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Ian McEwan
In this survey Ian McEwan emerges as one of those rare writers whose works have received both popular and critical acclaim. His novels grace the bestseller lists, and he is well regarded by critics, both as a stylist and as a serious thinker about the function and capacities of narrative fiction.
McEwan’s novels treat issues that are central to our times: politics, and the promotion of vested interests; male violence and the problem of gender relations; science and the limits of rationality; nature and ecology; love and innocence; and the quest for an ethical worldview. Yet he is also an economical stylist: McEwan’s readers are called upon to attend, not just to the grand themes, but also to the precision of his spare writing.
Although McEwan’s later works are more overtly political, more humane, and more ostentatiously literary than the early work, Dominic Head uncovers the continuity as well as the sense of evolution through the oeuvre. Head makes the case for McEwan’s prominence – pre-eminence, even – in the canon of contemporary British novelists.
McEwan’s novels treat issues that are central to our times: politics, and the promotion of vested interests; male violence and the problem of gender relations; science and the limits of rationality; nature and ecology; love and innocence; and the quest for an ethical worldview. Yet he is also an economical stylist: McEwan’s readers are called upon to attend, not just to the grand themes, but also to the precision of his spare writing.
Although McEwan’s later works are more overtly political, more humane, and more ostentatiously literary than the early work, Dominic Head uncovers the continuity as well as the sense of evolution through the oeuvre. Head makes the case for McEwan’s prominence – pre-eminence, even – in the canon of contemporary British novelists.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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December 31, 2020
When you read the literary criticism of Dominic Head, you know you're in a safe pair of hands. That's both a good thing (he knows what he is talking about, and casts new light on many things) and also, potentially, a bad one: safety, after all, can be boring.
Certainly, there is nothing particularly cutting-edge about the structure or ambition of this book about Ian McEwan. Head follows the standard formula of providing an introduction, followed by a chapter by chapter analysis of each book by McEwan, and closingwith some mildly interesting thoughts on his topic. Nothing new or revolutionary there.
That said, Head's Ian McEwan is worth reading for its mixture of erudition and small insights into McEwan's writing. At its nucleus is Head's argument that McEwan is the "natural heir" (p.11) of Iris Murdoch, both in his formal style and, more particularly, his interest in moral and social questions.
The early chapters, especially those dealing with the short fiction and McEwan's first few novels, show Head, in support of his thesis, aiming to upend the perceived amorality of that body of work. I felt that the book did not really hit its stride, however, until Chapter 6, on Enduring Love, in which Head helpfully delves into some of the scientific influences on that novel, and then proceeds to show how McEwan's fiction challenges and questions an overly strict form of scientism. He also makes a convincing defense of Amsterdam in the following chapter, a novel that is often undervalued by critics. The chapters on Atonement and Saturday are likewise rich for the way in which Head explains the material that McEwan drew on in the constructions of those novels.
Ian McEwan is one of the better books on this important author, although its second half is much stronger and more engaging than its first. Head is a skillful commentator, and his book, although published in 2007, still remains an important contribution to the field.
Certainly, there is nothing particularly cutting-edge about the structure or ambition of this book about Ian McEwan. Head follows the standard formula of providing an introduction, followed by a chapter by chapter analysis of each book by McEwan, and closingwith some mildly interesting thoughts on his topic. Nothing new or revolutionary there.
That said, Head's Ian McEwan is worth reading for its mixture of erudition and small insights into McEwan's writing. At its nucleus is Head's argument that McEwan is the "natural heir" (p.11) of Iris Murdoch, both in his formal style and, more particularly, his interest in moral and social questions.
The early chapters, especially those dealing with the short fiction and McEwan's first few novels, show Head, in support of his thesis, aiming to upend the perceived amorality of that body of work. I felt that the book did not really hit its stride, however, until Chapter 6, on Enduring Love, in which Head helpfully delves into some of the scientific influences on that novel, and then proceeds to show how McEwan's fiction challenges and questions an overly strict form of scientism. He also makes a convincing defense of Amsterdam in the following chapter, a novel that is often undervalued by critics. The chapters on Atonement and Saturday are likewise rich for the way in which Head explains the material that McEwan drew on in the constructions of those novels.
Ian McEwan is one of the better books on this important author, although its second half is much stronger and more engaging than its first. Head is a skillful commentator, and his book, although published in 2007, still remains an important contribution to the field.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review