Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (1 of 31), Read 63 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Sherry Keller (shkell@earthlink.net) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 16, 1999 08:12 AM 


Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

I love this book. It is funny, articulate, human and even though it was written
almost fifty years ago, contemporary and timeless. I can well understand why one
of the CRs that nominated has read it seven or eight times. 

I was going to quote some of my favorite phrases, but as it turns out, I’m up
north without the book. I was only going to stay the weekend, but there were
matters I had to take care of, so here I am. And I’m having another problem. I
finished it a couple of weeks ago, and the names of the characters are eluding
me. 

Those faces the protagonist pulled. Even though Amis described them in intricate
detail, I had a hilarious time imagining them. Could a real human face do what
was described? (I mean, I just can’t fathom Jim Carrey in the role, but he could
make the faces). And I like that each face had a name. And the awful clothes that
Margaret wore. Poor woman (yeah, right). What did you all think of Margaret?
Have any of you known people that manipulative? I have, so the character
seemed believable to me. How about Bertrand? He was so deliciously awful. 

Have any of you ever been taught a course by someone who obviously hated the
subject as much as the protagonist (you can see he’s one of the names I’m not
sure on--Dixon?) 

Sherry who will discuss this in detail more when I get home to remind myself of
which details

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (2 of 31), Read 56 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     David Moody (davidmoody@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 16, 1999 09:38 AM 


Sherry:

Jim Dixon was the name--or, as Margaret insisted on calling him, James. Of
course, a lot of people had trouble keeping him straight: Professor Welch kept
confusing him with the departed Faulkner, and he seemed to take mail addressed
to "Dickerson" or "Dickson" as a matter of course.

His facial expressions and fantasies recalled Ally McBeal to my mind, though he's
an entirely different kind of person.

The scene that will always stick in my mind is the bus ride to the train station. It
seems like one of those awful dreams where everything happens in slow motion,
but anyone who has frantically worried about making a connection will know
exactly how Jim felt.

And I will never think of "green paisley frock and quasi-velvet shoes" in quite the
same way ever again. There's got to be a poem in that line somewhere...

David

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (3 of 31), Read 58 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Katie Kleczka (knp@execpc.com) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 16, 1999 10:36 AM 


Not often do I come across a book that is simply laugh out loud funny. Lucky Jim
succeeded in gathering strange looks from the other passengers during my daily
bus commute to work and other diners in my company's lunchroom. And I must
not forget my total lack of control during the infamous "Britain Forever" (is that it?
My copy is long back at the library) speech. 

I couldn't help but have a certain feeling of deja vu as I read this book. I knew I
hadn't read it before because I haven't sought out Kingsley Amis in the past. But
the more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of a movie I caught once
starring Oliver Reed and Hayley Mills. It was a truly understated, masterfully
hilarious look at the sexual revolution and the morality of young love vs. young
lust. The tone, the characterizations, the settings seemed so much in line with
Lucky Jim that I found myself visualizing the story under the influence of that
British movie.

Well, what do you know? The movie, entitled "Take a Girl Like That" was written by
Kingsley Amis. Awesome!

Anyway, I can't remember the last time I got such pure, lighthearted enjoyment
out of a book. My memories from the reading of Lucky Jim take much the form of
"anecdotes" such that I want to say: "Do you remember when Jim...." or "wasn't
Margaret hilarious that time when the furniture...." and so on. I simply loved this
book.

I'm sure that there is much more to talk about in terms of Amis' jabs at academia
and relationships, but I have yet to get beyond the comedy itself. Soon, soon. :)

Katie
"Everything in moderation, EXCEPT for reading."

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (4 of 31), Read 58 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Diane Freeman (dfreeman@jeffco.k12.co.us) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 16, 1999 12:39 PM 


So many amusing recurring images, not the least of which was Jim's cigarette
rationing when he gets days ahead of schedule. Anyone else "been there" while
quitting smoking? 

