Older Fiction

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New novels from the aging ‘enfants terribles’ of British letters.

Apr 19, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 29 • By TED GIOIA

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Ian McEwan’s writing is tighter than Martin Amis’s, more attuned to pacing and narrative flow. Amis, true to form, is flashier and funnier, and shows he can still wield his caustic wit like a rapier—so much so, that the reader may likely forgive the self-indulgence and meandering of the story line. In short, both of our blitcons are doing what they do best, and it’s reassuring to the rest of us to see these children of the sixties make the leap into another sort of sixties with such command and panache.

Ted Gioia is the author, most recently, of The Birth (and Death) of the Cool.