Lucky Jim | 
so-soLucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis (1954)
Premise: A mediocre college instructor sabotages his career in this searing satire of 1950s British academia and cultured society.
Review: This book regularly features on lists of the best novels of the 20th C, or funniest English-language novels, and I can understand why. But the danger with satire is that it is very specific, and because of this, a lot of this has not aged well. Cont.
pick3.5⭐️ Funny and entertaining, this book is such an easy read. I think I would‘ve appreciated it more if I read this in my younger days. The madness would have been more relatable back then. Nevertheless, it‘s an entertaining novel and I had some good laughs thanks to Jim Dixon‘s shenanigans.
Rushing Lucky Jim for our book club meeting this Sunday. I‘m back in my hometown for 2-week break 🥳 and today I spent some time at the most popular cafe in town Coffee & Beyond. My drink is called Kermit the Frog, which is dirty matcha. Not bad at all 😃
#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView
1. Either to play the piano or to ski 🎿
2. Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis) if you want to poke fun at academia. Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Louis Sachar) if you want goofy, surreal fun set in an elementary/middle school.
Tag: @RaeLovesToRead @IndoorDame @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego @Ruthiella @CBee @BarbaraBB
#TemptingTitles #WithLuck ONE I‘ve been meaning to read for years now.
When I said I wanted to read more classics this year, I did not have this one in mind. I saw this being sold online and no one seemed to want it. The cover was intriguing to me, as well as the title, and after a quick search of the summary, I found myself putting in an offer for the book, and here it is. 😂 #bookmail
pickIt took me a while to understand what this book was getting at but once I did, I enjoyed it! I loved the cynicism and quiet wit. It never felt like it was trying too hard to be funny and relatable, which made it more enjoyable when it was funny and relatable. Having worked in university administration, this was definitely relatable for me…
Reading on a plane for the first time in a while! Next time I post I‘ll be in Cyprus 🥰
pan
It‘s fair to see I wasn‘t really a fan of this book and I didn‘t want to give up on it so I followed it to the end. Firstly, whoever said this book was a comedy needs a lesson on what comedy means. I maybe laughed once. Unfortunately the books feels kind of pointless because nothing interesting or of merit really happened for most of the book. It was all crammed into the last 2 chapters so you could get away with just reading those
I give 2 stars
So the app kinda had a glitch where it went from the 40 minutes where I was at back to when I‘d previously paused it at 18 minutes so now the app must think I‘m an absolute speed demon 😂 0.7 pages a minute lmaoooo
#book #books #read #reading #bookshelf #bookly #comedy #funny #glitch #luckyjim #kingsleyamis
I‘ve just downloaded this app after I saw someone use a graphic from it for there end of book review. Do any of you guys use it? And is it worth get a subscription?
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#book #books #read #ios #app #read #reading #luckyjim #kingsleyamis #bookshelf #bookly #comedy #penguin #classic #classics #penguinclassics #bookapp
pickThis might be considered a strange pick for a beach read, but it's what I grabbed off my shelves before heading to Aruba a couple years back. Then again, maybe not. Humor works on the beach, and this is always on the short list of "funniest 20th-century novels". Much is still relevant- the phoniness and pretension of academia, the debasing quest for a tenured university job. Feels less groundbreaking 70 years on, but still good for some laughs.
New episode just came out! We discuss college professors, the muppets, and select our December book of the month. Enjoy!
https://open.spotify.com/show/6A6hXZ7eaOG7BtHOSJpCTI
Day 3 - #3Books #ThatMadeMeLaugh
#LuckyJim #KinsleyAmis #Candide #Voltaire #TheOldReliable #PGWodehouse
I read these books and found them very humorous!
These are my #MayStats. Nine print books, one eBook, and two audiobooks. In addition I‘m reading The Song of the Lark for the #catherbuddyread, A Midsummer Night‘s Dream for the #shakespearereadalong, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame for #Hugonuts. Not a bad month! Tagged book is the one with no visible title.
pickI think I would have liked this book better if 1) I were a man; 2) I had read it a few decades ago; and, 3) if I hadn‘t read the hype. Being told that something is the “finest, and funniest, comic novel of the twentieth century” makes one expect more. There were certainly amusing moments, but there was so much sophomoric humor, and deep cynicism, mixed with a dose of misogyny, that I could only give it 3 stars. OK, but not genius.
Sometimes I buy books for their beautiful bindings, but only if I intend to read them. Diving in to this one tonight.
pickSpring is in the air, the plum trees are blossoming. I find myself unconsciously re-reading books my dad and I shared from our library hauls or authors he recommended as March approaches. Here‘s one: a hilarious, cynical look at British academia; comedy of manners so superbly done! And the bonus is the cover by Edward Gorey.Thanks, Dad❤️
‘You think you‘re sensitive, but you‘re not: your sensitivity only works for things that people do to you. Touchy and vain, yes, but not sensitive‘. This quote is a real revelation. I had a friend who claimed to be very sensitive and everyone had to be very careful with what they said so to protect her ‘sensitive nature‘. She had no problem stepping on the feelings of others. This has set me free from all the guilt I had from ending the friendship
What is better? A shelf full of books waiting to be read or an empty shelf waiting for books to be bought? #shelfie
My new #folio arrived today. 😍
It seems like Friday is the day of the week, Folios love to arrive in my library. 😍
#foliofreaks
These are two #unreadbooks that I would like to tick off my TBR list this year 😊
#kingsleyamis #luckyjim #pgwodehouse #carryonjeeves #bookworm #booksandtea
#alltheyoungdudes in the books by the Amis men are dudes I would probably cross the street to avoid. Some witty, sharp prose in both books that made me laugh at the characters, which I think is the only reaction these dudes deserve. #SeptemBowie @Cinfhen @Marchpane
😂😂
pickTo get me started... a quick pic of a page from one of my favourites. Lucky Jim. #book #favouritebook #amis #reader #readingcorner #page
pickI enjoyed this quick read. At a mere 257 pages, Amis reflects the silly life of James (Jim) Dixon, a first year teacher at some sort of college. Dixon experiences many missteps on his path to find success and love, but it is a funny story that is both unbelievable and coincidental in the extreme. I found many moments funny and realistic to the life of the imperfect.
so-soI didn't love this book. Sometimes it was a bit funny, but I have a hard time rooting for a protagonist who isn't a good person. He spent his time being lazy, writing letters to upset others, tricking people. Then I'm supposed to hope he gets the girl?!? 😒 The ending picked up the pace a bit and it all ended happily for our lazy, selfish protagonist, but I'm not actually sure that's what I wanted!
If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.
This book cracked me up as an undergrad! Lucky Jim is written in the tradition of the English comic novel complete with dry wit and satire - perfect! #augustofpages #bookphotochallenge
Loving this book! Laugh out loud example of British humour at its best. #Dixon4Life
Bookish Pair: For a more contemporary satire that takes up the ‘mediocre white man fails up‘ motif, Andrew Sean Greer‘s controversial Pulitzer-winner Less (2017).
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3d