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Jan. 10th, 2003 05:42 pmI just finished Ian McEwan's Amsterdam, and I have to say that I'm disappointed. Ordinarily the Booker Prize committee and I see eye to eye, but I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I thought that the book was wonderful for the first three-quarters or so, but after that it became just ridiculously implausible in a way that I think was supposed to be funny but that I did not find at all amusing. The end wouldn't have been half so disappointing if the beginning hadn't been so good. As soon as I began the book, I had the sense of dark undercurrents, events that were looming below the surface... The book had a wonderfully malignant and mysterious feel to it. I could see the pieces of the puzzle forming and I was really intrigued, trying to determine how everything fit together and what all of this could possibly be leading up to. I was reading right along, totally engrossed, enjoying McEwan's style, when all of sudden he goes and turns everything into a farce. I felt like I had been tricked, and not in a way that I enjoyed.
I do think that McEwan is an extraordinarily good writer, despite my disappointment in this book. If he weren't good, he never could have pulled off such a masterful beginning to the book, and I wouldn't be feeling nearly as strongly as I am about the failure of the book's ending. I'll have to try some of his other stuff and see if it turns out to be more to my liking. Maybe that new one of his that got so much press...what's it called? Oh, Atonement. Well, we'll see.
Another thing that was interesting about Amsterdam is that it's a book that is overwhelmingly focused on men. There's only one female character of any real significance, and her significance stems from the fact that all four of the main male characters have slept with her at one point or another, and that her death kicks off the events of the story. Other than that, it's almost nothing but men and male concerns. I wonder if that has anything to do with my eventual dislike of the book. I might never have even noticed this if it weren't for a tiny little section of the book that is narrated from a woman's perspective. I found that section to be one of the most interesting parts of the book, partly because of the fact that, for reasons of plot, I was extremely curious about this woman's take on things, but perhaps also because I was searching in vain for a female character who was still alive enough to do or say or think anything...
I do think that McEwan is an extraordinarily good writer, despite my disappointment in this book. If he weren't good, he never could have pulled off such a masterful beginning to the book, and I wouldn't be feeling nearly as strongly as I am about the failure of the book's ending. I'll have to try some of his other stuff and see if it turns out to be more to my liking. Maybe that new one of his that got so much press...what's it called? Oh, Atonement. Well, we'll see.
Another thing that was interesting about Amsterdam is that it's a book that is overwhelmingly focused on men. There's only one female character of any real significance, and her significance stems from the fact that all four of the main male characters have slept with her at one point or another, and that her death kicks off the events of the story. Other than that, it's almost nothing but men and male concerns. I wonder if that has anything to do with my eventual dislike of the book. I might never have even noticed this if it weren't for a tiny little section of the book that is narrated from a woman's perspective. I found that section to be one of the most interesting parts of the book, partly because of the fact that, for reasons of plot, I was extremely curious about this woman's take on things, but perhaps also because I was searching in vain for a female character who was still alive enough to do or say or think anything...
