Jake’s Thing by Kingsley Amis – the author is my favorite, along with Marcel Proust https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/12/albertine-disparue-by-marcel-proust.html ergo I loved this chef d’oeuvre, magnum opus for me that is

 

Jake’s Thing by Kingsley Amis – the author is my favorite, along with Marcel Proust https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/12/albertine-disparue-by-marcel-proust.html ergo I loved this chef d’oeuvre, magnum opus for me that is

 

10 out of 10

 

I am in the process of reading the Kingsley Amis magnum opera for the second time, I just realized that Jake’s Thing will come on ‘my desk again, because there should be a third time…here is my previous review https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/08/jakes-thing-by-kingsley-amis-10-out-of.html of the novel

 

It is said to be ‘a fictionalized account of Amis’s affair with the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard’, but I must say that I identify with the main character, just like I do in the other novels by this Magister Ludi, Master of The Game, even if there are differences, in some ways I may be better, while Jacques 'Jake' Richardson is clearly ahead in some areas

He is a 59-year-old Oxford don who is going to see this doctor, Rosenberg, who is supposed to help cure his loss of sexual appetite – some of the suggestions appear reasonable – the spouse would lose weight, yes, I know this could sound sexist, only I am not going to be cancelled from anything, nobody reads this….

 

Oops, sometimes they do, and I did get kicked out, I presume it was because of my Contempt https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/08/contempt-aka-le-mepris-by-alberto.html for the Orange Nero, so I better be careful…back to the subject: I take the side of Jake, especially now that I read he might be the alter ego of Amis

There is a lot to unpack, so I will just put in what comes to mind – besides, there will be another take on this soon, when I will have read the book for the third time – Brenda is not somebody (fictional as she may be) that I like, it just came to me that she plays the role of my wife, when I put myself in the shoes of the ‘hero’

 

Together, husband and spouse take part in a sort of ‘group therapy’, and one of the ‘patients’ is the young, attractive Kelly, who becomes interested in the much older man – Louis CK https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/hilarious-by-louis-ck.html has this peculiar sense of humor, which I like:

He says that people condemn the wrong person, when they see a big age difference, the man likes a young human being, because she looks nice, she is strange, because she goes out with ‘that’, evidently things are more complicated, with gaslighting, using money to entice, grooming, etc. however, for Jake now:

 

Kelly comes to the house, she wants to seduce Jake, and Brenda sees through that, nevertheless, the ‘hero’ rejects the advances, and that made me upset, if not angry, although we could see that would be a dangerous situation, it is even explained, for the likes me, who would still if she wants it, I am all for it…maybe I get banished again with this

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence

Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’