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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
If you fit the well-off, middle-aged white male demo, this is the story for you. Beautifully written but I found it had nothing to say to me (and I'm white and male but not middle-aged or that well off).
I did like the technical prowess in setting a book in a single day and pulling off a narrative that was reasonably interesting.
I did like the technical prowess in setting a book in a single day and pulling off a narrative that was reasonably interesting.
I love Ian McEwan's writing so i was sure I'd like this one. It was a slow start but it was well worth the patience it took to get through the first two chapters. McEwan's descriptions are incredible.
Well written story of a less than ordinary Saturday in the life of a brain surgeon.
I loved this book! This is not a book for you if you’re looking for entertainment only, or light reading. This is a book full of layers, metaphors, parallels, & issues to think about. The thing that most reached out & grabbed me was the idea of a man going about his daily life (whether you find his daily life mundane or overly privileged or whatever), when unexpected events occur & change everything. That’s always sort of a scary theme for me! On the surface it’s the story of Henry, a successful London neurosurgeon; his wife Rosalind, a lawyer; their daughter, a soon to be published poet living in Paris; & their son, a blues musician, also on the brink of success. It’s a story that takes place over the course of one day – Feb 15, 2003, a day just before the start of the Iraq war, when there were huge anti-war demonstrations in London & around the world. That morning, Henry wakes up in the early morning hours & goes to look out the window. He sees an airplane headed toward Heathrow airport, & it appears to be in trouble. This encounter with disaster & possible terrorism informs & affects the rest of Henry’s Saturday. On this day, he’s planned a series of ordinary activities – a game of squash with a coworker; groceries; dinner, etc. Unfortunately, a minor traffic accident interrupts his plans, & brings his life into collision with Baxter, a – what? – small-time crook? – McEwan never specifically tells us – but we know Baxter has some sidekicks who don’t hesitate to use violence. Henry sees that Baxter has neurological symptoms that he’s able to instantly diagnose as a debilitating & fatal genetic disease.
All of that is the surface story. Along the way, you get to learn about neurosurgery – fascinating! I thought the detail about this was really interesting, tho have seen a lot of criticism about its inclusion. Really? Roll with it, you might learn something! You get to learn about the game of squash, literature, poetry, genetic diseases, the aging process, music, & cooking – all parts of Henry’s day or his thinking about his day. You get to think about war & peace & terrorism & fear & politics - & how these huge issues affect all of us even as we cope with the details of our lives. (Maybe you don’t want to think about these things – in which case, don’t read this book!)
Themes to find: The need for control in our lives, what things we have control over, what we don’t, & what happens when unexpected events make us doubt our control. The fear of lack of control or losing control. Work – competitiveness – how it affects our relationships. Biological determinism – to what extent is our destiny controlled by our genes? Violence, war, & what forces are available to us to counteract violence. Seems like a lot of people were disturbed by Henry’s family being “too perfect.” Legitimate – but here’s a theme to look for – the four disciplines of medicine, law, literature & music - & how they stack up against forces of chaos & violence. There’s a whole idea to think about that has to do with Henry & how the different parts of his personality work for or against him in the particular struggle he faces on this Saturday – or do his children represent different parts of him? Or parts of a greater whole that he needs to integrate? And who is Baxter, really? Maybe he’s part of Henry too – in a sense (read the end!) – or part of that greater whole. What does his reaction to the poem that Daisy recites, mean to the story? Another theme – creativity - & what would it mean to a dying man, to have the ability to create something like a poem, that has a life of its own, & an ability to inspire particular feelings & longings in others? I could go on but this is much too long! I thought “Saturday” was FASCINATING.
All of that is the surface story. Along the way, you get to learn about neurosurgery – fascinating! I thought the detail about this was really interesting, tho have seen a lot of criticism about its inclusion. Really? Roll with it, you might learn something! You get to learn about the game of squash, literature, poetry, genetic diseases, the aging process, music, & cooking – all parts of Henry’s day or his thinking about his day. You get to think about war & peace & terrorism & fear & politics - & how these huge issues affect all of us even as we cope with the details of our lives. (Maybe you don’t want to think about these things – in which case, don’t read this book!)
