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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
A funny, clever story with an a priori twist. The narrator is in utero.
Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home – a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse – but not with John. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb.
Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home – a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse – but not with John. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb.
dark
medium-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
Took me a bit longer to finish than l would have hoped but what an unique way to write. One of McEwan's best.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A reinvention of the classic tale of Hamlet, but told through the perspective of the protagonist being a yet to be born fetus in the final trimester, makes for a very innovative concept while allowing the author to indulge in cynical philosophising over a wide range of topics, but unfortunately compromises on the appeal of the core plot, making this a somewhat mixed reading experience.
A banal tale of adultery and murder told by perhaps the most original, unusual point of view: that of a fetus. Twisted, extremely disturbing images ensue, but the prose is absolutely engaging.
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a very weird book. I picked it up solely for the premise of the narrator's pov being that of a woman's unborn baby and it's just as wild as it sounds. It took almost 70/80 pages before the story actually got going which isn't great for a book that's not quite 200 pages 💀 I mostly finished it bc I've had it on my shelf for a while and once it got going it was pretty fun but the unborn baby's character/voice was so fucking weird, idk how I feel about it and he gave the vibes of the white guy in a college class that won't shut up and corrects the professor and looks down on other for watching TV bc he reads philosophy. didn't care about a single person in this book, they all felt very defined by roles and archetypes without any effort to subvert them or make them interesting. The way the unborn baby started labor and "at last [his] balled fist punches through" felt like reading body horror tbh same with the sex scenes and the narrator's description of them and possibly terrible understanding of anatomy since somehow the male mc's penis would poke him in the head?? maybe I'm wrong but that doesn't seem right
Edit: turns out I'm wrong and that does happen 💀 horrifying, wish I didn't know that
would not read again or recommend to anyone except for revenge
Edit: turns out I'm wrong and that does happen 💀 horrifying, wish I didn't know that
would not read again or recommend to anyone except for revenge
