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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
Better because of the end reveal. Even though it's not terribly difficult to see it coming, the way it throws earlier narrative into new light is effective. The perspective even partially excuses one of my primary complaints, which is the standoffishness and inauthenticity of the protagonist.
audiobook note: Juliet Stevenson is a wonderful fit for this work.
audiobook note: Juliet Stevenson is a wonderful fit for this work.
Great book! Really enjoyed it. I loved the writing and I loved the characters. Serena was so real - I knew she was wrong but I couldn't help but approve of the wrongness.
It sounded irresistable - a literary spy novel set in the seventies with a female protagonist. The writing is excellent, the characters believable, but it just didn't grip me. There wasn't enough suspense for it to work as a thriller, and the main character didn't interest me enough to engage in her fate. I didn't get the allure of the men Serena fell in love with - married old guy Canning, creepy Jeremy and pretentious Tom. I wanted to tell her to just stay away from men for a while and find something interesting to do, preferably miles away from the chauvinists at MI5.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall I enjoyed this book, and the ending saved it for me. However, parts of it were just a little too verbose to warrant four stars.
As a great fan of Ian Mc Ewans books, I was a bit dissapointed with this one. Except for the unexpected end (which felt a bit like a cheap trick) the plot was never really surprising and I had to force myself to keep on reading
As usual, McEwan's writing was superb, but I just couldn't get into the story. When the protagonist is bored with herself and her life, it's hard for me to not be bored along with her. I enjoyed the perspective of working in MI5 when you're nothing but a desk girl, but it wasn't all that exciting. The best parts were the summaries of the short stories and novellas.
The twist at the end was a nice touch, but it was ruined by too long of an explanation. It's like when someone has to explain a joke to you and it no longer becomes funny.
The twist at the end was a nice touch, but it was ruined by too long of an explanation. It's like when someone has to explain a joke to you and it no longer becomes funny.
In this book about MI5 in the early 1970s, I wasn't exactly expecting Ian Flemming or John le Carré, but this definitely was not a Cold War-era spy thriller. It was more like watching paint dry at the Kremlin. Instead of espionage-laced twists and turns, it was like sitting in on a committee meeting at MI5 where they were discussing pension plan options, but that might even have more action or plot than this book actually contained. In his other works, Ian McEwan has so much talent, so I don't know why this was so very underwhelming.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes