, so what does she expect?
Our window into Asbo's life is young Desmond Pepperdine, Asbo's nephew and illicit paramour of Asbo's mum. (Incest is an oft-practiced yet shameful practice in Diston.) Sensitive where Asbo is boorish, smart where Asbo is cunning, Des looks like a young man destined to make it out of Diston's misery. If only he could catch a break . . .
And, irony of ironies, he almost does as Asbo wins the national lottery of 139 million pounds. But while lesser men might use the windfall to rebuild a shattered reputation and buy the goodwill of the family (including his cousins Paul, John, George, Ringo, and Stuart . . . those names ring a bell?), Asbo delights in taunting friends and family with money, only to snatch it from their grasping hands. In turn, Asbo spends lavishly on himself, buying such low-class luxuries as the world's most obnoxious SUV, an ugly million-dollar wardrobe, and a truly deplorable trophy girlfriend whose personality is as plastic as her enhanced assets.
With "Lionel Asbo," Amis serves up a raunchy, cynical tale steeped in the language and humor of England. Amis's ear for dialect is so sharp that I found myself reading Asbo's lines in the hard-boiled voice of Jason Statham and Desmond's lines in the softer voice of Chiwetel Ejiofor, and every line rang true. With the right choice of narrator, this could be the best audiobook of the year. Sure, I'm not usually a fan of tales of incest (and I didn't adore it here), but the sexual deviancy of Destin (in all its forms) is one of the defining aspects of its residents. But the balance of the story more than makes up for it.
Ultimately, I cared deeply for Desmond and his bride Dawnie and for all their friends and family, except the monstrous Asbo. Fascinating as he is, Asbo will sneer at anyone who loves him - after all, he's tried being loved, and it's not for him.
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3.0 out of 5 starsNot the Amis of old, but still worth a look
Bylamplyteron August 9, 2012
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
An unabashed fan of Martin Amis I was terribly excited at the prospect of this new offering. What can I say? Yes, it's distinctly Martin Amis, especially in the delight he takes in tearing to pieces some of his pet hates. I actually found his relentless poking at Lionel's accent terribly amusing in a childish way. And yes, there is much to laugh at in the antics of Lionel and "Threnody" - the high priest and priestess of Chav. But this novel has a sense of jumping up and down on the spot all the time, in that Amis makes his point, over and again - a point I can't say I disagree with - but once that's said and done, well...there's little more that he has to say in this novel really. Martin once again shows us he's very clever with words, has an unparalleled ear for accent and argot, and that he possesses a very, very nasty sense of humour that one either appreciates (and is therefore a fan), or one doesn't. But this novel is not a patch on, say, London Fields (Keith Talent was a dazzling character), and nowhere near the accomplishment that was The Information (everything dazzled about that one). If you're a Martin Amis fan, by all means, plunge in. You'll have a good time. It's that this isn't the best Amis you'll read. With a bit of luck, that may be yet to come.
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4.0 out of 5 starsIt's a State, When Nothing Wins You Accolades
ByDavid Valentinoon October 12, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Think reality TV. Think pandering interest in bad behavior. Think the moral compass stomped flat. Think insanity the order of the day, as in football riots and street crime and council (welfare) housing and urban blight and hopelessness and every other degenerate illness of modern living. Think these things and more and you'll be in the right frame of mind for Amis's funny, witty, ruthlessly satirical, and brilliantly written tale of a thug who specializes in brutal loan collecting, until he wins 140 million pounds in a lottery, after which he finds himself a celebrity, rich though poor in a manner perhaps only louts like him can appreciate, deprivation of louting.
