Books |
Ian McEwan
By
Published: Sep 20, 2018
Category:
Fiction
He’s the most popular A-level novelist in England. And this season, there’s a very good movie…
THE CHILDREN ACT
I say I don’t have a type, but Emma Thompson is it. Not so much because she is beautiful in an English way, but because she is intelligent. And then she gets to play intelligent women, which occurs so rarely in movies that you cherish it when you happen upon it. In “The Children Act,” she’s Fiona Maye, a High Court judge assigned to family cases. And now she has a brain-buster: the 17 year-old son of Jehovah’s Witnesses is in the hospital. He needs a transfusion or he’ll die. And his parents won’t allow the transfusion. What does the law say? And what will she do about her marriage, which seems already dead? The end is too on-the-nose, too easy. But until then, “The Children Act” is a movie that makes you feel smart just for watching it. It’s in theaters and on Direct TV. [To buy the paperback from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here.]
ATONEMENT
“Atonement” is McEwan’s masterpiece. It has a terrific plot engine — a 13-year-old girl makes a mistake and says something that hurts any number of people and ripples through their lives for decades. Injustice: That theme worked for Dickens, it works here, it will always work. And married to this freight train of a plot is great writing —– McEwan’s account of Dunkirk is worth the price of the book —– and a resolution that makes you want to talk back to it. [To buy the paperback, click here.]
ON CHESIL BEACH
A short book in every way: less than 40,000 words, lots of white space. When it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, there were some loud objections. The story is also small. It’s set in Dorset, England, in July of 1962, after Edward and Florence marry and arrive at a small seaside hotel for their wedding night. They are both virgins. And they are both scared. Well, Edward’s scared — he’s been looking forward to this night for so long he can scarely contain his longing. As for Florence, she’s terrified. No, worse: disgusted. The very thought of sex sickens her — she’s terrified that Edward will thrust his tongue into her mouth and she will throw up into his and that will be the end of their marriage. [To read my review, click here.]
THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS
Colin and Mary. Longtime lovers, not married. In Venice for a month.
“They dutifully fulfilled the many tasks of tourism the ancient city imposed.”
“They passed many hours searching for ‘ideal’ restaurants.”
“And with each step the city would recede as they locked tighter into each other’s presence.”
If you have traveled with a lover, you’ve been there. Because travel focuses two people on shared experience — away from home, with no obligations, we look outward but turn inward.
Colin and Mary have been together for some years and no longer have a great passion. A puff of marijuana, and they have sex, but “the pleasure was in its unhurried friendliness, the familiarity of its rituals and procedures, the secure precision-fit of limbs and bodies, comfortable, like a cast returned to its mold.” Arguments? They’re conducted in silence. And why not? This is a pleasant vacation for Colin and Mary — they’re each other’s comfortable shoes.
Then they get lost and meet Robert…. [To read my review, click here.]
SATURDAY
“Saturday” relies heavily on McEwan’s strengths as a visual writer. Because the book is a huge trick — although it is set, in London, on February 15, 2003, the day of worldwide protest against the upcoming Iraq war, we never see the march. Rather, this is a day in the life of Henry Perowne, a toweringly successful neurosurgeon. His day off, in fact, so we have a chance to see what a satisfied man looks like when he has time to be himself.
The day starts early. Henry awakes, hours before dawn, and looks out the window of his Lonon townhouse. And there is fire low in the sky, a burning light lumbering over London. A missile? Or a plane with an engine burning?
Great metaphor, great opening scene. Comets and portents. Magic and destiny…. [To read my review, click here.]
