Each Wednesday I am featuring a guest post by a book blogger detailing which books they think are the “best” and “worst” by the author of their choice. Visit the series page for more information about the guest bloggers, the featured authors, and the sign-up form.
Please welcome today’s guest blogger: Becky from Page Turners, who will be discussing the best and worst of Ian McEwan.
Ah Ian McEwan. Favourite author or arch nemesis? Well, arch nemesis is probably taking it a bit too far, but he was one of the first authors that came to mind when I saw Alyce’s “Best and Worst of” series.
I have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with Ian McEwan. He is undoubtedly a talented literary writer who, when he hits the mark, is completely able to draw you into the fictional world he has created and hold your attention until the very end with his stunning prose and fascinating character development.
For me, the books where he achieved this perfectly are Enduring Love and Atonement. *Minor spoilers ahead* Enduring Love is the story of Joe Rose, whose life is turned upside down when mentally ill Jed Parry falls in love with him following a hot air balloon accident. Atonement is the story of Briony Tallis, who makes a split second decision to accuse her sister’s lover of rape and spends the rest of her life attempting to atone for her decision. *End of spoilers*
What Mc Ewan does so well in each of these books is to remind us that every moment in our lives and every decision we make can have far reaching consequences. In exploring the consequences of specific moments in each of the protagonist’s lives, McEwan not only produces two gripping novels, he explores some of the fundamental aspects of human nature.
And the worst? I am going to suggest that it is his book Saturday, which follows the events in one day of a man’s life that have life changing consequences for him. Although I choose Saturday as my example of McEwan’s worst work, my complaints equally apply to many of his other books. In Saturday, McEwan’s talent as a literary author gets the better of him and he writes in prose that I found created a barrier between me and the story. Instead of being swept away by the events and the characters as I was in Enduring Love and Atonement, I found myself being solely focused on the words on the page in front of me. As a result, the story dragged on and on and I never felt at all interested the content of the book. I admit it. I gave up about half way through the book. The same can be said for many other of McEwan’s books, where the prose presented such a barrier to the story that I wasn’t able to reach the end. Very disappointing.
I hope to come across more books by McEwan like Enduring Love and Atonement, but until then he will remain an author I feel very wary of.
© 2011, At Home With Books. All rights reserved.
Never give up half way through!! I can’t do that, even if I’m hating the book – I feel like there is too much unfinished business. And a couple of times I have been rewarded by actually appreciating – if not enjoying – the book by the end.
I never used to give up on books, but the more reading I have done the more relaxed I get about it. I figure they are always there for me to come back to if the mood ever strikes again
I think is one of those authors that every single person who has read him would have a different best and worst. So much emotion swirling around this guy! I was underwhelmed by Saturday as well, but On Chesil Beach was simplistically poignant. I have heard people say they love Atonement and hate it. McEwan was the perfect choice today!
So ture, he is definitely the sort of author that would elicit mixed responses. I haven’t read On Chesil Beach but I’m pretty sure I have it on a bookcase somewhere, Ill have a look for ir.
McEwan is generally a miss for me. :/ I need to get to work on my post, but I can’t think of an author to write about!!
Good luck thinking of someone. I actually thought of a few but in the end I went with McEwan because the best and worst were on entirely different ends of the spectrum for me
I hated Atonement so much I never read anything else by him, but I know he has a pretty rabid fan base!
I think he might actually be one of those authors you generally either love or hate. Although I love Atonement and Enduring Love, I would never put him on a my list of favourite authors, that’s for sure
I really enjoyed Atonement but couldn’t get into Saturday. Great post!
Sounds like we had the same reaction then
I loved Atonement (the first book I read by McEwan), but really disliked Enduring Love (the only other book I’ve read by him). So I’m not sure what to read next (or even if I should read anything else by him). Glad to know I’m not the only one who feels his books are hit-or-miss, even though we haven’t had the same experiences reading them!
Sandy recommended On Chesil Beach in one of the comments above, so maybe try that one next. That’s what I think Ill do. I have a friend who really enjoyed Solar.
Atonement is the only book of McEwan’s I have read and all I remember about it is that I loved it. Sad huh? I will re read it at some point I am sure. I really want to read On Chesil Beach too.
That’s not sad, there are so many great books and authors there’s no way we can read all of them, even when we want to
I think McEwan’s style is pretty much the same in all of his books, but with Atonement (at least), the story was so compelling, it overrode the verbosity. It takes a pretty special story to do that – but Atonement was it – and with a great sucker punch at the end!
I think that you might have hit the nail on the head Debbie. His writing is the same in all the books, and it comes down to whether he has produced a good enough story that you can get beyond the writing to the actual plot.
Thanks so much for doing this post Becky! I have to admit that although I tried to read Atonement I couldn’t make it through. His writing was too wordy and descriptive, and really put me off. I have heard good things from many people about Atonement though. I might give it a try again someday when I’m in the right mood.
No problems, it was fun thinking about a particular author and what I like/don’t like about them.
His writing is definitely wordy and descriptive, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Or, maybe, it just works for some people and doesn’t work for others? Either way, I won’t rush out to read more of his books, but I won’t avoid them entirely either
I think these reflect my own experiences of reading Ian McEwen as well, although I still have reservations even about the books that I like of his the most.
My reservations are about his writing being a little overblown – but I still loved Atonement and Enduring Love despite this
Funnily enough, I loved ‘Saturday’! However, McEwan does tend to repeat his tricks a little – there’s usually a very clear environment, a mistake or accident, and then the consequences (I’m glad I read ‘Atonement’ first before I cottoned on to this!). His worst so far is his debut, ‘The Cement Garden’ – a little sick for my taste…
I picked that up when I was writing the review – there seems to be a common theme that he explores – the consequences of certain moments in people’s lives – the split decisions or events that occur and what effect they have. I am glad that you enjoyed Saturday
This is the perfect author for best/worst. I loved Atonement, disliked Enduring Love, Saturday was meh. His other books I’ve read, Black Dogs, On Chesil Beach and Amsterdam have all fallen somewhere on the spectrum, but never consistently good or bad. I’ve learned that I usually love the writing, but the story often falls flat for me.
I feel like I might have the opposite problem – the stories have potential but the language distracts me to the point that I can’t pay as much attention to the story as I would like
Not a fan of this author, I have only read Atonement and didn’t enjoy it, perhaps I’ll Enduring Love to see if I like this any better.
It’s a shame you didn’t like it, but then again, I started reading it many times before I actually managed to read the whole thing and really love it – so I absolutely get where you are coming from.
Good choice! I’ve felt conflicted about McEwan’s work too. I read Atonement first and thought it was excellent and then dove into Black Dogs and HATED it. Gave him another try with Chesil Beach, and loved him agian. Then I tried another one and hated it. It is a definte see saw ride.
I wonder what it is that makes him so hit and miss – for pretty much everyone. Most people seem to love some of his book and hate others. There must be a reason.
Weirdly I read On Chesil Beach and hated it (it depressed the hell out of me and that was before the ending), yet there was something about his writing that immediately made we want to read more (I got Saturday and Enduring Love off Bookmooch soon after.) Not read them yet, though I fully intend to.
I hope that you enjoy Saturday and Enduring Love. I will still have to give On Chesil Beach a try. I have read a few books that have just left me feeling depressed at the end (Wicked by Gregory Maguire is a good example) but I would still say I enjoyed because of the prose, or just because it was able to elicit such a strong reaction in me.