SaturdayIan McEwan
Oh, shit. I've gone ahead and ruined a good book.
My biggest gripe with Saturday lies not with McEwan or his work, but rather with myself. It was my fault, you see, for reading Saturday immediately after reading Atonement, a novel which blew me away and knocked me senseless. In short, I was setting myself up for failure, for Saturday is no Atonement.
But that’s not to say Saturday isn’t good in its own right, and if I hadn’t still been under the spell of what many consider to be McEwan’s greatest novel I probably would have enjoyed Saturday more. At any rate, reading Saturday did clinch my view of McEwan as a great contemporary writer, and I again reaffirm my need to make my way through more of his work, pronto. Well, perhaps spaced out a little more; I rushed through Lessing, and now I kinda hate her.
My biggest gripe with Saturday lies not with McEwan or his work, but rather with myself. It was my fault, you see, for reading Saturday immediately after reading Atonement, a novel which blew me away and knocked me senseless. In short, I was setting myself up for failure, for Saturday is no Atonement.
But that’s not to say Saturday isn’t good in its own right, and if I hadn’t still been under the spell of what many consider to be McEwan’s greatest novel I probably would have enjoyed Saturday more. At any rate, reading Saturday did clinch my view of McEwan as a great contemporary writer, and I again reaffirm my need to make my way through more of his work, pronto. Well, perhaps spaced out a little more; I rushed through Lessing, and now I kinda hate her.
Slow down, homie! No need to rush things!
Saturday is a day in the life of Henry Perowne, a gifted neurosurgeon who wakes early in the morning just in time to witness what may be an omen of momentous import – or what may mean nothing at all. He continues his Saturday as he has countless others, only differing by his involvement in a minor car accident. As many know, however, minor incidents can have major effects, and that’s exactly what happens in here.
I won’t give anything away, although you can pretty much tell where the novel’s headed from pretty early on. Nevertheless Saturday is still an interesting rumination on the unexpected turns one’s life can take, and it adds a new perspective on the debate over whether free will or destiny controls our lives. For the record, I'm betting that McEwan's a free will kinda man. I, however, enjoy the notion of destiny, even though I don't truly believe in such a thing.
In a nutshell: Not better than Atonement, but still interesting. If you’re already a fan of his, you’ll enjoy Saturday; if not, start somewhere else.
Bibliolatry Scale: 3.5 out of 6 stars
I won’t give anything away, although you can pretty much tell where the novel’s headed from pretty early on. Nevertheless Saturday is still an interesting rumination on the unexpected turns one’s life can take, and it adds a new perspective on the debate over whether free will or destiny controls our lives. For the record, I'm betting that McEwan's a free will kinda man. I, however, enjoy the notion of destiny, even though I don't truly believe in such a thing.In a nutshell: Not better than Atonement, but still interesting. If you’re already a fan of his, you’ll enjoy Saturday; if not, start somewhere else.
Bibliolatry Scale: 3.5 out of 6 stars
2 comments:
You know, I can't really get through Atonement for some reason. Not sure why. But I loved Saturday. I'm not sure I agree about his bending towards free will since so much of the novel is written as "in praise of neurology," and seems to depict us as slaves to our brain chemistry.
Have you tried Enduring Love? It's fascinating.
Glad to see you coming around on Doris Lessing. :)
You know, Bibliolatrist, it IS possible to overdose! You have to space them out. I try and keep five books, or six weeks, between titles of a particular author.
I am trying to get through Patrick White, Jose Saramago, Doris Lessing, and one or two others, but it is just a plain old overdose if you bunch them up.
BTW, I think you said you loved Blindness by Saramago, so check out Seeing, a continuation.
-Chiron
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