When Molly Lane dies, two of her friends meet outside a crematorium to express both their remorse and their view of Molly’s last days. Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday are a pair of extremely successful men who at one point or another had an affair with Molly. Molly died in what they consider a horrible way; she just started to lose it suddenly, became ill, and required her long-suffering husband to nurse her. Clive, the most famous composer of his age, and Vernon, editor of a top newspaper, make a pact after Molly’s death that rebounds against them in a way they’d never expected.
On the back cover, this is described as “a sharp contemporary morality tale, cleverly disguised as a comic novel”, and I can’t say it better than that. The comedy to me appears to come from how ridiculous these men are, how they are so wrapped up in themselves that they can’t hear and don’t care about the outside world at all. By the end of the novel, they have each truly become like Molly, lost to the world without realizing what has happened to them. They’ve been overtaken by an illness, and that illness is, according to Ian McEwan, the ills of public society and the selfishness that it takes to ignore the needs and wellbeing of fellow humans while taking care of number one. The disturbing thing is that neither of them realize it; what they’re doing is so normal to them that they don’t understand what’s wrong. They think they’re adding to society when really they’re just adding to the problem.
Anyway, in that way, this novel is so deep in so few pages that it’s hard to say whether or not I liked it. This is one of those books that I want a class on. There’s a lot here to pick at and just writing that paragraph above has helped me clarify it in my mind. I think I could write a paper on it. It’s less than two hundred pages long, so it didn’t take me very long to read, but it packs in so much thought-provoking material in with the ridiculousness of the situation. The worst part is that, when dissected, the behavior of neither of the characters is ridiculous. They’re doing what has been done countless times before and that is eerie and worrying, especially given the extreme dislike I felt for both of them by the end of the novel. Really the problem with the novel is that it isn’t a very good story. The story and the characters exist only to prove McEwan’s point, which is a strong one, but it doesn’t work very well at a surface level.
In conclusion, there is a very good reason that Amsterdam won the Booker Prize. It’s a truly haunting commentary on society that still manages to be slightly ridiculous enough to make it interesting. I haven’t even touched on all the issues here, but I can tell I’m going to continue thinking about this for some time to come. It isn’t as good as a book as Atonement is, in my humble opinion, particularly because it is shallow in everything but its overall meaning. I still think it’s worth a read.
Very interesting review. One thing’s for sure — this book has made you think! It probably would be an interesting book club discussion book!
.-= Julie P.´s last blog ..Review: When the Whistle Blows =-.
I haven’t read this McEwan yet, although I intend to. I’m a big fan of his writing!
(Except for this weird book set in Venice I read recently…I can’t even remember the title, lol, but my mom & I listened to it on CD when driving to TX & we both agreed it was strange) I think my favourite that I’ve read is far is A Child in Time, about a couple whose daughter is kidnapped (or maybe killed?). I read it in 2007, so the details a little hazy, but I loved it!
.-= Eva´s last blog ..Here At the End of the World We Learn to Dance (thoughts) =-.
This sounds like a book I would love! Off to the good reads tbr list!
.-= Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit)´s last blog ..The Widow’s Season by Laura Brodie =-.
I have not read this one, but now have added it to my list. Glad you seemed to enjoy it so much.
.-= diane´s last blog ..Tuesday Teasers =-.
I hated this book. And it soured me for McEwan. If this is his prize-winning book, then I’m not very interested in more. Then I saw the movie Atonement (okay, movies do not equal books) and hated that too. I know that people just love him as an author, but I’m not sure if I’d subject myself to another of his books.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Today’s Read: The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman =-.
I have yet to really read anything by McEwen. I started Saturday but wasn’t able to get that far into it. I have Atonement so when I eventually get around to it, I may start with that book. It’s always interesting when books leave you with that feeling of ambiguity.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Progress: Notes From A Reading Life ~ October 20 =-.
Wow, I kind of felt the same way after reading Atonement. I know lots of people loved it, but I just felt kind of numb after I read it.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Review: Nine Dragons =-.
Love Ian McEwan, Atonement is one of my all time favorites, and I’ve been meaning to circle back and read this one. I’m glad I read your review beforehand to a heads up on it.
.-= Kim´s last blog ..A “Coolest Bookstore” List =-.
Very intriguing review. This book sounds really deep. But usually I care more about a good story.
.-= heidenkind´s last blog ..Sweet 16 =-.
I really disliked this book a lot. I felt that by the end of the story, it was just a farce, and that any message that it had been attempting to send had been robbed if it’s meaning by the ridiculousness of the plot and the characters. I, too, preferred Atonement to this novel. The book didn’t turn me off of the author, but I was mightily disappointed in it. Very insightful review.
.-= zibilee´s last blog ..The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson – 608 pgs =-.