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In Between the Sheets
by Ian McEwan
by Ian McEwan
Wow. Bad.
My history with Ian McEwan is probably in order - maybe 10 years ago, someone gave me his first collection of short stories, "First Love, Last Rites". I loved it, short little filthy stories that were mysterious yet left you with a feeling that you'd discovered something true.
I checked out "Atonement" about a year ago, and stopped 2/3 of the way through...just bored the hell out of me. So I went back to find his first book and see if my earlier impression was wrong. Couldn't find it, but this one seemed to do - his second book of short stories, with a similarly scandalous cover. Not shown here, it's the British edition, with a young, naked women laying on a bed, looking out at with simultaneous disgust and attraction. (Not a good book to read on the bus, btw, as people think you're a perv. "But it's Ian McEwan!!," you could say, and they would say, in their head, "Total perv.")
So anyway, this book is crap. Most stories are extremely gimmicky, almost like a science fiction writer will build a whole book around one idea ("What if animals were really martians?!!"). The writing is clear and concise, but empty and without feeling. The stories:
Pornography: Man sleeps with two different women during same time period. They find out and cut off his junk.
Reflections of a Kept Ape: Women falls in love with an ape, they make love, then they break up. Story is told from perspective of ape.
Two Fragments: Post apocolyptic world. Man has daughter and girlfriend. Story ends with him eating a bowl of what could be pee and poo given to him by a Chinese person (?).
Dead As They Come: Man falls in love with mannequin. Buys mannequin. Has love affair with her and then "kills" her.
In Between the Sheets: Man gets erection from his young daughter after hearing her having sex with her female best friend at his house.
To and Fro: Pointless and inane story about the a man waking up from a dream and a guy he hates at work.
Psychopolis: The only reason I gave this book one star - a vaguely entertaining story about an Englishman spending some time in L.A., interesting experiences and observations while there.
To sum up: at this point, I don't know if "First Love" was good, or I just had horrible taste at the time. And now I really don't think it's worth it to find out.
My history with Ian McEwan is probably in order - maybe 10 years ago, someone gave me his first collection of short stories, "First Love, Last Rites". I loved it, short little filthy stories that were mysterious yet left you with a feeling that you'd discovered something true.
I checked out "Atonement" about a year ago, and stopped 2/3 of the way through...just bored the hell out of me. So I went back to find his first book and see if my earlier impression was wrong. Couldn't find it, but this one seemed to do - his second book of short stories, with a similarly scandalous cover. Not shown here, it's the British edition, with a young, naked women laying on a bed, looking out at with simultaneous disgust and attraction. (Not a good book to read on the bus, btw, as people think you're a perv. "But it's Ian McEwan!!," you could say, and they would say, in their head, "Total perv.")
So anyway, this book is crap. Most stories are extremely gimmicky, almost like a science fiction writer will build a whole book around one idea ("What if animals were really martians?!!"). The writing is clear and concise, but empty and without feeling. The stories:
Pornography: Man sleeps with two different women during same time period. They find out and cut off his junk.
Reflections of a Kept Ape: Women falls in love with an ape, they make love, then they break up. Story is told from perspective of ape.
Two Fragments: Post apocolyptic world. Man has daughter and girlfriend. Story ends with him eating a bowl of what could be pee and poo given to him by a Chinese person (?).
Dead As They Come: Man falls in love with mannequin. Buys mannequin. Has love affair with her and then "kills" her.
In Between the Sheets: Man gets erection from his young daughter after hearing her having sex with her female best friend at his house.
To and Fro: Pointless and inane story about the a man waking up from a dream and a guy he hates at work.
Psychopolis: The only reason I gave this book one star - a vaguely entertaining story about an Englishman spending some time in L.A., interesting experiences and observations while there.
To sum up: at this point, I don't know if "First Love" was good, or I just had horrible taste at the time. And now I really don't think it's worth it to find out.
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