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Loading... Amsterdam: A Novel (edition 1999)by Ian McEwan
Work detailsAmsterdam by Ian McEwan
 Vivl | May 22, 2013 |  Not at all what I expected. The book is very easy to read. I wish I knew more about music, because there's so much about composing and listening and such that I'm sure it adds layers to the story that I do not catch. If the bookw as not so acclaimed, I might have dismissed it as popfiction fluff, but there really is a lot here for discussion and contemplation. (  ) LDVoorberg | Apr 7, 2013 | This book was very odd. The story begins with the death of Molly. Molly who was the friend of several men, and the lover of several others even though she was married. Two of her previous lovers, Clive and Vernon, attend the funeral and pay their respects. Then they go off and continue to live their lives, but they have both been changed as a result of the loss of their mutual friend. I am still trying to figure out what the plot was. Is jealousy the main theme or friendship gone array? Is it the continuation of life after the death of someone very close? Life that follows a depressing path. I don’t have the answer to these questions. I found the writing to be a bit too wordy. I also found the ideas to be choppy and scattered. This is the first McEwan book I have read and I have to say, I am not impressed. (  ) Hanneri | Apr 6, 2013 | A bit predictable with a bunch of unlikeables. An amazingly beautiful and charismatic woman dies of an unnamed disease that is so quick that she becomes almost immediately helpless and dependent on her pathetic, martyr husband. At her funeral her lovers sigh and remember her perfect moments - oh yes, and all through the novel as well. But alas, she has left behind some photos that are damning and can be used to totally thwart the evil and right-wing foreign secretary (who of course was also her lover)and can destroy his career. And so on and so forth. Not really that interesting, at least to me, and too neat of an ending for my taste. Loved the film Atonement based on McEwan's book, so will read more of his work. (  ) MichelleCH | Apr 5, 2013 | It is ridiculous how enamored I have become of borrowing e-books. Going online to pick out a book, then you get an e-mail, and going back online to download the book. Then it is in my e-reader for 21 days, that’s if I get it from the eNYPL. This book was on my list of books to read and so when I saw it on the eNYPL website I requested it. Ian McEwan has a way of creating characters that makes them live in my head, whether I love them hate them or feel indifferent about them. He also throws out tidbits of thought and ideas that at the time seem insignificant but later on you have an ‘AHA’ moment. All the little threads are drawn together. When I realized what was going to happen in Amsterdam, it was a laugh out loud moment. Listed as a morality tale the dilemma is presented, and the characters actions are shown good, bad or otherwise with no judging, just a here it is, make your own judgments. This is the third Ian McEwan book I have read, so you can guess I am a fan of his work and would recommend this book. ( ) BellaFoxx | Apr 4, 2013 |
 Amsterdam is an intricate satirical jeu d'esprit and topical to the point of Tom Wolfeishness. It is also funnier than anything McEwan has written before, though just as lethal.
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0385494246, Paperback)When good-time, fortysomething Molly Lane dies of an unspecified degenerative illness, her many friends and numerous lovers are led to think about their own mortality. Vernon Halliday, editor of the upmarket newspaper the Judge, persuades his old friend Clive Linley, a self-indulgent composer of some reputation, to enter into a euthanasia pact with him. Should either of them be stricken with such an illness, the other will bring about his death. From this point onward we are in little doubt as to Amsterdam's outcome--it's only a matter of who will kill whom. In the meantime, compromising photographs of Molly's most distinguished lover, foreign secretary Julian Garmony, have found their way into the hands of the press, and as rumors circulate he teeters on the edge of disgrace. However, this is McEwan, so it is no surprise to find that the rather unsavory Garmony comes out on top. Ian McEwan is master of the writer's craft, and while this is the sort of novel that wins prizes, his characters remain curiously soulless amidst the twists and turns of plot. --Lisa Jardine(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:30:32 -0500) In the affairs of his dead wife, a British publisher discovers compromising pictures of the foreign secretary who was her lover. An opportunity for revenge on both the political and personal level. (summary from another edition) |
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I found this an enjoyable read from first page to last, hence am really surprised by the patchy ratings it has received. Perhaps people expect something a little "weightier" from a Booker Prize winner. Admittedly, I baulked from awarding more stars for what is little more than a very well-written but fairly frivolous romp, so perhaps I kind of, sort of agree.
Very impressed by the two Ian McEwan novels I've read so far! (