| | Old Devils: A Novel |  | Author: Kingsley Amis
Publisher: Harpercollins
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 478353
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 294
ISBN: 0060971460
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780060971465
ASIN: 0060971460
Publication Date: March 1988
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AMIS THE WRITING November 2, 2008
Kingsley Amis was into his 60's when this book appeared, I am almost out of mine by now so I thought it was time I read it, and I am very pleased that I have. If you know Amis's style you will find this novel very typical of it. If you don't know his style it is still very typical of it. It is ironic without being too heavy or tendentious, it is beautifully easy to read, its outlook is individual and there is real human sympathy behind the show of being unsentimental.
I greatly liked the setting, a rural community in South Wales harbouring a small colony of cod-Welsh literary poseurs. How `authentic' the scenario may be I have really no idea, but that is not a problem for the reader I wouldn't say. The narrative hardly looks outside the little group of sexagenarians (those male these feminine), and even their part-time-Welshness is not laboured unduly. It all makes an original and entertaining backdrop to what the story is really about, namely how life is for this particular group at their age. To such extent as the book has a `hero' it is the prodigal literary pundit son back from England with his name changed from Alan to Alun, but even if he provides a focal point for the little caucus to come closer again, I had the impression that they had always been a fairly cohesive group, with or without Alun. Even when they get thrown out of not one pub but two, this happens to them en bloc, and presumably the thing had happened before.
Plenty of the action takes place in pubs, the amount of boozing that goes on generally had me daunted not to say plain scared, but only one person dies and there is no real hint that he died of that. Only two of the characters put the sex in sexagenarian, and that theme does not amount to a lot. The book is almost non-stop talking, the network of communication that holds the group together as a group, something one senses is vital to their existence now that not much vitality remains in their relationships as couples. Amis has an eye for the absurd and a gift for describing absurdity in an entertaining way without outright hostility. These are his own folk at least in the matter of age, he can take a look at them and see himself, and he can see the ridiculous side of the whole scene without outright cynicism.
What age you have to be to get the best value out of this book I would not be knowing. Even ten years ago I strongly suspect I would have missed some of the best things about it, but that only speaks to my own limitations. In any case, as I said already the book is extremely easy to read. Perhaps it is just a trifle too easy and too accomplished to be quite Amis's best effort. Some of his zanier productions like The Green Man or The Anti-Death League are not so evenly good as is The Old Devils, but I will happily trade some evenness for the wilder imaginative elements that I find in those. However that is a matter of going through the ritual of assessment after finally closing the book. When reading this novel I was not disturbed or even visited by thoughts of any other novel whether by Amis or by anyone. I enjoyed it thoroughly, I recommend it to my and its characters' age-bracket, and I should be surprised if it does not appeal to many younger readers, especially if they have come to appreciate this author from some of his best-sellers.
Let Us Now Praise Alun Weaver October 27, 2008
A great book it may not quite be, but the character of Alun Weaver is worth the price of admission. He's the "professional Welshman" with the mane of snow-white hair who gets paid to wax nostalgic on TV and radio about Wales and its famous poet, Brydan -- Brydan being a deceased lout clearly modeled on Dylan Thomas.
Alun's a phony and a womanizer and yet still the irresistable alpha male in his little group of friends. Everything is more fun (and less predictable) when he's around, even if he might try to get your wife alone in the back room when you aren't looking.
The great comic scenes in the book all involve Alun, his line of smooth, practiced public patter about Wales and about Brydan, and his private contempt for Wales, for Brydan, and possibly himself.
Here he is brushing off an overeager fan of Brydan's from Bethgelert, Pennsylvania:
"Dear, dear, there are Welshmen all over the world, aren't there? Saxons, give up hope of finding a pie under the sun that we harmless folk don't contrive to slide our sly fingers into. Carry my warmest cousinly greetings to the Celts of Bethgelert, Mr. Pugh."