I got the biggest laugh from the description of waking up with a hangover that
starts chapter 6: "Consciousness was upon him before he could get out of the
way; not for him the slow, gracious wandering from the halls of sleep, but a
summary, forcible ejection." 

However, despite all the grins and laughs, I kept wondering how entertaining I'd
find Jim in person. His clothes described as filthy and shabby, his "problem with
drink," lack of work ethic, willingness to embrace dishonesty. Am I too literal here?
Somehow I thought he was supposed to redeem the image of the common man
in contrast to a peerage grown fairly useless, elevate the impression of
comprehensive schools (our public schools) in comparison to private (British
public) schools. Perhaps I am disappointed in that he failed in what I had
assigned to him as his mission. 

Great reading choice! Many thanks to whomever suggested it.

Diane

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (5 of 31), Read 60 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Dick Haggart (law@haggart.com) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 16, 1999 01:49 PM 


Lucky Jim is one of the funniest books to emerge from a very funny genre
inhabited generally by P.G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh (in part, anyway).
Strange that Amis could never hit that note again. The curse of the successful first
novel perhaps.

Dick

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (6 of 31), Read 50 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Kent Rasmussen (arkent@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 02:58 AM 


Here's some serious trouble brewing for you. Lucky Jim is my all-time favorite
novel, bar none. I've read it at least 8 times over the past 30 years and am sure
I'll read it at least another 8 times before I swap my overcoat for a fan and move
on to the afterlife. I can talk about the book ad naseum, and probably will before
this discussion thread runs dry.

It's late now, however, and I must get something written before I tootle off to
dreamland. However, I'll be back. And you've been warned.

Grouchy in So. Calif., who once unintentionally reenacted Jim Dixon's "Merrie
England" lecture when he overjuiced himself before delivering a talk on Ndebele
history before the combined membership of the University of Rhodesia's history
and Ndebele clubs

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (7 of 31), Read 53 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Sherry Keller (shkell@earthlink.net) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 07:23 AM 


Kent, so it was YOU who had read it so many times. Oh, boy, we're in for a treat!
My favorite scene was the Merrie England speech. I also liked everything leading
up to it and the "research" he did. I thought it was so funny how he tried-- oh how
he tried-- to speak normally, but everything turned into a parody of someone.
This just cries out to have a really good movie made of it. Maybe Kenneth
Branagh could be interested. 

(I know you will probably resist heartily that a movie be made -- I hear a bad one
was already made --but it's such a visual book. It was almost as if Amis were
giving stage directions.)

Sherry 

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (8 of 31), Read 57 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     R Bavetta (rbav@prodigy.com) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 11:24 AM 


I'm only about 1/2 way through, Sherry, but I agree with you, I keep seeing a
movie as I read this book. I must admit, though that I seem to be lacking the
britishhumorgene. I'm having the same reaction to this book as I do to
Wodehouse.

Ruth, even grouchier than certain other people she isn't even mentioning
Books are cheaper than wallpaper

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (9 of 31), Read 56 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Beatrice Soila (bpsoila@aol.com) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 03:03 PM 


I loved this hilarious book! First a technical question for the anglophiles. Why is it
Professor Welsh but Mr. and Mrs. Neddy?

Bea, temporarily in Brussels, Belgium speaking no local language.

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (10 of 31), Read 54 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Kent Rasmussen (arkent@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 04:01 PM 


... agggghhh!! ... I'm sick!!

A few minutes ago I completed a long and thoughtful (by my standards) note on
Lucky Jim, providing definitive (and irrefutable) answers to all the questions posed
above. After reviewing the message, I clicked on "post," only to discover I had
lost my internet connection.

Not to worry. I simply restarted my internet connection and left my message on
the screen. I'd done this sort of thing before. No big deal.

Big mistake. The CR screen disappeared, and I lost my entire message. If I had
taken the simple precaution of at least saving the message to the clipboard, I
wouldn't have lost it. (Hell, "Lucky Jim" italics and all, was still in the clipboard
waiting for me.)

