Horror for Newbies

From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Kaley
Jan 18, 2010 rated it liked it
Shelves: 2010, arc
I was so excited to see a new novel from one of my favorite authors! I have not read everything by Ian McEwan, but I have loved everything I have read. While I did enjoy Solar, it was not my favorite, however.

Solar tells the story of Michael Beard, a fat, self-absorbed, womanizing, Nobel laureate whose glory days are long in the past and who sits proudly and lazily on his past achievements. He has done nothing of consequence (professionally speaking) in years, and yet is still revered and honor ...more
 · see review
Bogdan
Jun 14, 2013 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: brits
The main character, Michael Beard, has all the qualities you could imagine for hating someone: he is selfish, coward, a thief and greedy; to name only the most obvious ones. He is not at all a "hero", despite the fact that he is leading the efforts to obtain a clean source of energy. Also he is not at all a philanthropist, as he tries to do the discovery using a private owned company and registering a series of patents.

But despite all this, after careful consideration, I could not help it but ma ...more
 · see review
Sarah
Dec 30, 2010 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: kindle
Everyone I know who has read this book has hated it. Even McEwan lovers. Even Lois Lowry. But I got it for free so I figured, what the hell? ...more
 · see review
Deedee
Jan 24, 2018 rated it did not like it
Shelves: contemporary-fiction, new-york-times-100-notable-2010, indie-next-2010, challenge-2018-winter, read-2018x-did-not-finish
Unsympathetic hero and, halfway through Part One, a gross-out scene. Not worth finishing.
 · see review
Elizabeth Weltin
Apr 10, 2010 marked it as to-read
Lisa
May 06, 2010 marked it as to-read
m00ngrrrl
May 11, 2010 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: made-it-up-fiction
Tracyene
May 20, 2010 marked it as to-read
Sarita
Sep 16, 2010 rated it did not like it
Shelves: read-2011, a-dnf, a-book-circle
Gaijinmama
Dec 27, 2010 marked it as to-read
Claire Fun
Jan 27, 2011 marked it as to-read
Shelves: kindle
Jana
Apr 28, 2011 rated it it was ok
Alyson Zikmund
Sep 22, 2011 rated it liked it
Joerg
Jan 02, 2012 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Katy
Dec 30, 2012 marked it as to-read
Barondestructo
Apr 22, 2013 rated it it was ok
Johanne
Apr 24, 2013 marked it as to-read
Ginger
Feb 13, 2014 marked it as to-read
Chris Hammer
May 12, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Suzanne
Jun 17, 2018 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Keith
Nov 18, 2021 rated it it was ok
Dana Arbelaez
Jun 02, 2023 marked it as to-read
52937

Around the World in 80 Books

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions
Photos Videos
Send invite Members Polls