Asbo, an acronym for Anti-Social Behavior Order introduced by Tony Blair in 1998, encompasses a laundry list of offenses to the public sensibility, from minor to serious, many of which form the crux and pleasure of Lionel Pepperdine's life. He engages in these freely from his 33rd-floor council flat (a climb because the elevator, like most things in England, doesn't work and is never repaired), where he lives with his young nephew, Desmond, who is a bit Candidean, and his two vicious Rottweilers that he keeps primed with heavy doses of Tabasco sauce. Desmond's mother died young, a relative term in a community where "nothing -- and no one -- was over sixty years old." Lionel acts as his surrogate father who advises against everything other than a criminal life. Desmond loves his Uncle Li, praises him for caring for him, and takes to doing the opposite of what his uncle advises. Except, Desmond has an ongoing affair with his grandmother, Grace, Lionel's mother, when he is 15, for which another boy pays the price. Desmond lives in dread of Lionel discovering the truth until the woman dies sequestered in a nursing home at the very northern tip of Scotland in her forties.
Eventually, we arrive at the point where Lionel wins the lottery on a ticket he stole, the lottery being a mug's game in his opinion. While you can't take the lout out of the boy, as long as you have money, as we all know from reality TV, loutish behavior is tolerated, even admired, though not by proper society. Thus, Lionel takes up residence in an expensive hotel that accommodates creatures of his breed, mostly unruly rockers, and on a posh estate with a glamorous poet-model named, quotes included, "Threnody," or song for the dead, while also cavorting with DILFs, like MILFs. Desmond, on the other hand, works diligently, meets a lovely girl, has a baby, and fits in. He might express hope, might be an anomaly, or he might just be a sap.
In the end, Lionel can't take it any longer. He reverts to anti-social behavior and finds himself in prison, a place very familiar to him. As he likes to say, "You know where you are with prison."
In sum, it's a crazy world where bad is good and the lowest common denominator rules and nothing works as it should and we're all going to hell in a hand basket, which will earn a spread in People, two minutes on TMZ, and five on E!
Recommended for the writing, but not everyone's cup of tea.
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3.0 out of 5 starsSome nice Amis touches just about rescues this
ByRippleon October 4, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Martin Amis can be relied upon to create some pretty nasty, self-centred central characters. Usually they are upper class cads and bounders but in "Lionel Asbo" his central character is at the polar opposite in terms of class. He's violent, uncouth and ignorant. He's a criminal whose usual sidekicks are a pair of vicious pit bulls. His "manner" is a fictitious down trodden area of London called Diston Town where he lives in a tower block with his nephew, Des, who in fact is the central character in the book. Des, in contrast is far more sympathetic - intelligent and kind, that is if you overlook the fact that as a 15 year old he had an affair with his grandmother, Lionel's mother. Hey, no one's perfect.
While serving time at Her Majesty's pleasure, Lionel manages to win the lottery which he promptly spends on alcohol, women and a huge house, but you can take the yob out of Diston but you cannot take Diston out of the yob. Despite unfailing loyalty to his uncle, Lionel doesn't share any of this wealth with Des, or indeed any of his family. Des remains in fear that one day Lionel will discover his past with his grandmother, knowing that Lionel's violence will know no bounds. Meanwhile Lionel hooks up with "Threnody" (the inverted commas are part of her name), a sort of Katie Price-type character. She is an excellent creation, but as so often with Amis, the author isn't particularly strong on females and she remains frustratingly on the periphery of things.
One gets the impression that Amis has great fun writing this book. It's a fairly light and breezy read, but even for Amis, the story is unusually viscous and nasty. Quite where Des gets his relatively good qualities from is a bit of mystery in the world he lives. The book is grandly sub-titled "State of England" although it is so unremittingly nasty that even the most pessimistic would question to what extent this can be claimed. Yes, it violently has a stab at those who are famous for being famous, but while Amis usually focusses on upper class rogues, here there is never any great sense that this reflects real life to any extent. In fact the portrayal of the main characters seems to be drawn more from the Daily Mail's coverage of the stories like Dale Farm. The result is that there is an unfortunate tendency to come over as rather sneering, which in turn reduces the impact of the story somewhat.
Yet for all that, there are moments of pure Amis class in the writing. He has a fine ear for conversation and some of his descriptions of atmospheres are superb. I found myself smiling more at these than at the comic moments in the story though. This is largely my problem with the book: it's well constructed and often told with great skill, but the story itself is not particularly edifying or enlightening. Ultimately, Lionel Asbo is too much of a caricature and not enough of a character, while Des is more of a rounded character, but I just didn't believe in him in the context of his environment. I had the feeling that the best medium for Lionel would have been the pages of "Viz" rather than a Martin Amis novel. It also suffers from a slightly fizzled ending but endings have never been an Amis forte in my view.