It's reasons such as these that tend to drive me away from CR periodically. I
should be working!

Stay tuned. I'll try to return tonight and see if I can reconstruct what I wrote
earlier.

Grouchy in So. Calif., who freely admits that he has no one to blame (aside
from his internet provider) but himself for such snafus; he should know better

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (11 of 31), Read 54 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Sherry Keller (shkell@earthlink.net) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 04:09 PM 


Beatrice,
The "Mrs. Neddy" confused me at first too. But eventually I figured it out. Ned is
the professor's first name, and Margaret and Jim were having a bit of a laugh at
the expense of the couple. A kind of surreptitious familiarity that they certainly
wouldn't indulge in around anyone other than their closest friends. 

Sherry 

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (12 of 31), Read 55 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Jane Niemeier (jniemeie@hotmail.com) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 08:40 PM 


I just loved Jim's imagination. Here is one of my favorite bits of his imagined
actions, from the beginning of the novel.
"(Dixon) pretended to himself that he'd pick up his professor round the waist,
squeeze the furry grey-blue waistcoat against him to expel the breath, run heavily
with him up the steps, along the corridor to the Staff Cloakroom, and plunge the
too-small feet in their capless shoes into a lavatory basin, pulling the plug once,
twice and again, stuffing the mouth with toilet-paper." 
I just loved this scene. In a novel from our decade, the main character would be
imagining how he would kill someone like Welch.

Diane,
You made some very good points about the academic life in Britain at that time.
Jane

P.S. What are capless shoes?

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (13 of 31), Read 47 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     R Bavetta (rbav@prodigy.com) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 17, 1999 10:53 PM 


Why, Jane, you innocent damsel, you. Capless shoes are, well, shoes without
caps.

Anonymous
Books are cheaper than wallpaper

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (14 of 31), Read 50 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Tonya Presley (tpresley@swbell.net) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 18, 1999 12:52 AM 


I finished this just now, and I really love this book! I wouldn't even try to estimate
the number of times I laughed out loud. Jim is surrounded by luck throughout the
book; sometimes, though, it does seem to be bad luck. What a character! It's
almost Charlie Brown as a grown-up.

As someone said above, I'll remember this book in its scenes, like movie scenes,
which are so perfectly described. Hiding the damage to the bedding and table, the
phone call to the house after - when he pretended to be a London reporter,
waking with that hangover, stealing the taxi, encounters with the student Michie,
the fight with Bertrand, and on and on. But what made Jim Dixon real to me is the
way his thoughts are there on the page, and then his words flow out in contrast. At
least until he decides the job is lost anyway, and starts to really let go. I loved the
ending, too, and think it stopped in just the right way. What a book! I look
forward to re-reading it.

Tonya

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (15 of 31), Read 44 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Kent Rasmussen (arkent@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 18, 1999 02:20 AM 


I'm still fuming about losing my long note earlier today, especially now that I
realize I won't have time to reconstruct it properly tonight. It will have to wait until
after I return from a trip this weekend.

Meanwhile, I do have time to slip in some quick observations. After going offline
earlier, I ran some errands and had a chance to do some reading while I was
having my car "smogged" (a curious California custom that car owners perform
every two years, when they take their vehicles to licensed "Smog Check" stations
and have cash extracted from their wallets while indecipherable data spew from
computers attached to their cars).

I used the time to begin rereading Lucky Jim. With observations about the book
from other CR postings floating through my head, I immediately began noticing
themes and undercurrents in the book I either hadn't noticed before or hadn't
thought about in years. Examples:

hostility: Dixon is basically an amiable guy, but he tends to see others as
enemies against whom he "campaigns." His enemies include Professor Welch,
a.k.a. "Neddy"; Mrs. Welch; Bertrand Welch, the effete painter; Mr. Richie, Dixon's
student; Margaret Peel, his neurotic on-again-off-again girlfriend; Johns, his
fellow boardinghouse resident; Catchpole, whom he doesn't even know until late
in the story; and even the lovely Christine--when they first meet. By taking his
enemies on, he often irritates them enough to create real trouble for himself. For
example, why does he deface Johns's magazine? It's something he needn't do,
and he later pays a heavy price for the prank.

predestination: Dixon seems to see himself as fated to be a loser and sets his
goals no higher than mere survival. He hates teaching at the crummy university
but has no ambition beyond renewing his contract for one more year. He knows he
can never truly love Margaret, but accepts that if is ever to have a woman, it will
be someone like her, and not someone like the level-headed Christine.

