Amis said that this book was an original one but it needed a little bit of time to sink in. That's something I totally agree with.
If I would have rated this book as soon as I read it I would have given it one star. I also think that if I didn't have to write an essay on it, I would have also ended up giving it one star.
However, I had to study it and I had to write an essay of 4000 words which really made me go deeper in the story and I ended up seeing things in a new perspective.
At a first reading, it's hard to grasp all of the humor and irony, we only get very few references but the more I did research the more I felt like "enlightened", I had actually missed so many clues and puns which makes what this book is: original.
Obviously the author doesn't tackle bright issues, which makes the entire story hard to read, from pornography to pedophilia and violence. It's a combination of all of these horribles things that exist in life and it definitely gives the book a dark mood.
So if you haven't read it yet, I would advise you to do so (not once but twice) for the sake of its originality.

Another brilliant novel by the master of post-modern symbolism

This book was definitely the worst book I've ever finished. I'm gutted because I really wanted to like it, I really really wanted to like it. Very disappointed.

To be honest, although I did not like it in 2003, I would like to re-read it in order to see if my impression has changed.

Like Amis doing an imitation of Martin Amis. Painful to read, like late John Irving.

I normally like Martin Amis, but I genuinely thought this was a load of old toss. Mostly about incest and buggery, too.