Solar (Hardcover)

Biggest disappointment so far I'd like to start by stating I love Ian McEwan's writing. But perhaps I need to modify that to say I *used* to love Ian McEwan's writing as since 'Saturday', he appears to have lost his way. Where his plot used to be dark, intelligent and gripping; his protagonists not always entirely likeable but you felt invested in them: Now his books are peppered with truly repulsive, self-satisfied and smug protagonists, whom I jut don't care enough about within the over-wrought plot. Whereas I previously couldn't put down McEwan's books, I had to force myself to pick this one up to finish it, constantly hoping it would, somehow, drag itself out of its own smug, self-satisfaction to actually engage me as a reader. But it didn't. McEwan's familiar references to science abound, but I was not excited by this in the way, say, Enduring Love, makes use of pseudo-science (as after all, that's what he writes, not being a scientist). I was, unfortunately left with the sensation that McEwan wasn't quite removed enough from Michael Beard, and what masqueraded as satire, was actually a pastiche of the writer himself: loathsome, conceited and too intelligent for his own good. Since this book was a present, I shan't be getting rid of it, but I can, with great certainty, say: if you are a McEwan fan, you must, of course, read it, but don't expect great mastery. In short, I hated it!

A black farce about solar science A very clever, black comedy written the fine, highly recognisable style of Ian McEwan. The central character, Michael Beard, has no redeeming features - someone who suceeds at the highest level of science by cheating, plagiarism. bullying, masogeny and a whole host of other unpleasant characteristics. Regrettably these people really do exist - but hopefully as in this story - they get their "Come-uppence" in the end". Certainly the tale, if you are male, will make you think twice about taking a pee in the artic in the future! The scientific background is that of newable energy - mainly as suggested in the title, solar power. So far as I could tell it was accurate concerning the science at the time of writing. The book will make you want to see more of your family and eat a proper varied diet!

Accessible McEwan I've tried to read McEwan's Atonement, but got 'stuck' about the third of the way through. I know I'll pick it up again, but I need to be in the right mood to read literary works. This experience put me off from buying Solar, but the reviews about its humour were enough to encourage me to give it go. I'm glad I did, for I thoroughly enjoyed this. The story was quick to get into and McEwan's humour came across well, with many slapstick moments, as well as several subtler wry scenes too. My only complaint is its structure. This novel is split into three parts. There are no chapters. Finding a convenient place to stop reading was a little difficult! But otherwise, it was an enjoyable read.

SUFFERING SCIENCE A really big fan of Mr. McEwan I had been saving this one for a few free nights of self indulgent reading . Having now read it I am left wondering.... What the heck was it . Was it supposed to be a story wrapper for serious scientific comment on the state of our planet ? Was it farce with a bit of science on the side ? I , having wasted my few free nights , am none the wiser and am very disappointed in an author who until now could do no wrong in my eyes . The pseudo scientific passages may have meaning to a physicist , but for me they were drawn out , complex and boring . The main character was way beyond belief : one minute a bumbling fool the next a razor sharp thinker . An unkempt fat slob with few social graces who could with ease have any woman he wanted . Come on Mr. McEwan , that many stupid women do not exist in the real world . The other characters did personality somersaults at will. My main objection was the ending or lack thereof . It is as if Ian McEwan had tiered of the whole undertaking so simply stopped writing with no hint as to how Prof. Beard's several predicaments would be or could be resolved . I am now wary of his future writing which I hope returns to the excellent standard I had become accustomed to . .

Ignoble Nobel Laureate has total eclipse of the heart and soul Ian McEwan's Prof Michael Beard is possibly the most ignoble Nobel prize winners there has ever been. He's gloriously obnoxious and hateful in almost every way. Since winning his prize this Nobel Laureate has rested on his Nobel laurels and has traded on his reputation rather than physics. When this book starts, he's on his fifth wife having managed to wreck all previous marriages by his compulsive infidelity. He's short, balding, ageing and obese, bigoted, and something of an opportunist, particularly if it means he can be lazy and get away with something. In short, (which he is), he's morally vacant. But what makes Beard an effective creation and what carries us along with him, despite his obnoxiousness, is that he knows all these things about himself. He's rather like Shakespeare's Richard III - he's honest with the reader and himself about what he is doing. Sure he would like to change, but talking about it isn't doing it, is it? And here is where the personal character links merge with the general themes of the story. Climate change. At least in one reading of this book, Beard's approach to his own well-being (particularly his ballooning weight) is similar to the West's approach to global warming - lots of talk, but depressingly little action. It's not so much a book about climate change per se. Sure, Beard ends up working on a solar solution to the energy crisis - only because he's managed to acquire someone else's ideas of course - but along the way there are swipes at science, global warming itself, the press and political correctness. McEwan has mastered the comic art of taking arguments to the edge of reason and fractionally beyond to make them funny, without going too far into the absurd. There's a grain of truth in much of what comes out of Beard's mouth - as more than a grain of food passes in the opposite direction. Many have called this a comic book - I'm not so sure. Yes, it has some highly comic scenes, and some bordering on farce, but it's more of a serious book that has plenty of funny passages. Often the comedy is used to get over particularly grim messages. It is a terrific character study of a thoroughly nasty, lecherous, self-centred, obnoxious man, with plenty of dark humour and satire thrown in. And it is superbly researched - as you would expect from McEwan. For me, it certainly doesn't "eclipse" McEwan's earlier work, but it's characteristically well written, highly readable, and thought provoking - not bad for a book labelled as a comic work.