Inner dialogue: (Is this the right term? I haven't taken a literature class since I
was in the 10th grade.) In writing this book in the third person from Dixon's point
of view, Kingsley Amis chose the perfect form for expressing Dixon's feelings in
ways that Dixon himself could not have done, had Amis written the book in the
first person. The story can be read at two levels: What really is happening, and
what Dixon thinks about it all. He is constantly analyzing himself and everything
going on around him. Often, he reacts to events and other characters by
fantasizing things he would like to do--such as squeezing the life out of Prof.
Welch, kicking Michie, or running and screaming out of an unpleasant situation.
He also acts out his feelings by consciously or unconsciously making strange
faces. He often seems to be at war with himself, unsure of who he really as at any
moment. (Recall the moment when he surprises himself by catching his own
reflection in a mirror when he accepts Welch's invitation to the arty weekend and is
surprised to see himself wearing a sincere smile).

A point I made in my lost note of earlier today is that one of the finest things
about Lucky Jim is that it uses prose in ways that can't be imitated in other
media--especially not in movies. How could a movie get at what's going on inside
Dixon's head the way the book does?

I'll return to what I should be working on now and promise to return with my fuller
thoughts on this terrific book later. By Sunday night, I should have finished
reading the book again--for perhaps the ninth or tenth time.

Thanks to all for helping me to rediscover the pleasures of this special book. I
always seem to find something new in it each time I read it.

Grouchy in So. Calif., who as a history grad student shared many a laugh with
fellow grad students over the opening lines of Dixon's article on medieval Italian
shipbuilding. "Strangely neglected subject" indeed!

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (16 of 31), Read 44 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Kent Rasmussen (arkent@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 18, 1999 03:03 AM 


A quick note on audio versions of Lucky Jim.

So far as I know, the only available recorded edition of the book in the U.S. is
Books On Tape's 1981 recording read by Richard Green. I've listened to it twice,
but only because I love the book so much. I've heard Green read ten different
books and have nearly always found him dull; his reading of Lucky Jim is
hopelessly flat. His reading of Amis's The Green Man (whose title should have
inspired him) was so dreadful, I gave up on listening to it after only 10 minutes.

If anyone knows of other recordings of Lucky Jim, I'd love to hear about them.

Grouchy in So. Calif., whose dream is to hear a reader such as Patrick Tull read
Lucky Jim

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (17 of 31), Read 39 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Jim Heath (ddrapes@teleport.com) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 18, 1999 08:15 AM 


If I were looking for a movie equivalent of Lucky Jim, I'd think about Tom Ewell in
The Seven Year Itch. Different story and accent, of course, but brothers under the
skin.

BTW, Kent, this also is a shorter version of a much better note which I wrote over
weeks and weeks and then lost when I uploaded. I wonder if my dog has been
working on my computer? 

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (18 of 31), Read 37 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Mary Anne Papale (fdlx59b@prodigy.com) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 18, 1999 12:00 PM 


I also loved this book, and I'm enjoying all the comments here.
My favorite scene is Jim's drunken stupor upon return to the Professor's house.
He makes a pass at the manipulative Margaret in her bedroom. He can't gain
access to his bedroom because one must go through a bathroom, which seems to
be in use at all the worst times. His bedroom spins every time he lays down. If I
knew someone like this in real life, it might not be so funny. But the reading of it
had me splitting my sides with laughter.
And why do people look into their handkerchiefs after they blow their nose?
Also, Kent, on the subject of predetermination, the whole subject of how Dixon
became a teacher of the Medieval, and what he had to do to protect that position,
was amazing. How many of us just sort of fall into careers or relationships
because they are there and available to us? Whew, I loved that theme.
MAP

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (19 of 31), Read 32 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     R Bavetta (rbav@prodigy.com) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 18, 1999 08:09 PM 


I'm struggling along, still not finished, still waiting for it to be funny, and (sigh)
once again feeling out of step with the world. What's wrong with me?