It's probably a book that will neither convert readers who dislike Amis or disappoint those who love his caustic style. For me though, he feels more at home with the upper middle classes than in the bargain basement. There's no denying that he does have a terrific turn of phrase though and this just about rescues this book for me.
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5.0 out of 5 starsthe suspense was killing me!
ByMrs. Wendellon November 29, 2012
Format: Hardcover
I wasn't exactly bubbling over with excitement for this book. The first paragraph presents us with fifteen year old Des Pepperdine, who writes a tabloid advice columnist that he's having a sexually explicit affair with his grandmother... I thought (groan, miserable sigh), I just don't have the stomach for a shockathon, and readied myself to bail at the first opportunity. But the shock is leavened, and I didn't bail. It turns out that Des is sensitive, intellectually curious, and cunning in his ability his to keep his brutish uncle, Lionel Asbo (or "Uncle Li"), at bay and on warm but wary terms. Amis' high flying, resourceful prose helps out, as he's able to describe the most dismal and despairing places in the most airily beautiful terms. This itself creates tension and comedy, and the sneer of the book is cut by high doses of satirical excess. We get cursing pit-bulls, a felony offender (Lionel) since the age of three, exuberantly anti-social advice (look at porn, hate the cops), a hotel wedding riot, an enormous, seemingly useless steel garbage can that takes up all the space in the kitchen and won't ever close, except when it's shut, in which case it won't budge open. Tension builds steadily, as more shocking horrors are flung at us in connection with Des' efforts to keep his terrible secret. Lionel Asbo becomes a puzzling character--socially deviant and menacing and willfully disdainful of a potential intelligence within him, and yet sharing in a fatherly bond with Des and secretly shrewd. (Puzzles--of the crossword variety--end up playing a smart subterranean role in the book). The end is an exercise in sustained suspense, an evil mix of sentimental love and atrocious revenge, as the meaning of a certain inverted refrain from Baha Men's (remember them?) one song comes into horrifying focus, and we wait for the event. Amis pulls it off brilliantly! I read an LA Times review criticizing this book for having too thin of a plot. I don't think so. It's not a long book--260 pp, broken up in short sections--and the threads of the first 3/4s wind their way together for a rousing and comprehensive finish. I never felt the book drag. That you may have the recurring thought of, Where's he going with this, doesn't mean the plot is thin. It means you're probably be an impatient reader (who isn't!). But here's my test: if your heart's thumping hard through the last fifteen pages, as mine was at the end of Lionel Asbo, the plot isn't thin.
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3.0 out of 5 starsSavage satire from Martin Amis but not much to like
ByJessica Weissmanon August 3, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
This is a tough one to review. Martin Amis is a terrific writer, and can pull off pretty much anything in the black humor line he puts his mind to. In this novel he narrates some linked English lower-class lives into which some very unusual events fall. Lionel Asbo, a conscientious but vicious thug, adopts his nephew Des. Des pretty much wants only to read and to get a girlfriend. But Des is far from perfect himself.
Lionel gets in regular legal trouble, but ultimately wins the lottery, gets out of jail, and lets Amis have lots and lots of satirical fun with what a guy like him might do with a ton of money.
Overall, the book isn't funny enough to counterbalance the depressing and unpleasant nature of the plot and many of the characters. Amis has achieved his goals and put in a few surprises, but there's just not much to enjoy. Your mileage may vary.
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3.0 out of 5 starsFull of Promises/Not Kept
ByR. A. Barricklow(Scaramouche)VINE VOICEon July 8, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
The reviews I had read and the synopsis of the novel had me picking this Lionel Asbo up for a good read. It started off great. The author lit some fires right at the beginning with young 15 year old Desmond Pepperdine bedding his grandma. Now there's something of a plotline one doesn't encounter frequently. Or, the pit bulls of his Uncle, Lionel Asbo(a subsistance criminal who spent half his life in jail) that are fed Tabasco sauce. Although Desmond matures to an excellent student, it is not through his uncle's help; who gives him a knife to carry around, tells him to watch internet porn, and other such criminalities of behavoir to adopt.
