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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
This book lost me at a 10-page description of a squash game. What a snoozefest.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really liked the book, but did not enjoy the act of reading it; as seems to be the case for me with most of McEwan’s work. I will say it is carefully constructed and thought-provoking, but I didn’t necessarily find myself captivated. Excellent writing though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, War
Minor: Infidelity, Terminal illness, Torture, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Classism
A leisurely character study set in post-September 11th London. Feels true to life in the way that the constant, low-grade threat of violence imbues every day with a slight hum of worry and anticipation. The prose is gorgeous, almost poetic in places.
Rachel, this is for you! Going back to binging Jennette McCurdy’s OCD and childhood trauma now✌️
The Mrs Dalloway of the 21st Century. Such a lovely, masterful reflection on politics, religion, neuroscience, and humans relationships at the turn of the century. While there were some passages that bored me a bit, and I do think it could have been 50 pages shorter and a lot more captivating for it, I still loved McEwan’s exploration of a single Saturday in 2003 London.
I got a bit lost and unmotivated in the middle, but the final 100 pages were impossible to put down. The relationship between Henry and his wife had me choking back tears on several occasions, and I’ve never resonated more with how vulnerable it must be to have autonomous, adult children.
Also UGH the way this book made me want to run away to the middle of absolutely nowhere and write the ✨masterpiece✨ of the century. McEwan genuinely writes about literature like absolutely no one else.
Things this book made me think about:
- Good literature has absolutely nothing to do with real life, and good literature has everything to do with real life, somehow all at once.
- It is absolutely overwhelming to live in the modern world (lol)
- How do we measure intelligence, the soul, or human worth/value as the human brain becomes increasingly mappable? As the sums and parts of us are brought into stark daylight, what are we left with? (Or does it all depend on the perspective we choose to take?)
-
The Mrs Dalloway of the 21st Century. Such a lovely, masterful reflection on politics, religion, neuroscience, and humans relationships at the turn of the century. While there were some passages that bored me a bit, and I do think it could have been 50 pages shorter and a lot more captivating for it, I still loved McEwan’s exploration of a single Saturday in 2003 London.
I got a bit lost and unmotivated in the middle, but the final 100 pages were impossible to put down. The relationship between Henry and his wife had me choking back tears on several occasions, and I’ve never resonated more with how vulnerable it must be to have autonomous, adult children.
Also UGH the way this book made me want to run away to the middle of absolutely nowhere and write the ✨masterpiece✨ of the century. McEwan genuinely writes about literature like absolutely no one else.
Things this book made me think about:
- Good literature has absolutely nothing to do with real life, and good literature has everything to do with real life, somehow all at once.
- It is absolutely overwhelming to live in the modern world (lol)
- How do we measure intelligence, the soul, or human worth/value as the human brain becomes increasingly mappable? As the sums and parts of us are brought into stark daylight, what are we left with? (Or does it all depend on the perspective we choose to take?)
-
dark
slow-paced
I liked this book. It isn't the most emotionally compelling of his books -- Atonement and The Child in Time are the heart wrenching works I've read to date -- but it is a neatly composed work. It is also a sweet tribute to a beautiful poem. All the action takes place, of course, on a Saturday. The protagonist is a complicated and reflective man and the book tours his inner life for the day. If I have a ding, it is that the family is far, far too perfect. Everyone is exceptionally talented and attractive, and even in the best families that just isn't real life. And the bad guys have no perceptible inner life or redeeming qualities. Nonetheless, a very readable and worthwhile book, particularly for a 'Merican like me who enjoyed the glimpse of life in modern London and within the medical profession.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
The first 2/3 were sooo long. But I liked the last part well enough.