Ruth
Books are cheaper than wallpaper

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (20 of 31), Read 33 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Dottie Randall (randallj@ix.netcom.com) 
 Date: 
     Saturday, June 19, 1999 01:35 AM 


Ruth -- Notathing, notathing,notathing!!!
You are in the 1.3???% group and they are in the 3.5????% group or the other
way around! Different strokes for different folks -- as I just read in The Girls'Guide
thread!

Dottie
ID is an oxymoron!

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (21 of 31), Read 32 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Jim Heath (ddrapes@teleport.com) 
 Date: 
     Saturday, June 19, 1999 09:05 AM 


Ruth, don't you think that you have to connect a book to something in your
personal experience in order to get really excited about it? We've all had the
experience where something we love has left everyone else shaking their head.

Humor is probably more subjective than most things. For me the fun in Lucky Jim
is watching someone who hasn't a hope trying to look calm, sophisticated, and
under control as he slowly sinks to the bottom. For some inexplicable reason, this
turns out to be something I understand.

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (22 of 31), Read 36 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     R Bavetta (rbav@prodigy.com) 
 Date: 
     Saturday, June 19, 1999 12:07 PM 


I think you're right, Jim. But I can't connect with Dixon, even though I did teach in
a podunk college. 

I keep mulling on why this book isn't clicking for me. It may be because Dixon
really is a such a hapless jerk that it makes me uncomfortable.
Ruth
Books are cheaper than wallpaper

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (23 of 31), Read 40 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Dick Haggart (law@haggart.com) 
 Date: 
     Saturday, June 19, 1999 12:35 PM 


Ruth: That can't be it; you seemed perfectly at ease the night I joined you and
Leif for dinner.

Dick

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (24 of 31), Read 34 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Ann Davey (davey@tconl.com) 
 Date: 
     Saturday, June 19, 1999 08:35 PM 


Ruth,
It took me awhile to submerge myself in the Britishness of this book, but I ended
up finding it very entertaining. I stayed up way past my bedtime finishing it. On
the other hand, I could never make it through P.G. Wodehouse even though
people who have impeccable reading taste find him hilarious. Somehow he just
doesn't tickle my funny bone.

Enjoyable as I found this book, I have to agree with Diane that I would not enjoy
Jim in person. The phrase "passive aggressive" could have been invented for him.
Those wild faces were wonderful to imagine, but don't forget that he always made
them behind the other person's back. And his treatment of Johns was really very
underhanded. I think Kent is right that he created a lot of his own problems. I
suppose people resort to passive aggressive behavior when they feel completely
powerless, as Jim did. Maybe that justifies it to a certain extent. 

Favorite scenes -- Jim destroying the bedclothes and trying to hide it, followed
somewhat later by the hideous Mrs. Welch assuring him that he will pay for his
crime.

Now, for the women in this book. Margaret was delightfully dreadful. I loved her
hysterics scene. According to Jim's thought process, Margaret could not help her
behavior because its root cause was that she was not sexually attractive. I don't
remember a physical description of Jim, other than his clothes. Does anyone else?


Christine was fun, although she tried my patience at the end with her repetitious
insistence that she must stick by the awful artist. 

Altogether, this book was a lot of fun. Thanks for suggesting it, Kent.

Ann

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (25 of 31), Read 35 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     David Moody (davidmoody@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Saturday, June 19, 1999 09:15 PM 


Ann:

At the very beginning, Jim is described as "...on the short side, fair and
round-faced, with an unusual breadth of shoulder that had never been
accompanied by any special physical strength or skill."

I was just about to close up the Cataloging operation for the weekend when a
biographical/critical study of Kingsley Amis hit my desk. I couldn't resist checking
for a little background about Lucky Jim. (By, the way, Larkin is the poet/librarian
Philip Larkin, a close friend of Amis, and Hilly is Amis's wife.)

"On a visit to larking at the University of Leicester, Amis, on being left alone in
the common room for a few moments, noticed that this particular slice of
academia could prove to be untapped riches for the novelist. Other parts of the
novel arose from his own and friends' experience. Jim Dixon's last name came
from the street name on which Larkin's mother lived. The odious Professor Welch
was modeled quite consciously on Hilly's father, "Daddy B", and on some of his
avocations such as folk dancing--and Amis hoped his victim would notice the
resemblance. Parts of Jim Dixon (his face making) came from Amis himself;
some from Larkin... Perhaps cruelest of all was the modeling of Jim's girlfriend,
the passive-aggressive, manipulative Margaret, on Larkin's companion, Monica
Jones. Larkin had to ask Amis not to make their names so similar. Jones held
Amis in similar disfavor, insisting that Amis was "trying on" the faces he made so
often because he was unsure of his own identity."

I find this streak of cruelty a large area of difference with Wodehouse, whose
characters also have the knack of insulting other people internally but also inhabit
a gentle fantasy world without the hard, realistic edge of Amis.

David, who also notes that Amis's first publisher, whom he came to detest, was
named Caton, and that Amis also collaborated on a early poetry anthology with
one James Michie--both names which reoccur in Lucky Jim.

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (26 of 31), Read 30 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     R Bavetta (rbav@prodigy.com) 
 Date: 
     Saturday, June 19, 1999 11:39 PM 


Aw, Dick, whatever would we do without you. Hurry and finish that big case.

Ruth
Books are cheaper than wallpaper

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (27 of 31), Read 27 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Ann Davey (davey@tconl.com) 
 Date: 
     Sunday, June 20, 1999 10:07 AM 


David,
Thanks for the information. Obviously, I didn't pay much attention to the
description of Dixon since it completely slipped my mind. Amis brought up
Margaret's physical shortcomings several times (especially in comparison to the
fortunate Christine), so that stuck. I do hope Amis's girlfriend, Margaret's real life
model, ditched Amis after this book came out.

I strongly suspected that Kingsley Amis was not a very "nice" person. Your
research tends to confirm that.

As for those faces, the author himself had some recognition of their shortcomings.
After he is happily reunited with Christine, these thoughts run through Dixon's
mind:

"He thought what a pity it was that all his faces were designed to express rage or
loathing. Now that something had happened which really deserved a face, he'd
none to celebrate it with. As a kind of token, he made his Sex Life in Ancient
Rome face.
(p.255)

Now that last "image" is pretty darn funny, I have to admit.

Ann

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (28 of 31), Read 26 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Jane Niemeier (jniemeie@hotmail.com) 
 Date: 
     Sunday, June 20, 1999 08:40 PM 


Ann,
I loved the adjectives that you used to describe the characters in this book "the
hideous Mrs. Welch", "the delightfully dreadful" Margaret, and "the awful artist". I
think that Kent mentioned that Jim didn't get along with many of the characters in
this book, and we can see why.
Jane

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (29 of 31), Read 27 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Mary Anne Papale (fdlx59b@prodigy.com) 
 Date: 
     Monday, June 21, 1999 07:32 AM 


Since David has mentioned Michie, I take this opportunity to say something about
Dixon's relationship with this student. The form of hate/love that Amis contrives is
classic. Dixon so desperately wants to dodge Michie. But he also needs him to
register for his class. Dixon must come up with the course outline, which is sure to
fall short of Michie's expectations. In fact, Michie probably knows more about the
subject matter than Dixon. How terrifying for the young teacher. The theme of
knowing you will not measure up, but not really wanting to measure up in this
particular venue, is one that Amis does well, I think.
MAP