So far so good. The writer delivers these storylines with the appropriate social commentary backdrop. Thus, the first part sets up the characters & their environments for the big twist: Lionel Absbo winning 160 million in the lottery.
This then, is where the novel started-up its after burners, getting ready to lay scratch onto our current Orwellian society, the one that actually plays to such obsurdies, playing-out in real life! But somewhere around the first hairpin turn, Lionel Asbo hit the hay & fell alseep.
Before that fatal turn though, it was humming along, with the press getting their deserved kudos, for the presstitutes they are in real life. Or the banksters, who Lional says/Yeah, and tomorrow it'll disappear. The market's gone and wanked itself out, Des. The banks've spolshed it all away and they kiping on us now! Who can we trust?
The dialogue was great as well, like when Lionel orders his filet mignon/Cooked? Just take the horns off, wipe its arse, and sling it on the plate. And bring all your jams and pickles and mustards...
The hard core beginning that promised to stay lean & mean to the privileged classes that bought/sold this for the masses, checked-out at that turn. Where the privileged class form of checks and balances, are only those that are payable to them.
Perhaps I missed the point. But someone around that hairpin turn, abour a third of the way around, the pages went by the wayside of disinterest for me.
So full of promises coming, but not delivered; like a divorce of wages from their huge productivity gains.
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3.0 out of 5 stars"Gaa. Look, Des. More GILFs"
ByWigglyVINE VOICEon August 14, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
I've read quite a lot of Martin Amis. I always appreciate his flair for language, his ear for common vernacular and his style which, in turns, can be both glittering and sometimes a little pretentious or overdone. However, no-one out there really writes like Amis, so a new novel by him is always a treat.
To begin with, "Lionel Asbo" seemed fairly conventional and didn't offer much to make it shine, but once it reaches its major plot development (Lionel winning £140m on the British National Lottery), things really took off for me. Admittedly, in the first part of the book, the fictional London commuter town of Diston is the book's star, and Amis illustrates this dark hole rather well. We learn more about Lionel (Li) Asbo and his thuggish ways, and his nephew, Desmond (Des) Pepperdine, a sensitive, literate lad who doesn't fit the usual Diston stereotype. However, it's important that Des reveals a secret that comes to haunt him throughout the rest of the book, and keeps him in Lionel's clutches from that point on, simply out of fear his secret will be discovered.
Once Lionel wins his lottery millions, the book gets a bit more lively and there's a good satire here about instant celebrity, reality TV and how we seem to make heroes out of people with zero talent but who just find themselves in certain circumstances, paraded for our entertainment. Meanwhile, as Des gets older (relatively speaking, everyone is young in this novel) and marries Dawn and they have a child, there's a softer touch and an affection between the couple that's well illustrated, despite the pair's constant fear of their thug uncle, Lionel and his pit-bulls. All this time, they remain in the same council flat, living in the overwhelming shadow of Lionel whose presence can always be felt, even if he's not actually there.
The book is clever that way. Lionel's thuggish, oafish nature hangs over the book, always with a threat of violence, and he's smarter than he looks, but not necessarily intellectually smart like his nephew Des. At least Des has some dirt on Lionel to keep him in check, and the book's denouement is fairly positive. At the same time, it's an intriguing look at British "chav culture," criminality, the family dynamic, and a whole lot more.
And yet, despite this, I still didn't find it necessarily an enjoyable read a lot of the time. I think there are parts where the book loses its way and feels a bit labored. Still, Amis is always a pleasure to read and fans will likely enjoy "Lionel Asbo," but I'd have loved to have felt more 'attached' to it while reading, and seen things sharpened up a bit. Instead, it left me a bit cold and I think it just misses being great, despite being a good read for sure.
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