Amsterdam

Rating:
Summary: This was a promising novel with a made for TV conclusion.
Review: I, unlike some others, believed the characters, and the contrast of the two men against each other and particularly against Molly made the story an interesting read. The writing, too, was excellent and haunting, but with so much going for the novel, something more meaningful could have happened to resolve the dueling ethics of the only living characters. I'm not asking for a happy ending, just one that resonates with truth. I remember reading the few sentences in the novel alluding to the euthanasia doctors in Amsterdam, but was shocked and apalled when I found that such a pedestrian hook would be used in a Booker Prize novel.

Rating:
Summary: "Enduring love" has the edge.
Review: McEwan continues to demonstrate a fluidity of style and depth of character portrayal. The inner ponderings of the different characters complement and contrast each other ironically and effectively.However, the gripping suspense and constant fluidity of "Enduring Love" is not quite all there."Enduring Love" should have won the Booker, but this book is still definitely worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Too-Easy Ending
Review: Unfamiliar with Ian McEwan, I was somewhat disappointed by this highly-hyped award winner. Although the prose was tight and the slightly mocking tone of the narrator was fun, neither the story nor the characters quite jelled for me.

There were also too many unanswered questions regarding the ending. Where would an isolated, world-famous composer find a murderous doctor in another country? Perhaps it would be easier for the newspaper editor, but with his name splashed all over the media one would think that he would have trouble making this illicit contact also. It was all too pat and rather rushed, like McEwan just wanted to get it over with.

Worth reading, but not memorable.

Rating:
Summary: Surprised that this book has stayed with me.
Review: I bought this book before being aware of any of the hype surrounding it. I read it completely on a nonstop flight between NJ and Nevada. Finding that I was amused and slightly startled by the ending, I am amazed almost two weeks later that the book, the characters and especially the ending, are still with me. I found some of the book tedious in its descriptive tone but the characters are well defined and easy to get to know. Whether or not it deserved the award I do not know; this was my introduction to the author. But it was certainly entertaining and I did keep turning the pages, most of the time eagerly.

Rating:
Summary: Not deserving of the Booker.
Review: I have to say that I am dissapointed in the winner of the Booker Prize this year. This is a good book. Don't get me wrong. I am just not sure that it is anywhere near Booker caliber. In comparison yo some of the excellent past writers who have won--Rushdie, Peter Carey, Graham Swift, Ishiguru, Roy to name a few, McEwan's work just does not deserve the honor that goes along with the Booker. Considering that his competition included two authors deserving of the Booker--Beryll Bainbridge and Julian Barnes McEwan wasn't even the best of this year's lot. A lot of people are saying that this is a make-up award for overlooking him in the past. The majority of his works just don't scale the heights of literary greatness. They use basic narrative techniques and shick tactics. He does write beautiful prose but his plots and characters are nothing spectacular.

Rating:
Summary: Mercifully Quick
Review: Contrived, characters, flawed plotline, unnecessary descriptions of wine, English hiking and non-existent music end with shuffling invented in Hamlet. This won the Booker prize and people are going around saying om Wolfe doesn't write literature?

Rating:
Summary: marvelous ,flowing language
Review: I approve of previous critiques of those who rated the book as I did.The quality of the writing and his elegant use of english is as usual in his writing particularly seductive

Rating:
Summary: Themes capture one's moral centre; ending disappoints.
Review: Like so many others this was my first Ian McEwan novel. I first heard of the book while studying in Britain when it was nominated for the Booker. It was widely considered a good novel but perhaps a "make-up" nomination. The pundits thought McEwan should have won with Enduring Love. Not having read it, I do not know. Amsterdam is a fine novel; award winning I do not know. I leave that up to the judges.

The central themes and character development are instantly gripping and compelling. He does a wonderful job of capturing the feeling of persons who were on the losing end of a relationship, years after that relationship ended. Further, McEwan effortlessly shows modern Britain and its mix of media saturation and 1990's moralism. Last, he weaves this into a plot centering upon two individuals fear of death and their place in the world. A very good book that faulters only in its ending. Perhaps my disappointment in the ending should be focused instead on the fact that it was just not long enough. I certainly will now read Enduring Love.

Rating:
Summary: This novel is a deceptively simple story. It is, however, a
Review: masterful study of the neurotic personality. Both central characters, a journalist and a composer, find their self worth through the extimations of others. Therefore, their elations and depressions are manifistations of what society thinks of them.

Woven into this tale is a swipe at euthanasia, family values, offensive political strategy, moral responsibility, and political correctness. Very clever, very entertaining and as a whole a great read.

Rating:
Summary: A boring book.
Review: The hype for this book prompted me to read it. Amesterdam is filled with less than inspiring characters who lead incredibly boring, selfserving lives. The recently departed Molly was the most boring, vacant bore of all. I considered putting this book in the recyling bin.