You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
DARK comedy with clever bits of Hamlet (and a little Macbeth). Good for English majors.
Video review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCENk3l0TKg&lc=z23kxjth1knsxj2bw04t1aokgim5ahjjqil5h5dm2iyrrk0h00410
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“Pessimism is too easy, even delicious, the badge and plume of intellectuals everywhere. It absolves the thinking classes of solutions. We excite ourselves with dark thoughts in plays, poems, novels, movies.”
I’ve spent the past several weeks watching way too many productions of Hamlet for a project, so I was a little weary when this finally appeared on my “ready to borrow” list on Libby. Any apprehension I felt was quickly erased. McEwan’s Nutshell is a sort of reenvisioning of Shakespeare’s play in the form of a novel written from the perspective of an eight month old fetus and transported to a modern setting. As he enjoys the second-hand drunkenness of his mother’s second glass of wine a plot begins to unfold. His father isn’t his father at all; his being is the result of an affair between his mother and uncle, Claude. He grows restless in the womb, unable to stop the scheme to murder the man that stands between the pair.
I found the idea a bit…off at first. This seems to be a very intelligent fetus! McEwan walks a very delicate balance between unknowing and seemingly knowing too much. After all, as the fetus observes, “However close you get to others, you can never get inside them, even when you're inside them.” Once I sort of lowered my guard I found myself swept away with the story. I think my only genuine complaint was the length; While I found the novel to be pretty amazing I wanted more, at least more “before” (I think the ending is perfect.) I wanted to know who these characters were and their motivations outside of the judgment of this very observant baby but unfortunately that would detract from the very specific point-of-view McEwan has created.
I haven’t considered any of McEwan’s work in a few years, but I’m amazed at the effortless way he crafts a narrative. His prose is compulsively readable and brimming with tension. His characters are complex, inviting and rejecting sympathy as their true natures are laid bare on the page. His prose is suspenseful, which pushed me to finish this story, but also philosophical and brooding, capturing the essence of Hamlet’s character.
I’ve spent the past several weeks watching way too many productions of Hamlet for a project, so I was a little weary when this finally appeared on my “ready to borrow” list on Libby. Any apprehension I felt was quickly erased. McEwan’s Nutshell is a sort of reenvisioning of Shakespeare’s play in the form of a novel written from the perspective of an eight month old fetus and transported to a modern setting. As he enjoys the second-hand drunkenness of his mother’s second glass of wine a plot begins to unfold. His father isn’t his father at all; his being is the result of an affair between his mother and uncle, Claude. He grows restless in the womb, unable to stop the scheme to murder the man that stands between the pair.
I found the idea a bit…off at first. This seems to be a very intelligent fetus! McEwan walks a very delicate balance between unknowing and seemingly knowing too much. After all, as the fetus observes, “However close you get to others, you can never get inside them, even when you're inside them.” Once I sort of lowered my guard I found myself swept away with the story. I think my only genuine complaint was the length; While I found the novel to be pretty amazing I wanted more, at least more “before” (I think the ending is perfect.) I wanted to know who these characters were and their motivations outside of the judgment of this very observant baby but unfortunately that would detract from the very specific point-of-view McEwan has created.
I haven’t considered any of McEwan’s work in a few years, but I’m amazed at the effortless way he crafts a narrative. His prose is compulsively readable and brimming with tension. His characters are complex, inviting and rejecting sympathy as their true natures are laid bare on the page. His prose is suspenseful, which pushed me to finish this story, but also philosophical and brooding, capturing the essence of Hamlet’s character.
dark
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Oh Dio! Potrei vivere nel guscio di una noce e credermi re d'uno spazio infinito, se non fosse per certi cattivi sogni."
McEwan riscrive Amleto e lo sposta non in quel guscio di noce in cui lui si sentirebbe un Re, ma... nel ventre materno! E da lì questo piccolo protagonista osserva (o meglio, ascolta) il mondo, sente la radio, ama la madre, si gode del buon vino e assiste al formarsi del terribile piano di suo zio e sua madre ai danni, be', ovvio, del padre. La storia è quella, ma il punto di vista è tanto originale quanto sapientemente sfruttato. Gli eventi ci vengono presentati a poco a poco, per quel che il protagonista riesce a sentire (la narrazione è in prima persona, nessun narratore onnisciente), e per il resto abbiamo il nostro solito Amleto, forse. Sempre filosofo e grande pensatore, realistico, ma... ottimista. Dovrebbe odiare la madre, ma la ama, neanche nato assiste al lato brutto del mondo, ma nutre solo speranza e buoni presentimenti per il futuro. Il tutto "pensato" con una proprietà di linguaggio che farebbe invidia a un professore di Oxford. Come se sapesse che, in un'opera parallela, era il Principe di Danimarca.
McEwan riscrive Amleto e lo sposta non in quel guscio di noce in cui lui si sentirebbe un Re, ma... nel ventre materno! E da lì questo piccolo protagonista osserva (o meglio, ascolta) il mondo, sente la radio, ama la madre, si gode del buon vino e assiste al formarsi del terribile piano di suo zio e sua madre ai danni, be', ovvio, del padre. La storia è quella, ma il punto di vista è tanto originale quanto sapientemente sfruttato. Gli eventi ci vengono presentati a poco a poco, per quel che il protagonista riesce a sentire (la narrazione è in prima persona, nessun narratore onnisciente), e per il resto abbiamo il nostro solito Amleto, forse. Sempre filosofo e grande pensatore, realistico, ma... ottimista. Dovrebbe odiare la madre, ma la ama, neanche nato assiste al lato brutto del mondo, ma nutre solo speranza e buoni presentimenti per il futuro. Il tutto "pensato" con una proprietà di linguaggio che farebbe invidia a un professore di Oxford. Come se sapesse che, in un'opera parallela, era il Principe di Danimarca.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very interesting book, Nutshell is a dramatic tale of murder, deceit, and adultery all through the eye of an 8-month-old fetus. That's quite a premise, yes, I know, but be it through the author's stellar prose or the uniqueness of such a perspective and how it translates to how events are told, it's actually quite successful.
The perspective of the story, naturally, is interesting, and it really is not hard at all to feel involved with every character, including the fetus himself who has his own thoughts, his own desires, his own crises, and is confronted with a sense of powerlessness that agaonizes him.
There is a lot to say in the deeper meaning of the book when it comes to autonomy, helpless, and, at times, how much one's inability to act is really a matter of inability or a failure of will, but ultimately, it succeeds very well as a book, and was a joy of a short read.
Were I to have any complaints, it would be that the book ends what feels rather abruptly, but I think for the sake of what the book was trying to do, it was the wise choice, and provides all the closure that is required when considering the primary conflict and its resolution, implied or otherwise.
Really good book. 4.75/5
The perspective of the story, naturally, is interesting, and it really is not hard at all to feel involved with every character, including the fetus himself who has his own thoughts, his own desires, his own crises, and is confronted with a sense of powerlessness that agaonizes him.
There is a lot to say in the deeper meaning of the book when it comes to autonomy, helpless, and, at times, how much one's inability to act is really a matter of inability or a failure of will, but ultimately, it succeeds very well as a book, and was a joy of a short read.
Were I to have any complaints, it would be that the book ends what feels rather abruptly, but I think for the sake of what the book was trying to do, it was the wise choice, and provides all the closure that is required when considering the primary conflict and its resolution, implied or otherwise.
Really good book. 4.75/5