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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In this story by Ian McEwan, a young woman working for MI5 gets entangled with various men, including a novelist who is unknowingly working for a program in the spy organization. So you hear spy and you think action packed, like James Bond, but this is probably much more like the actual work of spies, a lot of sitting around with meetings and talking. Not a lot happens, although the events that do happen become significant to the overall arc of the story. Obviously McEwan is a great writer so the structure is beautiful, it just feels like it drags at times, particularly at the beginning. Once the entire Sweet Tooth operation is introduced, things do move at a better pace. Finally, as in other McEwan books I have read, there is nice little play of structure/plot at the end.
I love a good plot twist and McEwan delivers. The twist lifted the book from 3 stars to 4. Otherwise, this book is no Atonement, or even a Saturday. Initially I thought the book was over-sexed and under-plotted. Our protagonist, Serena of MI5 is pathetic and is defined by the man whose bed she is currently spending time in. It evolves into a sort of po-mo spy thriller set in a very vivid 1970s Britain. I like historical fiction (as this is that, as well as spy novel and romance) that is set in not so historic times and London during the 70s energy crisis is definitely such a time. The story won me over with its accounts of what Serena, a literary spy, was reading, and what her beau is writing and, even though I knew it was coming, the twist evaded and delighted me.
Fun, surprising, and sweet -- definitely recommended, even though I would never read it again.
Part love-story, part cold war spy novel, part self-conscious exploration of the blurred divisions between fiction and real life. Serena Frome is a directionless Cambridge mathematics grad who is recruited into MI5 by an older lover who abruptly and mysteriously dumps her. In the early '70s, women's roles with the agency were primarily research-oriented and clerical with the occasional undercover safe-house clean-up; women were not on the "spy career track." Serena is bored and lonely until she is assigned to the project Sweet Tooth with the mission to entice a young writer to unknowingly join in the culture/propaganda war going on between Britain and the Soviet Union. Less intense than some of his previous work, the novel is nevertheless engaging and beautifully written. McEwan's cross-gender perspective is flawless, as it was in Atonement.
I gave this 3 stars for the writing and ideas in the book but have to say I really didn't like many of the characters. The ending is a head scratcher.
Stubbornly, I refused to quit this book; the first 200 pages were a struggle. I found the final 100 pages more intriguing. McEwan had an interesting "angle" on a story of Cold War politics, history, and a love story. But the background and story felt far too slowly drawn out. At times it was hard to be interested, or even care for the characters.
Not my favorite of his. It did encourage me to think about my fiction addiction, but I felt that a few of the plot twists were readily apparent from early on.
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
shit
Quite enjoyed this. Not super invested in the characters but the writing pulled you forwards. Loved the ending albeit probably not one to read straight after Atonement in terms of themes. Also McEwan's writing of the sultry siren female protagonist felt a bit outdated.
Another major snooze fest. I guess I was expecting a Cold War spy novel, but instead I got a dull, lifeless narrator.