Emergency Landing.
This extract from Einstein's Monsters concerns an emergency landing experienced by Martin Amis. The expected feelings of fear and panic in such a situation surprisingly turn out to be quite the opposite. .
This extract is written in an informal way. It is told through the eyes of Martin. He is telling what is happening and along with that, what he is thinking. Certain thoughts are put directly on paper in a stream-of-consciousness manner. "So. A bomb scare. But this bomb didn't scare me". These are short thoughts, not even put into sentence form, showing how he is just writing directly what he is thinking. This gives the reader insight into the way he thinks, and insight into his indifferent thoughts. It is also very conversational through short phrases in sentences that give the reader insight into him thinking: "having enjoyed, oh, I don't know, a good three or four on the ground". .
Through his thoughts, Martin also conveys irony. He starts off with a matter-of-fact statement that will not be argued with. It is a fact. .
"When it comes to flying, I am a nervous passenger but a confident drinker and Valium-swallower" .
The extract begins by admitting that he is a nervous passenger, "but a confident drinker". While at first one may not see the connection between a nervous passenger and a confident drinker, the thoughts and reactions that Martin has, conveys this further. .
In much irony, the reader sees a big contradiction in Amis reaction to the emergency landing and what Martin Amis originally says of being a "nervous passenger" "when it comes to flying". A combination of the title Emergency Landing along with the confession of being a "nervous passenger" gives the reader expectations of a panic-driven experience being told, however there is a noticeable contrast between his calm reactions and those of the other panicky passengers. .
While this piece starts off with Martin Amis talking about himself and how he experiences the situation, slowly more and more characters around him are brought into view enabling the reader to see this strong contrast between the general reaction of these panicky passengers in this situation and his own.
