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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
Ian McEwan is turning out to be one of my favorite authors. Well developed three dimensional characters, great story, wonderful reader. Held my interest with very few exceptions. Loved it!
Hmmm. Perhaps objectively boring, but I didn't mind it. Good book to get from the library
Mostly I found this book quite tedious, but the way it ended resulted in 2 stars instead of only 1.
It's possible I'm just not an Ian McEwan person. This landed on the like side of OK for me. The summary sounded pretty interesting: A woman is recruited to MI5 and assigned as a handler in an intelligence operation I found, at best, naively optimistic. The British government would fund journalists, authors, etc. whose works align with its own political agendas. This had to have been set in the 70s, since I can't imagine anyone having any faith it'd work today. It's important to note that this isn't a spy thriller and shouldn't be marketed as such. I think it does some potential readers a disservice to go into the book thinking it will be. The operation is flimsy and the spy craft is almost nonexistent.
And the minorest of quibbles: "Serena Frome, rhymes with 'plume'" is a name that's guaranteed to trip me up. So name her Serena Frume.
And the minorest of quibbles: "Serena Frome, rhymes with 'plume'" is a name that's guaranteed to trip me up. So name her Serena Frume.
I do love it when I stick with a book I'm not really enjoying to find myself rewarded in the end. I know others (in the reviews here, at least) were not fond of what they felt was a "trick" ending, but I actually (perhaps because I was prepared for it) loved the book much more because of that move. I think I'll reread this in a few years, as I might appreciate the mundane details I find boring on the first round to be much more enjoyable knowing from whence they came.
I read a lot of good reviews about this book. I read about half of it and had to put it down.
This book was brilliantly written although I thought the story itself was more on the boring side. I was looking forward to a spy novel and it wasn't what I got. The last quarter of the book picked up for me though and there was a great twist revealed at the end that had me thinking "what the....?" in a good way. Overall, I'm glad I read it but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of the reasons that I really enjoy Ian McEwan's books are the surprising plot turns. While not as good in my opinion as Atonement, this book was very enjoyable. I loved the way it started in Cambridge where I was lucky enough to spend my junior year of college. It brought back some great memories! The protagonist, Serena, is not a perfect person - flawed in many ways, naive, unable to stand up for herself in the male dominated world of MI5. But yet, you hope for the best for her, despite her mistakes. The male characters are a bit like caricatures, but that's o.k. too.