(#169143) TIME'S ARROW OR THE NATURE OF THE OFFENSE. Martin Amis.

TIME'S ARROW OR THE NATURE OF THE OFFENSE. London: Jonathan Cape, [1991]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. This novel by a well-known mainstream British novelist "is about a man who lives backwards in time from the present to World War II, thus experiencing the Nazi concentration camps as a benign event in which the dead are resurrected. As has been pointed out frequently, the central conceit of 'life-in-reverse' is an old one in SF, having been used by J. G. Ballard in his story 'Time of Passage' (1964), by Philip K. Dick in his novel COUNTER-CLOCK WORLD, etc. (Amis does in fact acknowledge a passage in Kurt Vonnegut's SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE as his inspiration.) Nevertheless, a daring and effective book." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 378. "Amis's novel of greatest SF interest ... TIME'S ARROW was, inevitably, received as a 'literary' text whose SF structure was embarrassing, a response itself embarrassing to contemporary readers; despite, or because of, its engagement with the engines of SF, the novel reads with all the clarity of the best century reportage." - John Clute. A fine copy in fine dust jacket. (#169143).

Price: $100.00

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Printing identification statement for this book:
"First published 1991" on copyright page.