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A review by ioanabogdan
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
4.0
A book as harrowing as it is tender and as disturbing as it is innocent. The children in this book are depicted as caricatures of societal depravities.
It makes you wonder how the ‘state of nature’ would look like if all authority, law and societal norms vanished? Is human nature inherently deprived?
The fascinatinly eerie thing is the innocence and tenderness that still somehow prevails.
(One star off because, whether intended or not, the book features internalised transphobia. While it doesn’t constrict the book’s essence, it must be accounted by a modern critical lens)
It makes you wonder how the ‘state of nature’ would look like if all authority, law and societal norms vanished? Is human nature inherently deprived?
The fascinatinly eerie thing is the innocence and tenderness that still somehow prevails.
(One star off because, whether intended or not, the book features internalised transphobia. While it doesn’t constrict the book’s essence, it must be accounted by a modern critical lens)