Themes to find: The need for control in our lives, what things we have control over, what we don’t, & what happens when unexpected events make us doubt our control. The fear of lack of control or losing control. Work – competitiveness – how it affects our relationships. Biological determinism – to what extent is our destiny controlled by our genes? Violence, war, & what forces are available to us to counteract violence. Seems like a lot of people were disturbed by Henry’s family being “too perfect.” Legitimate – but here’s a theme to look for – the four disciplines of medicine, law, literature & music - & how they stack up against forces of chaos & violence. There’s a whole idea to think about that has to do with Henry & how the different parts of his personality work for or against him in the particular struggle he faces on this Saturday – or do his children represent different parts of him? Or parts of a greater whole that he needs to integrate? And who is Baxter, really? Maybe he’s part of Henry too – in a sense (read the end!) – or part of that greater whole. What does his reaction to the poem that Daisy recites, mean to the story? Another theme – creativity - & what would it mean to a dying man, to have the ability to create something like a poem, that has a life of its own, & an ability to inspire particular feelings & longings in others? I could go on but this is much too long! I thought “Saturday” was FASCINATING.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love character-driven literary fiction. I would have loved this to death if Henry Perowne weren't a self-absorbed, privileged prick.
But still. The writing is great.
But still. The writing is great.
Saturday by Ian McEwan is a novel set across a single Saturday (and night) in inner-city London in early-2003 as the city geared itself for large demonstration against the invasion of Iraq. The central character is a 48-year-old neurosurgeon that goes about his day as normal (albeit pondering the meaning of the protest and the geopolitical realities that inspired it). As might be expected, something else happens as well as a violent and troubled stranger penetrates his usually-tranquil world.
This book seemed to divide the critics, and I guess that I can see why. The protagonist lives a blissful, upper middle class existence that appears to chaff with many reviewers. Nonetheless, and despite my decidedly anti-bourgeois tendencies, it didn’t worry me.
Utilising a neurosurgeon as the centrepiece of the story affords McEwan the opportunity to explore core human concepts – happiness, ideology, rationality, love and so on – from a clinical perspective. Moreover, despite the relative harmony of life evident in the narrator; reminders of the fragility of that harmony are ever present. The fact that Perowne (the surgeon) is a rationalist set amongst artists (a famous poet father-in-law; a burgeoning poet daughter; a musician son) also provides plenty of opportunity to explore the foundations of our beliefs and actions.
After some delay in reading him, I am rapidly becoming a McEwan fan. The novel is very nicely constructed, and features some lovely writing. There is a profound attention to detail in Saturday which really does allow him to build the growing sense of disquiet as the novel heads towards its climax and dénouement.
I liked it a lot. Despite a reasonably slow opening third, this really is a gripping read. Highly recommended.
This book seemed to divide the critics, and I guess that I can see why. The protagonist lives a blissful, upper middle class existence that appears to chaff with many reviewers. Nonetheless, and despite my decidedly anti-bourgeois tendencies, it didn’t worry me.
Utilising a neurosurgeon as the centrepiece of the story affords McEwan the opportunity to explore core human concepts – happiness, ideology, rationality, love and so on – from a clinical perspective. Moreover, despite the relative harmony of life evident in the narrator; reminders of the fragility of that harmony are ever present. The fact that Perowne (the surgeon) is a rationalist set amongst artists (a famous poet father-in-law; a burgeoning poet daughter; a musician son) also provides plenty of opportunity to explore the foundations of our beliefs and actions.
After some delay in reading him, I am rapidly becoming a McEwan fan. The novel is very nicely constructed, and features some lovely writing. There is a profound attention to detail in Saturday which really does allow him to build the growing sense of disquiet as the novel heads towards its climax and dénouement.
