Saturday
6 journalers for this copy...
A very detailed account of one day in the life Henry Perowne. And when I say detailed, I mean detailed. Every thought and every action of almost every minute is described.
This gives wonderful insight into the character of Henry and draws you along with the unvolding events, but sometimes it becomes a bit tedious and I found myself skimming bits.
McEwan's protagonist is neurosurgeon Henry Perowne, a man comfortably ensconced in an enviable upper middle class existence. His wife is a successful newspaper lawyer, his daughter Daisy a budding poet. But as he wakes one Saturday morning and witnesses a plane accident through his window, he is not yet aware that this is a harbinger of a sustained assault on all that he holds dear. It’s a McEwan trademark to begin his novels with a striking or violent rupture of everyday existence, but this opening is a prelude to his most impressively sustained narrative yet. It’s the publication day of Henry’s daughter's poetry collection, but a chance encounter with a drunken trio emerging from a lap-dancing club ends violently, even as a march against the war in Iraq streams past nearby. And this encounter with the menacing Baxter, main antagonist of the group, is to have fateful consequences. As Saturday progresses, Henry is forced to examine every aspect of his life and beliefs, not least his attitude to the war.
Unlike many of his peers, McEwan is not content to reduce the issues of the war to simple opposition, in which Tony Blair is characterised as a war criminal. Henry has treated a victim of Saddam's brutality, and although a comic encounter with the Prime Minister himself is a highlight of the book, both Henry (and his creator) are obliged to consider the complex skein of the conflict from all sides. While there are missteps (the poetic daughter, Daisy, is thinly drawn), McEwan's invigorating and trenchant novel is an unmissable experience.
This gives wonderful insight into the character of Henry and draws you along with the unvolding events, but sometimes it becomes a bit tedious and I found myself skimming bits.
McEwan's protagonist is neurosurgeon Henry Perowne, a man comfortably ensconced in an enviable upper middle class existence. His wife is a successful newspaper lawyer, his daughter Daisy a budding poet. But as he wakes one Saturday morning and witnesses a plane accident through his window, he is not yet aware that this is a harbinger of a sustained assault on all that he holds dear. It’s a McEwan trademark to begin his novels with a striking or violent rupture of everyday existence, but this opening is a prelude to his most impressively sustained narrative yet. It’s the publication day of Henry’s daughter's poetry collection, but a chance encounter with a drunken trio emerging from a lap-dancing club ends violently, even as a march against the war in Iraq streams past nearby. And this encounter with the menacing Baxter, main antagonist of the group, is to have fateful consequences. As Saturday progresses, Henry is forced to examine every aspect of his life and beliefs, not least his attitude to the war.
Unlike many of his peers, McEwan is not content to reduce the issues of the war to simple opposition, in which Tony Blair is characterised as a war criminal. Henry has treated a victim of Saddam's brutality, and although a comic encounter with the Prime Minister himself is a highlight of the book, both Henry (and his creator) are obliged to consider the complex skein of the conflict from all sides. While there are missteps (the poetic daughter, Daisy, is thinly drawn), McEwan's invigorating and trenchant novel is an unmissable experience.
Journal Entry 2 by MeGeerts at The Tun Bar & Cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Released 15 yrs ago (7/9/2008 UTC) at The Tun Bar & Cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
BC meet-up
BC meet-up
I've read the other Ian McEwen, so am looking forward to this one. Thank you McGeerts!
Ian McEwan is very skilled and his careful building of the plot is masterly. The background however is almost too masterly, all that detail about neurological surgery really began to interfere with the story. I kept thinking, 'How doew he know all that?" instead of following the book through.
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
At the Book festival
At the Book festival
Caught at the Book Festival Meet Up. Sometimes I love Ian McEwan's writing and soemtimes I hate it, so will be interesting to see where this book falls.
I liked the story in this book, but like other journallers, found the surgical detail unnecessary. I liked the way that everything happened in one day, and the cyclical nature of it all. Will release at the next meet up.
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
And off it goes to the sweepstake winner!
And off it goes to the sweepstake winner!
Received as part of the BCUK Autumn Sweepstake.
Thanks for sending this, I will hold onto this and take to the next BC meet.
Thanks for sending this, I will hold onto this and take to the next BC meet.
Journal Entry 10 by gingergeoff at Great Expectations, London Road in Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Released 15 yrs ago (11/20/2008 UTC) at Great Expectations, London Road in Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
If this is your introduction to Bookcrossing, welcome. Please make as few or as many comments about the book as you wish. The book is now yours to do with as you choose. Keep it, pass it on, but please leave the label, so it can keep in touch with us. If you would like to know what happens to the book after you have passed it on, then do join - it's free, private and it's fun!
And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me gingergeoff, as your referring member.
Taken to the Reading meet as my live bookswap book!
If this is your introduction to Bookcrossing, welcome. Please make as few or as many comments about the book as you wish. The book is now yours to do with as you choose. Keep it, pass it on, but please leave the label, so it can keep in touch with us. If you would like to know what happens to the book after you have passed it on, then do join - it's free, private and it's fun!
And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me gingergeoff, as your referring member.
Taken to the Reading meet as my live bookswap book!
Journal Entry 11 by wyldetwo from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Thursday, November 20, 2008
Won in a bookswap at tonight's meet
Journal Entry 12 by wyldetwo at Hudson's, 122-124 Colmore Row in Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, January 24, 2009
Released 15 yrs ago (1/24/2009 UTC) at Hudson's, 122-124 Colmore Row in Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Bringing to this afternoon's meet-up
Bringing to this afternoon's meet-up
Journal Entry 13 by wyldetwo from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, January 24, 2009
I really enjoyed this book which describes an eventful day in someone's life - I especially liked Henry's musings on current events, the past and the future. Unlike others I actually found the surgical details quite fascinating and looked up a few terms! It made me conscious that every job has its own special vocabulary and jargon.
Journal Entry 14 by Megmac from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, January 24, 2009
Picked up at today's meetup. I don't usually strictly enjoy Ian McEwan's novels but they are always interesting.
