“There is only one way to get good at fighting: you have to do it a lot.
The reason why most people are no good at fighting is that they do it so seldom, and, in these days of high specialization, no one really expects to be good at anything unless they work out at it and put in some time. With violence, you have to keep your hand in, you have to have a repertoire. When I was a kid, growing up in Trenton, New Jersey, and later on the streets of Pimlico, I learned these routines one by one. For instance, can you butt people (i.e. hit them in the face with your face — a very intimate form of fighting, with tremendous power to appall and astonish)? I took up butting when I was ten. After a while, after butting a few people (you try to hit them with your rugline, hit them in the nose, mouth, cheekbone — it doesn’t much matter), I thought, ‘Yeah: I can butt people now.’ From then on, butting people was suddenly an option. Ditto with ball-kneeing, shin-kicking and eye-forking; they were all new ways of expressing frustration, fury and fear, and of settling arguments in my favour. You have to work at it, though. You learn over the years, by trial and error. You can’t get the knack by watching TV. You have to use live ammunition. So, for example, if you ever tangled with me, and a rumble developed, and you tried to butt me, to hit my head with your head, you probably wouldn’t be very good at it. It wouldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t do any damage. All it would do is make me angry. Then I’d hit your head with my head extra hard, and there would be plenty of pain and maybe some damage too.
Besides, I’d probably butt you long before it ever occurred to you to butt me. There’s only one rule in street and bar fights: maximum violence, instantly. Don’t pussyfoot, don’t wait for the war to escalate. Nuke them, right off. Hit them with everything, milk bottle, car tool, clenched keys or coins. The first blow has to give everything. If he takes it, and you go down, then you get all he has to mete out anyway. The worst, the most extreme violence — at once. Extremity is the only element of surprise. Hit them with everything. No quarter.”
__________
From the novel Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis.
I love this quote for the same reason I relish the novel from which it comes: it expresses a brutish bravado in beboping, musical English. That special synthesis of brash tone with light and vibrant language is what makes Amis the master stylist that he is.
dimples101 said:
Have you read Time’s Arrow/The Nature of the Offense? It is brilliant.
jrbenjamin said:
I haven’t read it, but have heard it’s one of his best. Amis is writing another holocaust novel at the moment. The premise of ‘Time’s Arrow’ sounds fascinating, and I know it’s the only novel of Martin’s that Kingsley Amis could actually stand to read. Have you read any of M.A.’s other work?
Thanks for reading,
John
dimples101 said:
I am writing a review of Time’s Arrow sometime later this week. I read Heavy Water and Other Stories (collection of nine short stories), Experience, Yellow Dog, and the Information. Have you read any Kingsley Amis? I
jrbenjamin said:
Interesting. M.A.’s nonfiction is great too. I read Experience and thought it was excellent — both funny and reflective. I’ve heard Yellow Dog is his weakest novel, not sure if you’d agree. I’ll definitely check out your review for Time’s Arrow when it’s out.
I’ve read Lucky Jim, Kingsley’s memoir and a lot of his poetry, in addition to about half of his letters to Philip Larkin. Definitely looking to read more of his novels but I’m not sure where to begin. I think ‘The Old Devils’ is next on my list though.
dimples101 said:
Yellow Dog is disappointing, but compared to the literature during this decade it is at the top of the tier. For Kingsley I strongly recommend Jake’s Thing, especially since you already read Lucky Jim. You will enjoy the read. As of right now I am debating about reading this new novel from a fairly unknown author Yuvi Zalkow, “A Brilliant Novel in the works”, I heard it is groundbreaking and then I have read rave reviews for Shelia Heti’s “How Should a Person Be.”
Pingback: Can You Remember Where You Left Those Keys? | The Bully Pulpit
Pingback: The World Is Getting Less Innocent | The Bully Pulpit