Reviews

O inocente by Alexandre Hubner, Ian McEwan

stanro's review against another edition

funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I am enjoying this. Ian McEwan wrote The Innocent in the mid-90s, setting it in Berlin in the mid-50s. 

Leonard is a British technician sent to Berlin to assist in American spying operations on the USSR forces based there. The trope of the largely passive central character being pushed and pulled by those around them is not one I find appealing. But with McEwan as author, and with the excellent narration of this audiobook, I’m enjoying it. 

I savour the delicacy of Leonard’s seduction and laugh out loud at the way he seeks to avoid premature ejaculation. 

Later, an American character attempts a Cockney accent and I marvel at the narrator’s skill in speaking in that dual way. 

Having started as it did, the surprising turn the tale takes, and the details of its having taken that path, are both enjoyable and repulsive - even macabre. With about 20% of the book remaining, Leonard is a much-changed man, even if still mainly caught up by circumstances. Until he isn’t. 

Recurringly, there is a dry, wry humour that I greatly enjoyed in this excellent book. 

#areadersjourney

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Body horror

b_austridge's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

corinut's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

irene_mer's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

tsehai's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

kuritsahreads's review against another edition

1.0

I hate this book. Unfortunately, I was forced to read it for school, so stopping after the first two chapters wasn't an option.
The Cold War is a very interesting topic, but this book is merely set in it, so it didn't give me any new and interesting information about how it was to live during that period. All it said was "the USA hates Russia, Russia hates the USA, the USA only works with the British because of political reasons" and so on. (Where's France in all of this, by they way?) The whole tunnel thing didn't mean a thing to me.
The relationship between Marnham and Maria is pathetic. I mean, are the explicit and disgusting sex scenes supposed to mean something?
Overall, the pace was too slow and the plot was horribly boring, until Maria's ex-husband, Otto, finally came to save some of it.

Spoiler

His death wasn't that much of a surprise, but the hole in his face definitely was. I also wasn't surprised when they cut him up and put him in the cases. While I hated the details in the sex scenes, I oddly appreciated how the author described how they cut the corpse in pieces.

There seems to be a great number of people who like this kind of stories, and that's good. I'm just not one of them, sorry.

bamairi's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

cofetty's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed the plot twists and the characters in this book. It got me totally hooked. I like McEwan's narration style that is not always chronological. The book could've done with less disgusting details in my opinion.

pipjean14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

alexandramiller's review against another edition

3.0

I'm calling the cops on Ian McEwan for that one chapter