Friday, February 18, 2011

Book Review: Saturday



I finally finished this book, and as I expected it was really worth the wordiness. The book is a story revolving around a family, in particular the father, and his day - Saturday. The entirety of the book is set in one day. It touches on many things, medical, societal, but mainly political (Westerners point of view post 9/11). I found my thoughts about it arranged in neat bullet points in my head, and thus my review shall follow suit.



via thedailybeast
Pros

- McEwan's style is the epitome of writing finesse. Poetic is an understatement.

- Politically sound.

- A wonderful insight on individuality and culture

- Gripping, especially at the end. I finished the last third of the book all in one go, I couldn't put it down.

- Biased, but in a logical non offensive way. The main figure is clearly brainwashed but recognizes it.

- Has lots of details about neurosurgery (the lead's profession), which I found very interesting.

Cons

- I found it a bit dated (released in 2006). Lots of issues discussed were about Saddam, Iraq, Cheney etc.

- Maybe for some readers, McEwan's style of writing might be tedious. He tends to start very very slow and detailed, and leaves the climax at the very end.


I definitely recommend it.

Amazon link: Saturday

4 comments:

  1. Kind of like the contemporary approach to Bloom's day in James Joyce's Ulysses, sounds interesting

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  2. I haven't read it.. perhaps I should add it to the list :)

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  3. oh u should! :) Best modern novel, he's the Picasso of Literature!

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