Edmondson and Miracky on Money

           I was only supposed to write about one article, but there are points I'd like to address from both Edmondson's Martin Amis Writes Postmodern Man and Miracky's Hope Lost or Hyped Lust? In Edmondson's essay, he analyzes Amis' own obsession with writing about the topic of obsession. It's interesting to note that although Amis writes about his characters' obsessions in a pretty negative light, he himself appears to obsess over the idea of obsessions. In Money, Self's only concern is acquiring and spending money. He believes that all of his self-esteem and social issues can resolved once he reaches the pinnacle of wealth and has his entire body "refit" (207). Fielding, to Self, is the embodiment of money, so Self strives to be just like him. It's a shame to have read this article before having finished the book, but fter learning how the story ends, it is ironic that Fielding, whom Self aspired to be like, is the reason why Self destroys himself. In Self's process to obtain as much money as possible, he has been running his fortune into the ground in order to produce this movie that is supposed to be his big money break. 

           When Miracky mentions Money's plot, he describes it as being "convoluted and gap-filled". I think that the gaps in Money's plot is intentional because we are experiencing everything through the point of view of a self-indulgent alcoholic. Self blacks out most nights and does not remember events that occur, so his missing information is our missing information. The points where Self leaves details out when recounting a story is extremely important in his narration style because it gives him his own personality, as opposed to the reader associating it with Amis' own thoughts. Martin Amis is a character in the book because he is a sort of a weight holding Self to the ground. The same goes for Martina, whose name is conveniently similar to Martin. Most of Money is told in medias res, where the reader is plopped into the middle of a story line and is forced to catch up with only what Self has to say about the situation. Characters appear so natural, as if they have lives outside of Money.