Later, when the fan proves too persistent, Weaver drops the persona just long enough to see him off for good with a harsh, funny expletive and an obscene gesture.
Other reviewers mention not being familiar with Wales, but I'm not sure that's such a handicap here. The wisecracks about Wales and Welshmen are from characters who love and hate their provincial home turf, as many people do for reasons of their own no matter what the town or country. Don't let that stop you from reading this book.
 good enough August 12, 2008
In my quest to finish off the Booker Prize winners, the book award I respect the most, I picked up a copy of the hard-to-find "Old Devils" by Kingsley Amis.
The action takes place in Wales where Malcom, Peter and Charlie and their wives find out that Alun Weaver - Welsh poet of note and his wife Rhiannon are returning to live out their twilight years amongst old friends and surroundings.
A nice simple setup for ruminating about the past, gossiping, sneaking around, plenty of boozing and other shenanigans.
However, I must say that I was disappointed. There is some humour; there is some poignant scenes but, overall, I was left unsatisfied.
My copy was almost 400 pages and yet Amis left many of his characters two dimensional - especially the women. Also, I found myself yearning for more background on the characters.
A little depressing too, when people in their "golden years" have little left to do but stay drunk all day.
As an American reader and subtle jokes about Welsh vs. English got by me.
I can recommend this book. It's accessible and intelligent and, at times,
humorous and touching. I expected more but "The Old Devils" is good enough.
Drinking Buddies' Dialogue is Wonderful November 4, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There is a secret humor within the confines of this book which I feel to be left out of - for instance how much different are the Welsh from the British and in what way? And, that premise, let alone others, is the thrust of this British satire dealing with four couples who pre-marital (and one post-marital) relationships make them at ease and ill at ease when they congregate long after their trysts, when their own children are the age they were when they sowed their wild oats.
Pub crawling, and honoring poets of Welsh ancestry, deliver dialogue between the husbands which Amis so artfully conjures, Over and over again, this book reminded me of McCall Smith's "44 Scotland Street" series in which people - like this book - meet and discuss topics of interest and occasionally run into folly or irony, and occasionally run into a scant argument. I must think that McCall Smith is influenced by this writer whose works predate his by decades.
Sometimes it feels trifling to be hanging out with the same people in a small town on all occasions. Amis cleverly distills this feeling with "You wonder why on earth you go, especially when you've got there and find it's exactly like it always is, and then you realize that's why you went." In small or large environs, we always know that your true good friends can be counted on the right hand's digits.
As the past lives entangle with the present, good and bad arises. Each character seems to be highly affected by the return of noted local poet Alun and temptress (in an ivory girl way) wife of local lore, Rhiannon. Their strolls down memory lane uncover memories which had been buried or not discussed for decades, and the resurrection often is invigorating. But, the invigorating event often prescribes other concepts - such as realization of age and mortal infirmities
Just for the dialogue, this book remarkably allows you to be the "fly on the wall" as the common and uncommon Welsh speak to one another in pubs, homes and elsewhere. You sense you know so much more about that little known land, even though little of that land is discussed or revealed. Instead, you witness their responses to daily events, and admire how they differently treat the same and seem less . . . less. . . belabored by "it all." This relaxed spirit is something which McCall Smith seems to deliver equally well.
If you like McCall Smith, you will like this book. If you like witty dialogue which humorously displays elders in the sunset years, again this is your book. It is fun on many accounts.
 Sad and Funny- A Poignant, Worthwhile Read February 26, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is about everything-- How can you sum up life near the end? Is it possible to change, and if so, is it worth the bother? etc. It left me with shivers. It seemed an innocent, comic enough read at first, with devestating insights tossed casually in among descriptions of curmudgeonly drunkenness and inter-sexual miscommunication. By the end, it has turned into something else, a book about death and love imbued with humor. I found it much more meaningful and poignant in the end than Martin's postmodern gimmickry and suspect it will stay with me for some time.
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