Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

First Love, Last Rites by Ian McEwan
Loading...

First Love, Last Rites

by Ian McEwan

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations
54068,606 (3.64)11
Loading...
won't like will probably not like will probably like will like will love

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
Absolutely not a pick-me-up read, First Love, Last Rites is a collection of some of McEwan's earliest works. He dwells here mostly on the morbid and the macabre and the disturbing, and for a developing author, doesn't do too badly on pulling it off—one or two of the stories are genuinely effective. He often tries too hard for a Shocking Denouement, however, which for me had the opposite effect to that which he no doubt intended (and I found his Oh So Daring explorations of incest and child abuse less disturbing than I did his framing of women/femininity). The dialogue (even in the best of the collection, 'Strange Geometry') was also dreadfully clunky at times. So-so. ( )
  siriaeve | Jun 12, 2009 |
A lot of people will probably view this collection as incredibly bizarre, considering that the subject matter has mostly to do with sexual perversion. Some of the stories were just TOO weird for me, for example "Disguises" and "First Love, Last Rites."

I did love several of them, though, even though their subjects were often disturbing. I found "Homemade," "Solid Geometry," "The Last Day of Summer," and "Butterflies" all to be superbly excellent.

All in all, a great collection, though I do wonder at the inspiration. ( )
  cinesnail88 | Mar 11, 2008 |
sensitive and funny. not for Muswell Hill residents ( )
  experimentalis | Jan 3, 2008 |
A collection of short stories, mainly about teenagers and little kids experiencing first love and sex. Very interesting stories, but also very bizarre. Not for the faint-hearted. Nothing gets spelled out explicitly, you have to come up with your own solutions to many of the stories, so when I finished the book, I went somewhat “Ahem, oooookay, do I feel stupid or what?” If you are into the somewhat quirky, try it…. ( )
  cathepsut | Mar 17, 2007 |
This is a great collection of short stories. I picked it up off my wife's bookshelf when I had nothing better to do, but really got into it. ( )
  richardtaylor | Sep 27, 2006 |
Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Book description

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0679750193, Paperback)

Ian McEwan's Somerset Maugham Award-winning collection First Love, Last Rites brought him instant recognition as one of the most influential voices writing in England today. Taut, brooding, and densely atmospheric, these stories show us the ways in which murder can arise out of boredom, perversity can result from adolescent curiosity, and sheer evil might be the solution to unbearable loneliness. These tales are as horrifying as anything written by Clive Barker or Stephen King, but they are crafted with a lyricism and intensity that compel us to confront our secret kinship with the horrifying.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:04 -0400)

The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details.

Popular covers

 

Help/FAQs | About | Privacy/Terms | Blog | Contact | LibraryThing.com | APIs | WikiThing | Common Knowledge | 45,450,565 books!