Comments on: Review: Saturday

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:05:08 +0000

Care: I like McEwan too, but also can see why he isn’t for some people. I’m going to read Atonement again, sometime, I’m just not sure when

By: Care

Care — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:19:56 +0000

I enjoyed this thoughtful review. I like McEwan but can understand that some people absolutely do not. I will read this someday.

And I read Atonement twice and liked it much better the second time.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:53:08 +0000

Steph: As I was writing the review, I was trying to remember what it was like to read Atonement and if they were similar, but I couldn’t remember. I read Atonement before I was writing reviews so I can’t remember what I thought of it! Generally, I know that I liked Atonement as a novel, so I think they must be pretty similar.

Louise: Nothing wrong with avoiding an author if you didn’t like one book. If you want to try McEwan, don’t start with this book — I don’t think the first pages do it justice.

Michelle: It took me a long, long time to read this book, so I don’t know if maybe it was timing or the book itself. Either way, I maintain it’s a book that needs some patience.

thebookzombie: That was my favorite part too. I think we take for granted how important a single day can be, and McEwan does a great job of drawing out the way minor events can become major internal conflicts (something I think everyone experiences).

Mike: Thanks for the podcast, I am going to listen to it later tonight. I’m slowly being persuaded to read Atonement again since I can’t remember much about it! You’re right about the last paragraph of Saturday, it’s grand.

Sandra: Yes, Perwone lived up to my expectations too — I was really happy about that.

Teresa: Yeah, I didn’t mention much plot stuff in this review, I think because the relative slowness of the novel was the biggest impression I was left with. But I agree, the conflict at the end of the novel seemed weird too me (but at least something was happening )

By: Teresa

Teresa — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:39:38 +0000

Interesting. This is probably my least favorite McEwan. I actually loved the opening pages and the random thoughts that you mention, Kim, but then the plot just went way over the top. I did, however, like Atonement quite a bit, and I adored On Chesil Beach. That book left me absolutely devastated–I cried for a good long time after reading it.

By: Sandra

Sandra — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:21:54 +0000

I enjoyed your thoughts on this story. I’ve read several of McEwan’s books and liked them all. Chesil Beach was not my cup of tea, but my favourite was Saturday. I liked it more than Atonement. I am partial to physician’s as protagonists but I was intrigued to watch how this character would act under the various and trying circumstances that day threw at him. He is human but he did live up to my hopes for him. I did not find the story slow myself, it seemed appropriate to what was happening. Thank you for reviewing it.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:27:36 +0000

I'd also love to read what Kim thinks about the stylistic similarity of Saturday to Atonement. Their approaches to some of the same issues (war, art, personal suffering) struck me as meaningfully different. The last paragraph of Saturday has some of the sweep and power of the conclusion of Atonement, though it is difficult to gauge whether the payoff is worth some of the hackneyed plot decisions McEwan makes. Slate's Book Club did one of their better podcasts on Saturday.

By: thebookzombie

thebookzombie — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:07:51 +0000

This is on my list of books to read. I’m completely fascinated by the idea of the story being about one single day. There are so many things that happen in a normal day that we can sometimes not see the impact they’ve had until much later. Thanks for the great review.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:52:24 +0000

I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Ian McEwan. I’ve tried several times to read Saturday, but I think the timing has been all wrong. I think I’ll take your advice and try it again someday when I have more time and patience to wait this book out.

By: Louise

Louise — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:41:13 +0000

I’ve only read one of his books and that was Atonement, which I absolutely hated from start to finish I have steered very clear of every other book by him since then. That is probably not fair at all, as he is supposedly a very important author, but I hated that book so much, that he and his works has become somewhat of a pet peeve with me….

By: Steph

Steph — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:15:46 +0000

Stylistically, would you compare this to Atonement (provided you’ve read that one!)? I found that one had a really painfully slow start, but then picked up after about page 65 or so. And I thought the ending was fabulous of Atonement,so if I were convinced this had a similarly awesome ending, I would probably give this one a try.