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A review by booksnpunks
The Child in Time by Ian McEwan
2.0
Kind of disappointed in this novel, because usually I love McEwan's intelligent prose. I found that the plot really let him down here however.
Classically, it starts with a single event that happens to the main character that changes the course of his life. As with most McEwan novels, it was dramatic and gripping and I loved the first chapter. I felt like this kind if spiraled out of control though, and by the end there were so many threads of the story that for me just didn't make sense together. What happened to Kate? I wasn't expecting to find out exactly, but there seemed to be nothing to pull us back around to the singular, primary event.
I also felt like at times it just got confusing. The narrator was depressed and experiences psychosis, but I don't think this was made clear enough, possibly due to McEwan's dense prose which at time I think over-complicates the simplest of things. In this book he tried to mess with reality and time, and I don't think it worked. It felt like kind of a mess.
Hopefully I'll enjoy another one of his novels because [b:Enduring Love|6870|Enduring Love|Ian McEwan|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1313656531s/6870.jpg|31779] is one of my favourite books.
Classically, it starts with a single event that happens to the main character that changes the course of his life. As with most McEwan novels, it was dramatic and gripping and I loved the first chapter. I felt like this kind if spiraled out of control though, and by the end there were so many threads of the story that for me just didn't make sense together. What happened to Kate? I wasn't expecting to find out exactly, but there seemed to be nothing to pull us back around to the singular, primary event.
I also felt like at times it just got confusing. The narrator was depressed and experiences psychosis, but I don't think this was made clear enough, possibly due to McEwan's dense prose which at time I think over-complicates the simplest of things. In this book he tried to mess with reality and time, and I don't think it worked. It felt like kind of a mess.
Hopefully I'll enjoy another one of his novels because [b:Enduring Love|6870|Enduring Love|Ian McEwan|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1313656531s/6870.jpg|31779] is one of my favourite books.