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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
Ian McEwan is a very fine writer. This is a minor work.
I wasn't really sure where it was going, then it accelerated nicely into the climax, and then the last few pages are quite a twist.
Worth reading if you already like him. Not the one to start with.
I wasn't really sure where it was going, then it accelerated nicely into the climax, and then the last few pages are quite a twist.
Worth reading if you already like him. Not the one to start with.
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
After reading some of Ian McEwan I was expecting a bit more. This is a slow moving plot with boring, shallow characters, I usually enjoy a spy novel and love plot twists yet this seemed predictable and left me disappointed but it makes for a quick and easy read for someone who wishes to pass the time. Not Ian McEwans best!
An interesting story, but a bit underwhelming if you base your expectations on the glowing critics' reviews. The best and most unexpected part doesn't happen until the last few pages. The female protagonist is a huge plus.
About 3/4 of the way through my review wouldn't have been as been as high, but by the end of the book I appreciated the complexity of the seemingly straightforward story. This was a great book.
Enjoyable but not earth-shaking novel about a young woman in 1970s Britain who joins MI5, the secret intelligence agency. Serena is young and beautiful and doesn't really have any interest in spy work. She likes reading, and is against Communism. Anyway, this is not that memorable to me, except that
Spoiler
it has a final twist, a reveal, that serves as sort of a meta-commentary on male authors writing books that have a young woman's voice.
Surprising twist. I did get bogged down in some of the M15 Cold War references, but loved the swinging London/English countryside scenes. Interesting perspective on how the British Secret Service viewed the CIA. Great voice.
A copy of Sweet Tooth was provided to me by Random House Doubleday/Edelweiss for review purposes.
“I was the basest of readers. All I wanted was my own world, and myself in it, given back to me in artful shapes and accessible form.”
Sweet Tooth tells the story of Serena, a woman living in early 1970's England. She is an avid reader of modern literature and is eventually recruited to MI5, the United Kingdom's security agency, after receiving an interview via her middle-aged lover. Her task is to recruit a writer, Tom Haley, who has been pegged as unsympathetic to communism in order for him to write articles with the intent to change the people's perception. Except he can't know that he's doing this for the sole benefit of the government. When Serena realizes that falling in love with Tom means she needs to decide whether or not to continue lying to him or risk everything and tell him all.
Ian McEwan managed to portray an extremely convincing story from a female's point-of-view. Admittedly, Serena was not a terribly easy character to like but I'm thinking that was quite possibly the intention. Sweet Tooth certainly had an extremely authentic atmosphere, his portrayal of 1970's England was brilliantly detailed and exact. The 1970's was of course quite different especially regarding the attitude towards women in the workplace.
Yes, this is a spy novel and several scenes reminded me of a John le Carré novel, but the whole espionage bit was really put on the back burner in regards to the rest of the story. The story really focuses on Serena's personal development, her maturity, and finding love. The writing was brilliant at times, and most other times was dreadfully dull. It was really hard to be invested in the story as a whole; emotions were described but were hard to get a true grasp on them in order to really understand and appreciate the story. Enjoyable read, but certainly wasn't as anticipated and lacked in overall impressiveness.
“I was the basest of readers. All I wanted was my own world, and myself in it, given back to me in artful shapes and accessible form.”
Sweet Tooth tells the story of Serena, a woman living in early 1970's England. She is an avid reader of modern literature and is eventually recruited to MI5, the United Kingdom's security agency, after receiving an interview via her middle-aged lover. Her task is to recruit a writer, Tom Haley, who has been pegged as unsympathetic to communism in order for him to write articles with the intent to change the people's perception. Except he can't know that he's doing this for the sole benefit of the government. When Serena realizes that falling in love with Tom means she needs to decide whether or not to continue lying to him or risk everything and tell him all.
Ian McEwan managed to portray an extremely convincing story from a female's point-of-view. Admittedly, Serena was not a terribly easy character to like but I'm thinking that was quite possibly the intention. Sweet Tooth certainly had an extremely authentic atmosphere, his portrayal of 1970's England was brilliantly detailed and exact. The 1970's was of course quite different especially regarding the attitude towards women in the workplace.
Yes, this is a spy novel and several scenes reminded me of a John le Carré novel, but the whole espionage bit was really put on the back burner in regards to the rest of the story. The story really focuses on Serena's personal development, her maturity, and finding love. The writing was brilliant at times, and most other times was dreadfully dull. It was really hard to be invested in the story as a whole; emotions were described but were hard to get a true grasp on them in order to really understand and appreciate the story. Enjoyable read, but certainly wasn't as anticipated and lacked in overall impressiveness.
I put myself in McEwan's hands as I couldn't understand nor really like the protagonist Serena. It was totally worth it as all by the end of the book. If you are looking for a well written, clever story this one is a good investment of time.
Part of the McEwan experience is knowing he's up to something and so part of the thrill of this book is waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Cold War intelligence agency setting provides ample opportunities, but ultimately McEwan isn't the sort of writer content to just tell a fun twisty spy story. He's more interested in a swirl of themes around perspective, trust, and the purpose of literature.
This all sounds like a grand time, but I thought this was a weak effort. Serena, the viewport character feels under motivated, and even if that may be to a particular purpose, it's still true. From reading, it seems like there're a lot of references to McEwan's early work, the male lead, a writer, is clearly modeled on him, and with that knowledge in hindsight it's interesting to see the critiques he levies at that work.
The end came together in a way that agreed with this particular softee, but not enough to justify what was ultimately a thin story.
This all sounds like a grand time, but I thought this was a weak effort. Serena, the viewport character feels under motivated, and even if that may be to a particular purpose, it's still true. From reading, it seems like there're a lot of references to McEwan's early work, the male lead, a writer, is clearly modeled on him, and with that knowledge in hindsight it's interesting to see the critiques he levies at that work.
The end came together in a way that agreed with this particular softee, but not enough to justify what was ultimately a thin story.
I received a copy of this book from The Bookreporter.com network to read and comment on. I really enjoyed this great novel; I feel that Ian McEwan was able to tell an interesting story through the voice of a new unversity graudate recruited into the British Secret Service. It takes place in the early 1970s which was a time of upheaval worldwide with the continuation of the Cold War as well as social changes which saw women entering the workforce in large numbers to jobs which previously had been unavailable to them. Serena Frome had fallen for a married professor while finishing university and the relationship is the first of several which complicate her job at MI5. She got her job partly due to her love of fiction which made her the ideal liaison officer for a small operation, Sweet Tooth. McEwan writes very well about this time period and spycraft making this a good choice for his fans as well as readers new to him.