The Cement Garden
by Ian McEwan
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
No one.
A former girlfriend gave me this book (that ought to be an indication of how THAT relationship turned out). I know some people LOVE Ian McEwan, and love this book. In my mind, those people obviously don't know good literature from bad. This is bad. It is a sentimentally pessimistic, grotesquely exhibitionist, disturbingly hollow look at what it would be like to live as a completely fucked-up person in a world that bears almost no resemblance to our own, except for the fact that it has houses, an...more
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Read in February, 2008
I picked up this book at the library because "Atonement" wasn't available. Having seen the movie version of "Atonement" I figured that reading one of Ian McEwan's earlier works would be an ideal way of getting a good idea of what McEwan's writing style is like.
Having now read "The Cement Garden" I must say that whoever continued reading his books were brave people. If I had no idea that his storytelling abilities had improved I would never again read one of his bo...more
Having now read "The Cement Garden" I must say that whoever continued reading his books were brave people. If I had no idea that his storytelling abilities had improved I would never again read one of his bo...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
those not made uneasy by disturbing literature
Ian McEwan's The Cement Garden is, quite clearly not for everyone. There are several severely disturbing incidents throughout the book that might make some readers wonder why they bought it, and where is the nearest bookstore to return it? There are other groups both of a religious/fascist nature (the two are not always mutually exclusive) that might have it pencilled in on their "things to burn" list.
In the hands of a lesser writer, much of this book would seem vulgar. Howe...more
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Read in January, 2008
"The Cement Garden" is the strangest book I've ever read, and probably the grossest too. The narrator is a disgusting, 15-year-old boy named Jack who lazes around the house, doesn't much care for bathing, and harbors sexual feelings for his older sister. When his mom dies (dad's already dead), it's Jack's idea to bury her in a trunk in the basement with cement. The descriptions of the smell the trunk emitted still make me cringe and overall, as another reviewer said, the book leaves yo...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Camilla by:
the inside flap of a murakami book
So far, I think I feel pretty much the same about all of McEwan's books, this one being no exception. They are dark and clever, fast reads, and seem almost designed to become major motion pictures. 'Atonement' and 'Enduring Love' already are, after all, though 'Black Dogs' might've been more difficult. They are literary books, to be sure, but somehow his characters and their plights rarely seem to capture me. It is as though they are being viewed from behind a pane of glass. (Voyeurism is defini...more
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A dark novella which is narrated by one of the characters in the book. A story of four orphaned children who at the brink of their adulthood struggle to find their feet in the world. Enduring turmoil at various depths, they resort to gain solace in their own queer ways. Resorting to regression of various aspects, the book tends to bring forth the frightening web of psychological spins that takes the reader through a flurry of emotions of amazement and horror. Just like the cement, the secrets wh...more
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Read in October, 2006
I have heard that this book is a "remake" of Les Enfants Terrible, and there are some similarities, but it's definitely a very different story.
The lack of parents is there, but in this case, the children play a very active role in keeping their mother's death a secret. And that secret is at the heart of the story.
There's is a strange veil over this novel, in my opinion. It's difficult to tell when it takes place. If it's meant to be a re-envisioned Les Enfants, it doesn't have the...more
The lack of parents is there, but in this case, the children play a very active role in keeping their mother's death a secret. And that secret is at the heart of the story.
There's is a strange veil over this novel, in my opinion. It's difficult to tell when it takes place. If it's meant to be a re-envisioned Les Enfants, it doesn't have the...more
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Read in July, 2005
The subject matter may be disturbing and even offensive but I thought this book was excellent; it promotes revulsion from the reader which makes the read far more emotionally challenging. The writing is very compressed and I think the story being so short helps to make it even more hard hitting - there is no room for the reader to breathe!
This book taught me to be challenged by modern fiction and although I love getting absorbed into an easy to read novel, I think it is also important to ke...more
This book taught me to be challenged by modern fiction and although I love getting absorbed into an easy to read novel, I think it is also important to ke...more
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Read in July, 2007
This reminds me of Cocteau's 'Les Enfants Terribles.' It has a similar storyline, although the children of 'Cement Garden' have less of the restlessness of the ones in Cocteau's book. I'd say 'ennui' is an appropriate word for much of the narrator's tone. Still, if you like books with adolescent siblings creating their own little world, with a strong incestuous undercurrent, this is one for you. It's short enough to read in an afternoon, especially if it's one of the long, lazily hot days descri...more
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You know in movies and bullshit how there are all these women unhappy in relationships where the guy isn't impulsive and thoughtful enough? Well I knew my ex really wanted to read this book so I got it for her and left it in her box before class and everyone went "Ahhhhh" at how sweet a gesture it was and she wound up putting a stiletto through my heart anyway. So basically, movies are right about everything else except that. Some nice incest stuff in the book, though -- it's sort o...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Jill by:
Sarah--DAMN YOU!recommends it for: incest-lovers and people who bury their mum in concrete
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in January, 1978
recommends it for:
People who like their fiction with a dark edge.
