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![Saturday by Ian McEwan 4th (fourth) Edition [Paperback(2006)] by Ian McEwan](https://assets.thestorygraph.com/assets/placeholder-cover-a3ae92250eb3301e32dc3eabf8d50576c2f047dda89f6ee7cfa9a859cb1fd746.jpg)
3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
A man awakens early on a pre-dawn Saturday morning and witnesses a plane on fire on its approach to Heathrow. It is February 2003 … the emotions of 9-11 are still raw, even in London. The talk is of war with Iraq; Blair supports Bush’s intent to dethrone Saddam.
A few hours later, on his way to his weekly squash game, he gets into a minor traffic accident. His like-new Mercedes has a faint scratch, the other driver’s red BMW is missing a side mirror and has also scraped several parked cars.
This sets in motion a chain of events that will culminate in a suprising decision.
This is a beautifully written book. There’s a “normalcy” of everyday life about it, and a sense of fate and impending disaster. There are surprises – of the kind that we stumble upon daily. And there is the constant re-examining of our intent, and looking back to what-ifs.
A few hours later, on his way to his weekly squash game, he gets into a minor traffic accident. His like-new Mercedes has a faint scratch, the other driver’s red BMW is missing a side mirror and has also scraped several parked cars.
This sets in motion a chain of events that will culminate in a suprising decision.
This is a beautifully written book. There’s a “normalcy” of everyday life about it, and a sense of fate and impending disaster. There are surprises – of the kind that we stumble upon daily. And there is the constant re-examining of our intent, and looking back to what-ifs.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked Atonement, but this was awful. McEwan has some good passages and, of course, he has a fantastic way with words. But that couldn't even save this story about a perfectly happily rich family whose little world of perfect serenity cannot be broken by any seeming problem. And such characters do not put me in the proper mode for blatant authorial political opinion sprinkling either.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a deceptively fast read whose themes have occupied my mind since I finished the book. McEwan describes events that occur on one London Saturday in 2004 in both matter-of-fact detail and stream of consciousness flow. Street mugging, middle age male competitiveness, physician ethics, terrorism, invasion of Iraq, aging parents, newly adult children, progression of a long-term marriage...these themes sometimes leisurely and sometimes sparely, but always thought-provokingly unfold on this Saturday. A suspenseful ending is a bonus.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Continues to be one of my favorite writers. Brilliant! Not for students. Too middle age.
It's been a while since I've read some McEwan, but good stuff here, how he turns the narrative, stretches things out, and his descriptiveness. McEwan's one of the few writers I can think of who write so well and beautifully without any gimmicks.
Picked this up at a used bookshop hoping it would come close to the genius of "Atonement." Nope.
This book is enjoyable, but it's no "Atonement."
In "Saturday" McEwan focuses on his favorite idea - that seemingly minor or inconsequential events and decisions can actually turn out to be really important or even life-altering. Interesting premise. And, as always, well-written overall, but just painfully slow and low-key depressing.
There was also, for me, one big plot hole toward the end of this book. I feel like McEwan is a pretty smart guy and I'm not quite sure how the actions of his protagonist in the final scenes of the book didn't raise the same red flag of logic for him that they did for me but apparently, he didn't see a problem with it, because it's not addressed.
Overall, this is a worthwhile read, but I was not riveted. (In fact, I stopped about two-thirds of the way through and set it aside for two weeks before picking it back up.) That said, McEwan's writing is lovely from page to page, but his premise was more interesting to me than the actual development and execution of the plot and characters.
This book is enjoyable, but it's no "Atonement."
In "Saturday" McEwan focuses on his favorite idea - that seemingly minor or inconsequential events and decisions can actually turn out to be really important or even life-altering. Interesting premise. And, as always, well-written overall, but just painfully slow and low-key depressing.
There was also, for me, one big plot hole toward the end of this book. I feel like McEwan is a pretty smart guy and I'm not quite sure how the actions of his protagonist in the final scenes of the book didn't raise the same red flag of logic for him that they did for me but apparently, he didn't see a problem with it, because it's not addressed.
Overall, this is a worthwhile read, but I was not riveted. (In fact, I stopped about two-thirds of the way through and set it aside for two weeks before picking it back up.) That said, McEwan's writing is lovely from page to page, but his premise was more interesting to me than the actual development and execution of the plot and characters.