14 June 2009

200 word review: 'Enduring Love' by Ian McEwan


Almost all the reading I do takes place on public transport, mostly on the train to work. It takes a special book to make me read at home in the evening, and ‘Enduring Love’ is the first book to achieve this in months, maybe years. When I wasn’t reading it, I was so desperate to know what happened next I couldn’t wait until the next opportunity to get stuck in.

I already knew that Ian McEwan is a brilliant author, having read ‘Atonement’ years ago (one of the few books to make me cry uncontrollably), but I’d been warned that ‘Enduring Love’ was too dark for me. Dark it certainly is, but I’m glad I ignored the warning. A story about a man being stalked by another man that he met through a tragic accident, it is packed with suspense, challenges and twists. The most unsettling thing about the novel is the way it draws you into the mindset of Joe, the ‘victim’, then yanks you out and makes you question his actions, his views, even his motives.

This book had me thinking like a student again, and anyone who likes to be challenged by literature should definitely read it.

Next book review: 'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen

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