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (30 of 31), Read 26 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Ceilidh Giesbrecht (barbara@paralynx.com) 
 Date: 
     Monday, June 21, 1999 06:45 PM 


Re: Lucky Jim

"The novel provoked a great deal of controversy, much of it prompted by writers
of an older generation shaking their venerable heads over the follies of their
juniors. The most memorable comment was published in the Sunday Times on
Christmas Day 1954 in which Somerset Maugham expressed his fears for the
future of a country populated by Jim Dixons, where people failed to absorb the
civilised values traditionally inculcated by a university education: 'They do not go
to the university to acquire culture, but to get a job ... They have no manners,
and are woefully unable to deal with any social predicament ... They are mean,
malicious and envious ... They are scum.' Amis was vigorously defended by such
writers as C.P. Snow, John Wain and Philip Larkin, and the novel became a
classic."

Jim Dixon' behaviour reminds me of the character Mr. Bean played by Rowan
Atchinson. Mr. Bean is totally self centred, has no social skills and acts like a child
in trying situations. I love the character dearly. 
But, I agree with Diane and Ann that if I were to actually encounter this type of
person in real life, he would drive me to the brink of frustration!

Enjoyed the novel and look forward to reading it again, preferably *not* in large
print (which is all the library had). I'm still trying to uncross my eyes.

Ceilidh (Why doesn't spell check like my Canadian vocabulary?)

 
 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (31 of 31), Read 27 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Katie Kleczka (knp@execpc.com) 
 Date: 
     Monday, June 21, 1999 07:06 PM 


Ceilidh wrote:
(Why doesn't spell check like my Canadian vocabulary?)

One of the few things that I miss about my home in Ontario (apart from Peameal
bacon, Molson Canadian, and french fries with malt vinegar and gravy) is a spell
check that doesn't slaughter me for cheque, behaviour, colour, and centre. :)

Jim does have a little bit of the Rowan Atkinson about him. I found him SO
amusing and SO likeable, that I have been wondering not just a little about my
own level of maturity!

Katie
"Everything in moderation, EXCEPT for reading."


Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (32 of 38), Read 36 times, 1 File Attachment 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Kent Rasmussen (arkent@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 23, 1999 04:48 AM 


What the heck is going on around here? I go out of town for a few days, planning
to write some great notes on Lucky Jim when I return, and I come back to find
nearly 200 new messages posted on CR, including more notes on Lucky Jim than I
have time to absorb right now. Well, as much as I like the fact that so many
people are enthusiastic about my favorite novel, I'm worried that the rest of you
aren't leaving me anything fresh to discuss. 

So, how about it? Have a heart ... at least until I get my next ups in the next day
or two.

Meanwhile, I'm attaching a scan of my favorite Lucky Jim book cover. It has a
simple drawing, but I think it suggests something about Dixon's appearance.

As for the suggestion that Dixon has something of Rowan Atkinson in his
appearance, I can only shudder. If an actor's face must be put on Dixon, try
someone like Ronnie Corbett or Michael Palin.

>>Grouchy in So. Calif., who thinks Atkinson is better suited to play Evan Johns

      LUCKYJIM3.JPG (53KB) 
      Viking edition of Lucky Jim 

 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (33 of 38), Read 41 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Diane Freeman (dfreeman@jeffco.k12.co.us) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 23, 1999 09:29 AM 


Kent, I like the image you sent. I bought Lucky Jim at a used book store, also a
Viking edition, but the 20th printing in 1969 has a charming cover by Edward
Gorey. Worth the price for that alone. Sorry, I don't have a scanner.

