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Simon Baker

Thursday, 28th September 2006

The early part of the narrator’s account is one of unremitting hardship. Before being imprisoned he fights in the second world war, and shortly after falls in love with a girl named Zoya but, despite his great physical charms, is rebuffed. He is then sent to Norlag, a freezing prison camp, for being a ‘political’ — one of many spurious crimes against an increasingly paranoid state. Not long after, Lev, his smaller, weaker half-brother, is also sent to Norlag, and on arrival announces that he has married Zoya. This creates a dynamic which lasts throughout the brothers’ eight-year incarceration, whereby the narrator feels both bitter and protective towards his half-brother. Lev is introvert and pacifist, while the narrator is willing to kick and punch his way through prison to keep himself and Lev relatively safe.

Towards the end of a brutal time in Norlag, during which Lev is rendered deaf in one ear by a punch from a psychotic guard, the atmosphere lightens, and the ‘house of meetings’ opens. This is a small chalet where, with the guards’ acquiescence, the inmates occasionally see their spouses. Lev meets Zoya one night, but something happens there which haunts the rest of his life — something he refuses to share with his half-brother.

Following the brothers’ release, the narrator makes a success of his life while Lev deteriorates. The narrator plays the system, amassing a fortune through hard work. Lev, meanwhile, seems deflated; eventually he parts from Zoya and has a son with another woman, but then dies. He leaves behind a letter explaining what happened in the house of meetings, but the narrator will not open it until he, too, is ready to die — a moment which approaches.

Amis demonstrates early on that his prose is as dazzling as ever. In the space of a few lines we have the narrator musing on swearing among the elderly:

Yes, yes, I know — the old shouldn’t swear […] it is such a transparent protest against failing powers: saying fuck is the only dirty thing we can get up to.

And then taking a moment to consider his hands:

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