I liked it a lot. Despite a reasonably slow opening third, this really is a gripping read. Highly recommended.
Sometimes it's good to read other people's reviews, and sometimes it's not. I finished this book yesterday, but I'd read another book the day before, and I've started a third, and I've watched two DVDs in the last two days, and I was just thinking to myself, "Now, what did I like about this book?", and then I read 3 reviews here, and the last one was negative (DIDN'T enjoy it) and I started semi-agreeing. It's true - nothing really happened.
But then, on an ordinary Saturday of mine, even less happens than happened in his. Mind you, I've never felt I would want to write a novel about one of my Saturdays. Of course, Henry Perowne did a lot more thinking about things (and highly intelligent and literate thinking, too, which is more than I do at any time) on his Saturday. I enjoyed his thinking.
I also got quite anxious when I thought something really nasty was going to happen; and I had several moments of thinking that something else was going to happen, and the feeling of building up towards something. I enjoyed that.
One reviewer said something a little negative about the characters being so beautiful (the women) and intelligent (almost everybody) and talented (again, almost everybody) and skilled (the key character primarily), but I'm none of those things (well, perhaps a little intelligent and a little talented and a little skilled, but basically quite average and therefore inherently boring except to my friends) and so nobody would want to read about me. Don't we want the characters we meet in books to be "more" than we are? Not so much that they're caricatures, but still a little larger than life in one or more ways. I enjoyed these characters and their qualities that are more than mine, and I enjoyed their interactions, and I enjoyed the way Perowne thought about them.
I think I'd have to say that I enjoyed this book (in case, that wasn't already clear!?)
But then, on an ordinary Saturday of mine, even less happens than happened in his. Mind you, I've never felt I would want to write a novel about one of my Saturdays. Of course, Henry Perowne did a lot more thinking about things (and highly intelligent and literate thinking, too, which is more than I do at any time) on his Saturday. I enjoyed his thinking.
I also got quite anxious when I thought something really nasty was going to happen; and I had several moments of thinking that something else was going to happen, and the feeling of building up towards something. I enjoyed that.
One reviewer said something a little negative about the characters being so beautiful (the women) and intelligent (almost everybody) and talented (again, almost everybody) and skilled (the key character primarily), but I'm none of those things (well, perhaps a little intelligent and a little talented and a little skilled, but basically quite average and therefore inherently boring except to my friends) and so nobody would want to read about me. Don't we want the characters we meet in books to be "more" than we are? Not so much that they're caricatures, but still a little larger than life in one or more ways. I enjoyed these characters and their qualities that are more than mine, and I enjoyed their interactions, and I enjoyed the way Perowne thought about them.
I think I'd have to say that I enjoyed this book (in case, that wasn't already clear!?)
I think I would have really liked this book if it was just a day in the life. He really can take mundane moments and make them so crystalline that you're there, and even the quotidian seems to resonate. Maybe it was that I was dating a racquetball player with a temper at the time, but that squash game was the realest thing I'd ever read.
What I didn't need was a whole weird hostage situation that forced him to watch his pregnant daughter get naked and recite poetry. I definitely didn't need him to serendipitously be the surgeon called to operate on his attacker later. It all became a bit much.
What I didn't need was a whole weird hostage situation that forced him to watch his pregnant daughter get naked and recite poetry. I definitely didn't need him to serendipitously be the surgeon called to operate on his attacker later. It all became a bit much.
I love that this book takes place in the duration of one day. While the beginning was slow, once it got moving, I started to really enjoy it. Ian McEwan has such a way with words, I find myself enraptured not by what's being said but rather the way it's being said. Some of the characters are a little underdeveloped, but I think that's Ian McEwan's style: to develop one character fully and leave the others sort of one-dimensional.
Overall, I really liked it and have been thinking about it since I finished.
Overall, I really liked it and have been thinking about it since I finished.