Diane

 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (34 of 38), Read 34 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Jane Niemeier (jniemeie@hotmail.com) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 23, 1999 08:54 PM 


Grouchy,
I would agree about Michael Palin, but he is a bit too old. Michael is in his 50's
and Jim is in his 20's. So, I guess that we need a talent search for a new Jim.
Jane

 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (35 of 38), Read 24 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Ceilidh Giesbrecht (barbara@paralynx.com) 
 Date: 
     Wednesday, June 23, 1999 11:55 PM 


Kent

When I alluded to Jim reminding me of Rowan Atkinson, I was referring only to
Jim's "Beanish" behaviour - not to his appearance.

Love the book cover. The edition I read (which was in LARGE PRINT and has since
gone back to the library) had a drawing of a scholarly type smoking a cigarette
(one over the daily ration I should think).

Ceilidh

 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (36 of 38), Read 26 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Beatrice Soila (bpsoila@aol.com) 
 Date: 
     Thursday, June 24, 1999 01:47 PM 


For the role of Jim Dixon, how about a young Peter O'Toole? Bea STILL in Brussels
but home soon I hope.

 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (37 of 38), Read 23 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Kent Rasmussen (arkent@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 25, 1999 04:45 AM 


Bea,

As much as I admire O'Toole, I can't see him as Dixon. He'd make a better
Atkinson.

As for Michael Palin, I naturally agree that he could have played Dixon only when
he was younger--which he was when he was in his pythonesque phase.

>>Grouchy in So. Calif., who reminds Bea that any actor who has played Mr. Chips
is automatically disqualified from playing Dixon

 
 

 Topic: 
     LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (38 of 38), Read 25 times 
 Conf: 
     CONSTANT READER 
 From: 
     Kent Rasmussen (arkent@prodigy.net) 
 Date: 
     Friday, June 25, 1999 05:02 AM 


For those interested in who played whom in the movie that was actually made
from Lucky Jim in 1957, I have copied the cast from Internet Movie Database.
Incidentally, the film was directed by the Boulting brothers.


Ian Carmichael .... Jim Dixon 
Terry-Thomas .... Bertrand Welch 
Hugh Griffith .... Prof. Welch 
Sharon Acker .... Christine Callaghan 
Jean Anderson .... Mrs. Welch 
Reginald Beckwith .... University Porter 
John Cairney .... Roberts 
Ronald Cardew .... Registrar 
Maureen Connell .... Margaret Peel 
Harry Fowler .... Cab driver 
Joan Greenwood 
Kenneth Griffith .... Cyril Johns 
Jeremy Hawk .... Bill Atkinson 
Charles Lamb .... Contractor 
Henry B. Longhurst .... Prof. Hutchinson 
Jeremy Longhurst .... Waiter 
Penny Morrell .... Miss Wilson 
Clive Morton .... Sir Hector Gore-Urquhart 
John Welsh .... The Principal 
______________

I just noticed that the names of several characters have been altered.
Gore-Urquhart, for example, has a different first name in the book (what did
Christine call him?) and he wasn't a "Sir."

I assume that "Cyril Johns" is the novel's "Evan Johns" ("Jake" would have been a
better first name to go with "johns"). Joan Greenwood is listed in the cast, but
without a character name; I can't understand why I don't recall her presence in the
film, as she's an actress whom it is impossible not to notice. I'll have to watch the
film again--awful though it is.

Incidentally, the film adds a pointless complication in the form of some sort of
college pageant toward its end; I think it's possible that Greenword appears in
that episode--which would explain why her role wouldn't correspond to anything in
the novel.

One final observation: I regard Ian Carmichael as an ideal Dixon in most ways.
He's much taller than Dixon as Amis describes him, but that's inconsequential.

>>Grouchy in So. Calif., who has a vivid memory of Carmichael dropping a fried
egg down his throat as Christine (Sharon Acker) urges him to hurry upstairs to
repair the damage he's done to his bed

Did I ever mention that Carmichael didn't think much of the film, either? Perhaps
I said that in the note I lost online last week. I still intend to return and
reconstruct that long message; in fact, I have lots more to say about the book
than I'm conveying in these little snippets