Books
by Ian McEwan
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Amsterdam |
Three ex-lovers of Mollie Lane meet at her funeral in North London. Clive, a successful but self absorbed composer; Vernon, an unscrupulous newspaper editor and Garmony, the Foreign Secretary with a secret. As in 'Enduring Love', McEwan uses their stories to discuss moral dilemmas: euthanasia, self-deception, conceit and hypocrisy. This is a charming novel of black comedy used to lighten serious issues.
(Jenny Freeman - bwl 10 August 2001) |
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Atonement |
A drama and a great book: thirteen year old Briony tells a lie and in doing so she dramatically changes the lives of her sister Cecilia and her lover Robbie. Her lie will make her an artist, a writer, but will she be able to find atonement? Probably never...
(Laurence Martin Euler - bwl 12 January 2002) |
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Black Dogs |
McEwan is so readable. Everything he turns his attention to is lit by his intelligence and sensitivity, and becomes interesting. The story centres on the lives of Bernard and June, parents of the narrator's wife. He uses flashbacks to tell their story, and to unravel the political, moral and religious ideas that shaped their lives. There is some lovely descriptive writing, especially of southern France. A very good read.
(David Truman - bwl 61 Summer 2011) |
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Enduring Love |
After witnessing a balloon accident, a man's life is turned upside down by a very disturbed person - or is that the case? We find our man questioning whether he is imagining things, which is what his female partner thinks, and he has a hard time convincing others that HE is the normal one. Under McEwan's spell, we begin to wonder if what we read is what is really happening. I couldn't put it down.
(Polly Sams Plant - bwl 8 April 2001) |
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Enduring Love |
This novel has a compelling first chapter, plunging you into the middle of events. It is very descriptive, exploring the theme of obsession and the nature of love, addressing De Clérambault's Syndrome. You find yourself questioning Joe's sanity, whose perspective the novel is told from, and doubting your narrator. There is a dramatic point towards the end that came as a shock, highlighting McEwan's ability to write well - definitely worth reading.
(Eloise May - bwl 60 Spring 2011) |
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Lessons |
Due to his beautiful writing, McEwan is able here to get away with a few irrelevant musings. His personal experience of abandonment, including that of his own children, comes very clearly through the narrative, so that his resentment and lasting hurt is palpable. He has true talent for creating an atmosphere, into which we are immediately drawn.
(Polly Sams Plant - bwl 107 Winter 2023) |
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Lessons |
The only book. I've been reading lately and not yet got to the end! All I can say when half way through is that it contains a lot more sex than piano lessons than I expected! However I like his style of writing and find him easy to carry my eye on to see what happens.
(Aletha Anne Bloor - bwl 110 Autumn 2023) |
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Nutshell |
Rewriting a truly great play as a contemporary novel is bound not to match up but this is still a very enjoyable reinvention - enjoyable for its ingenuity in making 'Hamlet' a thinking foetus, for its insights into the state of the world outside, for its sundry reflections and for the murder plot at the story's heart. Shakespeare fans will enjoy spotting the 'translations' of the soliloquies into modern idiom. To read or not to read - no question: go ahead.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 83 Winter 2017) |
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On Chesil Beach |
A poignant and compassionate novella of ignorance, innocence and unspoken words. The tragic consequence of being unable to articulate thoughts and fears. McEwan creates the early 60's period with clarity, drawing you in with the description of the hotel room in the beginning. He elicits your empathy towards the two main characters and you suffer with them, perhaps looking back at times when you felt the same inability, to whatever extent, to share your feelings.
(Christine Miller - bwl 40 June 2007) |
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On Chesil Beach |
This is a decidedly slim volume and it's typical of McEwan's faultlessly crafted work, not a spare word or muddled thought. It tells the brief story of a young couple on their wedding night, both pathetically ignorant - typical of the 1950s when the story happens - and scared of what is expected of them. I won't give away the ending, but 'poignant' is an unavoidable adjective.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 50 March 2009) |
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Saturday |
Whether it's squash, music, neurosurgery, road rage, family relationships, unpredictable violence or 2003's massive anti-war demonstration in London, this life in the day of neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne, is told by a master storyteller. It begins with a plane on fire witnessed through a bedroom window and describes the events of a day which should be just a normal Saturday but turns into one when Henry's attitudes and everything that he holds dear must be re-evaluated.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 29 April 2005) |
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Saturday |
Open this book and enter the thrilling, chilling tale of a Saturday gone very wrong for successful neurosurgeon Henry Perowne. As he drives to meet a colleague for a game of handball, a minor accident sets the scene for a collision between two different worlds: the rational and the irrational. McEwan has created a book of perfect suspense and perfect prose.
(Sharron Calkins - bwl 98 Autumn 2020) |
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Sweet Tooth |
Set in the 70s when Britain was suffering industrial unrest and terrorism, beautiful Serena finds herself in the world of espionage, albeit in a rather low-key way as she 'adopts' an aspiring young writer. The terrific twist at the end did not compensate for my lack of enthusiasm for the general story and the intrusion of real people in the story, knowing references to Martin Amis, Tom Maschler, etc. But the writing is good.
(Christine Miller - bwl 67 Winter 2013) |
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The Child in Time |
A trip to the supermarket, a moment's inattention and Stephen's three year old daughter disappears. Superficially a story of loss, guilt, grief and the redeeming power of love, it becomes an exploration of how attitudes to child rearing have changed over time, the nature of childhood and the dangers of trying to recapture it, memory, reality, the parental role of government, the fluidity of time itself and how a lost child still lives within us all. I loved it.
(Denise Lewis - bwl 90 Autumn 2018) |
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The Children Act |
Sometimes suspiciously perfect, here McEwan presents a moral dilemma with great insight. Should Fiona Maye - respected Family Law judge - rule that Jehovah's Witness Adam must accept a blood transfusion? Round this central theme and its repercussions McEwan explores wider questions of religion versus a lay society, personal values versus a 'greater' good and, in the end, self-interest versus compassion. Maye's own marital troubles may seem superfluous but perhaps save this novel from becoming a treatise. Impeccable and involving!
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 76 Spring 2015) |
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The Innocent |
I bought this tale of surveillance and love for a trip to Berlin. Leonard Marnham, the innocent, is a minor pawn in the games between West and East but discovers freedom and love in the divided city. It is very atmospheric of the period, both in place and people, but in the central twist I had to skip pages - too squeamish. The ending allows for a happier conclusion of the story.
(Christine Miller - bwl 69 Summer 2013) |
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