Saturday by Ian McEwan
Saturday by Ian McEwan reminded me of the TV drama 24 in which the whole of the season comprises a total of 24 hours because Saturday does the same. But 24 is exciting, full of twists and turns drama that you can’t stop watching. I could watch 24 all day long if I could.
Unlike 24, Saturday is anything but exciting. In Saturday we are taken into one day in the life of Henry Perowne, a prominent London neurosurgeon as he eats, sleeps, drives, runs errands and plays squash. Do I really need no less than ten pages of a squash game? So, so tedious. Sometimes it even read like a medical study. Yes, I’m way impressed with the research, but still? And do I need a description of Henry flushing his “waste” down the toilet? Seriously, nothing can be left out in the description of Henry’s day. For about three hundred pages the reader is taken into every thought that Henry has and we finally get a little action at the end.
Saturday is the ultimate character study. Ian McEwans writing was suberb and I can see why he’s been praised as one of the best novelists of our time. But I was bored with this one. Atonement has been on my TBR list all year and I’ll still be reading it as soon as I can get to it. I’m hoping that Saturday was just a fluke.
Ian McEwan’s website.
I was bored with this one, too. I only got about 100 pages in before giving up. One day I will pick it up again. Maybe.
I liked Atonement much better.
on September 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pmI love 24, too. My husband and I always wait for the season to come out on DVD to watch so we don’t have to wait a week between episodes. We’d sit up til 4am saying, just one more…
on September 18th, 2008 at 4:18 pmSaturday I think I’ll skip.
Ian McEwan drives me nuts. He’s an excellent writer but his plots are so banal…
I’ll be interested in seeing your take on Atonement.
on September 18th, 2008 at 4:41 pmWow, it doesn’t sound very interesting. I don’t think I’d be able to read 10 pages about a squash game either.
on September 18th, 2008 at 4:42 pmI had the same feelings about “Saturday”. I really liked McEwan’s writing, but I couldn’t stand all the useless descriptions. In the end I felt like nothing had happened the whole time!
on September 18th, 2008 at 4:42 pmLike Mari, I started and never finished. Although I think she made it farther than I did.
on September 18th, 2008 at 5:01 pmGreat writing but slow-moving stories seems to be the general feeling about Ian McEwan’s work. I feel a little bad, but his books have moved way down on my list, if not off of it altogether.
on September 18th, 2008 at 5:13 pmSounds like I’ll skip this one!!
on September 18th, 2008 at 5:21 pmThe Hey You! got me to. lol I lurk a lot and don’t have anything scintillating to add most of the time. But I loved Saturday the most of all the McEwan books I read. I like clinical details, the neurology was fascinating for me, and watching to see if a man under duress will stick to his principles is all the excitement I need in a story I guess. Maybe because I’m older. But it certainly shows how different we all can be in our tastes in reading. Nice to read an honest review.
on September 18th, 2008 at 5:56 pmHi Natasha,
I have found Ian McEwan’s work uneven–I loved Atonement (it’s one of my favourite books), but I didn’t care for Enduring Love. Based on your review, I think I’ll skip this one!
on September 18th, 2008 at 5:59 pmI *loved* Atonement, but it definitely is not very exciting. At least not 24 exciting. I think sometimes with these books it is all about the timing (maybe…)
on September 18th, 2008 at 7:14 pmYeah that would bore me a little too. A little action never hurts a story.
on September 18th, 2008 at 8:10 pmI won’t be reading this one for sure now! I need some excitement - even if it’s just a little bit.
on September 18th, 2008 at 8:54 pmI keep trying to read Atonement and having to return it to the library before I manage to start it. I wasn’t at all impressed with On Chesil Beach. Think I’ll give this one a miss.
on September 19th, 2008 at 1:00 amI do often make fun of 24 the series because no one ever so much as takes a sip of water!
But sure, such tasks don’t often add to the drama of the day.
I loved the movie of Atonement, and I’m planning to read that book … someday …
on September 19th, 2008 at 7:54 amIan McEwan is one of those authors I keep reading about but have not read because I have a feeling that I won’t get into his stories despite all the praise I hear about them. I think your review is the first negative one I’ve read.
on September 19th, 2008 at 10:44 amOh sludge. This was on my TBR because I love McEwan, but *yawn* I’m not sure I could hack it. I like things to HAPPEN!
ps. on Labor Day, my husband and I woke up at 5 am, watched the entire 4th season of 24, and were in bed by 11. We’d had all our meals and snacks prepped and turned off our cell phones and everything.
on September 19th, 2008 at 11:40 amHmmm…I think I will avoid this one. Doesn’t sound like my cup of tea. I have books that sound way more interesting on my to read list.
on September 19th, 2008 at 11:58 amhmm.. so I am not the only one. Saturday was a really talked about it and I picked it up sometime last year.. I didn’t finish it. I found the details tooo boring! I just thought I wasn’t ready for it as yet and put it away to read a little later… now i am wondering if i would EVER like it! i have Amsterdam sitting on my bookshelf right now and i have been contemplating on whether i want to give it a shot or not.. i definitely don’t want to repeat my “Saturday” experience.
on September 19th, 2008 at 12:49 pmwow. that does sound pretty boring. = p
on September 19th, 2008 at 2:33 pmYes! I felt exactly the same way about this book. While I was filled with admiration for McEwan’s sheer ability to write, I was less than enamoured. For me, it wasn’t the plot at all - ‘Mrs Dalloway’ follows a similar structure, but it’s one of my favourite books. I felt that the characters were much too clean-cut and clinical, and that’s why the book lacked ‘oomph’.
Please, please read ‘Atonement’; it’s a wonderful book =]
on October 22nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm