Customer Reviews

Ian McEwan: The Essential Guide

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Reynolds and Noakes have put together a very helpful book for fans of McEwan and academic readers alike. They provide detailed analyses of "The Child In Time", "Enduring Love", and "Atonement". But rather than insisting on one particular "reading" of each novel, they proceed by asking useful questions about certain passages, techniques and themes. These questions open up the texts in a variety of ways, encouraging you to reflect and re-read and ultimately to make up your own mind. The initial essay and interview with McEwan are informative, as are the selected reviews and the glossary of literary-critical terms at the back. (My only complaint is that an analysis of "Black Dogs" isn't included, which I think is one of McEwan's best.) Overall, this is a book which recognises the complexity of its subject, yet proceeds in a way that makes it accessible without "dumbing it down." In that sense, the book is much like those of McEwan himself: it invites you to explore some fairly complex issues, but in a remarkably engaging and entertaining way.