The Storytelling of Ian McEwan
I’ve never read any of Ian McEwan’s novels, but after reading a lot of intriguing stories about his writing style (specifically, this article discussing McEwan’s Enduring Love) I think I may have to add him to my reading list.
This comprehensive look at Ian McEwan’s life and writings—full of insights and observations—will hopefully pique your interest too.
2 Comments
I’d recommend McEwan not only because his writing style is challenging, but also because his books linger in your mind after you are done with them. Enduring Love poses all these difficult questions about love’s nature: How do we hold on to the initial feelings of passionate love? Why do we want to? Should we even try? Why is love so intertwined with self-love (or self-loathing?)? How can love endure after an event changes the sweetest meaning of it into something to be doubted and questioned?
Saturday is a response, in many ways, to Mrs. Dalloway — and Sept. 11th. Atonement is very much about the nature of story-telling and what it tells about the teller as much as the characters. On Chesil Beach is a difficult look at how relationships are often a choice between who is hurt, and what that says about the courage or character of each person involved. Sometimes, the people who love us bury the pain we can cause them for our best, and we have no idea that their love is without the limits we can have for them — we miss the depths of their affection.
I found your blog via kottke.org. I am now hooked. Thank you!
Jess
Hi Jess,
I, like many others, always have preconceptions that are usually totally unfounded: it’s analyses like yours that I need in order to spur me towards new authors.
Thanks to you I’ve now added a large proportion (much larger than initially intended) of McEwan’s oeuvre to my reading list.
Let’s hope I enjoy them as much as you evidently did.
Thanks,
Lloyd