The Innocent
by Ian McEwan
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Read in January, 2007
With Ian McEwan. Atonement remains one of my favorite books, but when I tried Saturday I just couldn't connect with the book. When I saw his book the Innocent, set in one of my favorite periods, the mid-Cold War, I just had to try it. The setting turns out to be relatively unimportant. This isn't really a Cold War thriller, but is a classic McEwan exploration of the inner life of a few people.
In this case, we have the inexperienced British civil servant, Leonard , who is sent to work on a jo...more
In this case, we have the inexperienced British civil servant, Leonard , who is sent to work on a jo...more
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Read in January, 2008
Good god, Ian McEwan is a good writer. I simply don't ever pick up a book of his that I don't enjoy. The man has a control over structure and pacing that I think is unparalleled by any contemporary novelist, except maybe -- maybe -- John Irving. While both McEwan and Irving are masters of narrative structure, Irving's novels nearly always contain a comedic bent, and the structure. sometimes b...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
Literary fiction fans
This novel is exceptional.
It is rare that a sentimental novel can make a contemporary reader feel covetous of the experience he has had with it, but The Innocent does just that.
As a reader, one knows what McEwan is doing and what he is going to do. When he wishes to work a reader over, he puts the novel deep in the modern past, makes his transitions abrupt and then finishes the story with reminiscences from a present-day character.
In this way, The Innocent is very simi...more
It is rare that a sentimental novel can make a contemporary reader feel covetous of the experience he has had with it, but The Innocent does just that.
As a reader, one knows what McEwan is doing and what he is going to do. When he wishes to work a reader over, he puts the novel deep in the modern past, makes his transitions abrupt and then finishes the story with reminiscences from a present-day character.
In this way, The Innocent is very simi...more
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Read in November, 2007
Considering that this is McEwan, the master of sympathetic discomfort, the book is mystifyingly positive. Grisly, certainly, torturous, and sometimes excruciating, but not gratuitous, _The Innocent_ impressed me with how much humanity it allowed to shine through the terrible mess.
It also made me see the Cold War in yet another new light. I'm getting used to seeing Berlin remove layer after layer, but I couldn't have expected the power of this book and the city it reveals. Who would have tho...more
It also made me see the Cold War in yet another new light. I'm getting used to seeing Berlin remove layer after layer, but I couldn't have expected the power of this book and the city it reveals. Who would have tho...more
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Read in September, 2007
The Innocent is anything but in this novel set at the dawn of the Cold War in Berlin. Naive perhaps but not innocent, the main character is a young technician sent to work on a joint CIA/MI6 project to build an underground tunnel into Soviet territory to eavesdrop on the new enemy. He soon falls in love with an East German woman, a relationship which both tests and reveals much of (or lack thereof) of his character. Equal parts allegory; historical fiction, twisting and turning spy triller; an...more
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Read in February, 2008
The Innocent is a Cold War thriller that is also an allegory for the "special relationship" between the British and the Americans. It's an interesting theme, but it's already been done, a dozen times over, by another Ian: Fleming. McEwan, who's had some misadventures with the Kafka-esque in his early short stories, uses a quote from "The Burrow" as his epigraph, but the relationship between Leonard Marnham and Bob Glass is a high-minded take on James Bond and Felix Leiter. I ...more
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Read in February, 2008
I agree with Andrew on this book. I read it diaogonally, because I was mostly interested in the love-stroy between the german woman and the american guy. the story stayed flat and hollow, it picked up some speed though when it came to describing one of the most cruel and blood-thirsty scenes I have read in a long time. strange, it didnt fit into the rest of the book and made it all sound kind of ridiculous.
I was happy with the descriptions of post-war Germany and all the little hints and Germa...more
I was happy with the descriptions of post-war Germany and all the little hints and Germa...more
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Read in July, 2007
I am not sure how I feel about this book. A grim tale for sure and a lot of detail where detail was probably not needed. I would have liked more of a storyline..besides the romantic interest that seemed to be the center of the story. I was feeling as if this book was a complete waste until the very last pages. The end did bring a sense of closure as well as a sense of hope..which was not always obvious while reading the other pages. I have read other books by McEwan and would recommend them over...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Dan by:
Tripp
I read this on a reco from Tripp (thx Tripp) and blazed quickly (for me) through it in a week. It was the first McEwan I've read and enjoyed it quite a bit. Would have given another 1/2 star if I could. My knowledge of Cold War history is horrid, so the connections about Project Gold were lost on me until the Epilogue. Like Leonard, there were parts of the book that were tough on my English stomach, but the details, twists and turns were very snappy and not overcooked.
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McEwan does the Cold War thriller. An excellent read by one of the best living English language authors. And for the record, I had sufficient testosterone to get through, in one go, the gut-wrenching scene located amidships. It was graphic, but don't let the namby-pamby reviewers telling you they had to set down the book, overcome by revulsion and fear as they were, steer you in the wrong direction. To them I say, there's always Maeve Binchy.
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I am realizing I really like historical fiction. This takes place in post-WWII Berlin and is about a young British intelligence officer who falls in love with a German woman while trying to spy on the Soviets. Intrigue! My only comlpaint is that it falls away frm the historical narrative and becomes basic love and loss story, with one outstanding detail involving a bag that I will leave to readers to figure out.
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I expected this book to be a page turner from the beginning but had to wait for it. Okay story that anatomizes--literally--personal obligation, national obligation and the intersection of the two. His style left me a little bored, but maybe it was the main character. Did make me think of the selfishness of innocence, but I think "Blameless" could be substituted for "Innocent" and the title would be improved.
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Read in January, 2007
The thing I love about Ian McEwan is his propensity for putting well developed characters into uncomfortable situations to see how they react. His plots are riveting, unpredictable, often macabre, and always psychologically astute. This book is no exception depicting a young couple in post-war Berlin cascading through a series of increasingly horrific decisions.
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Read in July, 2007
McEwan's story of a naive Englishman in 1950s Berlin involved in intelligence work with Americans and Germans surveilling the Russians' communications is a statement about innocence/ignorance equalling complicity in a man's downfall and can also be taken as a metaphor for loss of power in world politics. Written as a psychological drama, it's a gruesome tale.
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Read in July, 2007
Not my favorite by McEwan, but the writing - amazing. The thing I love about his books and will always crave is that his prose is so descriptive and complex. Admirably, his writing style really evoked a sense of the main character's emotions. Another thing I'll always remember about this book is how delicately he describes some grotesque and steamy scenes...
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Read in February, 2008
While I enjoy the book well enough when I find time to read it, it doesn't really task me. I guess the problem is that I HAVE to "find time to read it."
It might have to do with the main character, whose struggle doesn't become compelling until well into the book. By the time we've reached the butchery scene, it has already seemed to run out of steam.
It might have to do with the main character, whose struggle doesn't become compelling until well into the book. By the time we've reached the butchery scene, it has already seemed to run out of steam.
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Read in April, 2006
I'm a big fan of Ian McKewen and so a three star book from him is still a pretty good book. There is a particular scene in the middle of book, gruesome, which took me four days to get through (and it's about four pages long). It's an interesting book, explores ethics, humanity, so on, but yeah, not quite to my taste.
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Michael by:
Picked up off a bookshelfrecommends it for: People with a strong stomach
I was surprised how much I liked this one. It's disturbing and gross, in the normal McEwan ways, but that fades into the background, except in one indelible scene (yick!), and mostly focuses on a Graham Greene sort of espionage story set in postwar Berlin. I thought it one of McEwan's more accessible books.
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Jennifer by:
John Walter
I really liked most of this book, and couldn't put it down. Unfortunately, it was extremely graphic in a Donnie Brasco/Goodfellas sort of way, if you get my drift (and it doesn't have anything to do with organized crime). Anyway, not for the faint of heart, but an engrossing and strangely believable story.
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This McEwan frequently stays below the radar, but I believe it to be quite special. It's an exceptionally lonely novel, even by his standards, and it does a beautiful job expressing the incomplete virtues of physical intimacy. It reminded me of Green's 'Loving' in this respect. Read 'Loving' too.
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