McEwan has moved on since he scribbled down this novel. It is, like the two short-story collections that preceeded it, an uncomfortable little tale. It is a story that has stayed with me though. It has been filmed and I've seen it a couple of times over the years. The film is reasonably faithful to the book but its weakness is that it presents events from the point of view of an outsider watching things unfold. The book is written from the point of view of the teenage son and that makes all the ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
hungry, hungry hippos.
this is the first novel by Ian McEwan that I have read. it is concise and tightly written and you really get the impression that McEwan understands his narrator, a 14-year-old boy who's parents have recently died, leaving four siblings on their own.
the two older siblings in effect become the head of the household, and make a decision to keep the family together that has troubling consequences.
that one can relate to the narrator is equally disturbing and heart breaking...
the two older siblings in effect become the head of the household, and make a decision to keep the family together that has troubling consequences.
that one can relate to the narrator is equally disturbing and heart breaking...
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Read in November, 2007
This was an incredibly haunting and lyrical book. Set in suburban-ish London, four brothers and sisters are orphaned, and must figure out how to deal with their grief, dysfunction, and startling maturation. As always, McEwan stuns me with the absolute frankness of his writing, and the fearless exposure of what we all think, but don't dare say. This was slightly depressing, but poetic - it has stayed with me, for better or worse. His witless boys and haughty, oversexed girls are enchanting.
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Read in January, 2008
This book is quite seriously disturbing. I began reading it quite voraciously thinking about how much I love Ian McEwan's books and how great it was and oh wasn't I having a lovely time. And then .. oh ok that was a bit odd, and then... oh that's not quite right... and then oh my god I am seriously traumatised! He is so good at working on you with small details and I think the evocation of smell is the most powerful thing in this book, oh and the crack in the cement...
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Read in August, 2006
I feel so unclean.
The writing is so strong in this short novel that I felt as though I could smell the filth of the characters and their house.
I was caught up in the story, even though I didn't really want to visit this place. I would read, hoping for the best, but not expecting it.
Strong writing, but a story that made my flesh crawl in all the worst ways (not horror, but revulsion). I'd certainly like to read some other works by McEwan.
The writing is so strong in this short novel that I felt as though I could smell the filth of the characters and their house.
I was caught up in the story, even though I didn't really want to visit this place. I would read, hoping for the best, but not expecting it.
Strong writing, but a story that made my flesh crawl in all the worst ways (not horror, but revulsion). I'd certainly like to read some other works by McEwan.
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Mmmh, this book was too tough for me when I've read it.
The Cement Garden has given a lot of disturbing visions to me and even if this is probably the goal of Ian McEwan, I don't like to remember this book.
Having no brothers or sisters I've been stunned by the nasty and sordid stories which happen behind the curtains of this detached house with a cement garden. Squalor and decadence have never found a better narrator than McEwan.
The Cement Garden has given a lot of disturbing visions to me and even if this is probably the goal of Ian McEwan, I don't like to remember this book.
Having no brothers or sisters I've been stunned by the nasty and sordid stories which happen behind the curtains of this detached house with a cement garden. Squalor and decadence have never found a better narrator than McEwan.
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Read in September, 2007
My first venture into Ian McEwan's writing, this book is easily among my favorites; the book itself is short and cerebrally disturbing. After three children lose their father (while he is in the midst of constructing a substantial cement 'garden' in their backyard), their mother slowly descends into her own death.
Unsure of what to do, the children take the mother's body and dispose of it in a trunk, in the house's basement.
Unsure of what to do, the children take the mother's body and dispose of it in a trunk, in the house's basement.
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As others have said, this is early McEwan and him at his darkest. However I think it's essential reading for anyone interested in some of his later (and much more accessible) works. It gives a better understanding of the under currents and subtle tensions that still run through his recent works. The Comfort of Strangers, The Innocent and The Cement Garden show starkly what has now become more submerged in his newest creations.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in March, 2008
I really didn't like this book. I don't understand the critic's review of the story. Four siblings from 6-17 years old living in their house as orphans and they are way too sexual and the book describes it often. I thought it was disturbing and maybe that was why the critics thought it was such a fantastic book. It is a short read, only about 120 pages or so but I don't think I would read it again.
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