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Summary: A sudden leap into a twisted reality
Review: From the first line of this incredible novel, the reader is thrust into the nightmare which is Joe Rose's developing reality. McEwan's talent as a writer has few peers, but what makes this story so extraordinary is the commonness of the primary characters' existence. Were he alive, Hitchcock would be the logical choice to bring this tale to the screen. At first, the ending seemed somewhat anticlimatic, given the pace and intensity of the plot up until then. However, after giving some thought to the book in its entirety, the conclusion merely highlighted the anxiety suffered by Joe Rose throughout. No end to the nightmare, just a pause in the action.
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Summary: ENDURING LOVE is the heroin of novels.
Review: You recieve a recomendation from a respected figure who has not completed the experience. You open it up with a little hesitation, and before you can swallow, you are in a world of excitement and suspense so well put together that it forces you to wish it would never end. There's twists and turns, and the whole time you hope the end of the ride will bring forth meaning and solace, but instead the unsatisfying feeling of longing sets in when the only form of closure the dealer offers you,his reader, is the over sensitized image of a fat science writer holding hands with two children. The appendices offer a little more comfort with facts and an unexpected flashback. But still I thought I deserved more.It is possible that McEwan's ending would not have disappointed me so much if the rest of his book was not as brilliantly written. His prose is so remarkable that any aspirations I had of seriously writing in my life seemed pointless, seeing how I would never come close to his mastery. In fact, the book is worth buying simply because of its first chapter, which is among the best ever. Read this book for the unforgettable experience. After you are finished, brush your teeth, and try not to think about it too much.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy to read, sort of interesting...
Review: I didn't know what to expect when I began to read this book, and it's still hard to explain how I feel about it now that I've finished. Picking it up, I was suddenly thrown into the world of Joe Rose; the world that, as we were told, was moments away from changing. His world DID change. It just didn't make a very exciting story to read. After the balloon tragedy, Joe's relationship with Clarissa falls apart due to some psychotic man (Jed Parry) who claims to have made this love "connection" with him. The psychology of Parry is fascinating, and trying to guess his next move was half of the fun in reading the book. Unfortunately, Joe usually predicts everything that's going to happen ahead of time. There were no plot twists. There was no real action in the incredibly large middle chunk of the book. I didn't even LIKE Joe very much. McEwan's knowledge about science, or interest in the subject, shows through Joe's character. I am personally fascinated by many aspects of science, but anyone who isn't may be bored to death with all of the information thrown out. I was involved in the READING of the story, but I didn't ENJOY it very much. The characters were somewhat interesting, the plot seemed original, but the same things seemed to happen over and over again. I was interested to see what would happen to the characters, but the only really action-packed scenes occurred in the very beginning and towards the end of the story. Joe spends most of the time feeling sorry for himself and reflecting on the situation he's in. This wasn't very exciting to me, seeing as though I didn't even like this poor guy very much. I'd recommend this to someone if they were looking for a good, quick read. But, it's not much more than that.
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Summary: Poetic and disturbing!
Review: When Joe Rose left the house that fateful afternoon to pick up his lover, Clarissa, whom he hadn't seen in months, he did not know that it would be the last normal moment of his life. On the return trip to their comfortable home, the countryside appears idyllic:replete with the romantic image of a hot-air balloon being gently wafted across the sky. The perfection of this moment is suddenly turned when Joe and Clarissa realize that the balloon and its cargo are in trouble. Joe bolts from the car and races across a meadow to lend a hand to the balloonist, realizing that approaching from symmetrical points before him are other men, also racing to help. The scene turns tragic when a man falls to his death before their astonished and horrified eyes. One of the would-be rescuers is a handsome man by the name of Jed Parry. (parry-v. --to ward off, as in fencing) Parry is the catalyst who turns Joe and Clarissa's lives upside down. He begins stalking Joe, making incredible claims to him. Joe finds himself trapped in a nightmarish scenario with Jed, to the detriment of his relationship with Clarissa. McEwans poetic language and well-turned phrasing make the elements of this novel sing! Even the intrusive Parry seems larger than life in the hands of McEwan.
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Summary: Stylistically Flawless Page-Turner Offers Awkward Ending
Review: Summer reading books are supposed to remind a student about how much he hates school and how he wishes the Summer were at least a year longer. They are supposed to be read at the last moment possible, which only intensifies the yearning for a lengthy Summer, or not at all. If nothing else, Summer reading books are supposed to be boring. They are supposed to be Flaubert and Austen and Hawthorne. My school has been remiss in meeting my expectations; last year the required reading was John Irving's unconditionally fabulous "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and this year (in addition to Madame Bovary) we read McEwan's "Enduring Love," one of the more gripping books I've read in my life. The first chapter is a masterpiece in tone and style. The surreal image of a balloon crash would be magnificent enough without McEwan's fluid prose weaving a delicate context and haziness about it. The wonderful thing is that despite the potential grandiosity of the crash, McEwan tastefully treats it very factually. It is downplayed as an almost arbitrary exposition compared to its repercussions. A natural byproduct of this downplaying is tension caused by the reader's assumption that there is something big in store. And that is the origin of a page-turner. For the most part, McEwan delivers on the reader's expectations. I didn't understand why Joe often seems to digress about his scientific theories and why he particularly concentrates on Darwinism and all of its implications, but I suppose his indulgent diatribes about esoteric topics gave basis for some of Parry's attacks on his work in one of the letters that Parry wrote. Sympathy for a character does not predicate my enjoyment of a novel as long as the character is a fully-fleshed one. For all of Joe's selfishness and Parry's over-the-top missives, each character still seemed real, dynamic, and most definitely three-dimensional. The only thing that I would criticize about the novel is the ending. I expect a page-turner to make me feel good about having turned so many pages by including an unpredictable, jaw-dropping finale. The most exciting part of the book occurred in the restaurant scene, and everything after that, Xan's kitchen antics notwithstanding, let me down in terms of excitement. Joe predicted almost everything that would happen and didn't turn out to be crazy. The falling out between him and Clarissa happened far before the ending. Nothing unexpected was revealed and nothing fascinating happened. I expected at least a morbid twist. Other than that, I have no complaints. I wouldn't exactly call "Enduring Love" a 'suspenseful thriller,' but it did keep me reading, it was certainly bizarre and funny in some parts and unceasingly entertaining throughout, and it probed Joe's psyche just enough to make me feel like a participant in the narrative. I'd take McEwan over Flaubert any day.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, wrong title...
Review: This book was not enduring, rather it went quite quickly. Yet, I did not love it. I enjoyed reading the book because of it's unique writing style and interesting side information, but I found the plot to be lacking in intrigue. McEwan has an absorbant amount of scientific knoledge that he intermixes throughout the book. These facts while slightly unrelated, drew me in to the life of the main character Joe. McEwan does not consrict himself by assigning a uniform point of view throughout the book which adds to the suspense factor. Adding to the suspense factor through writing was very important for McEwan becuase the plot lacked suspense. There was no mystery and the only suspense there was came out of my confusion (which was aided by the switching of point of view). Instead of establishing an unexplained event and then having characters solve a problem or find an answer, McEwan build up to the anti-climatic climax. I felt that the book tried to convey suspence, but was unsuccessful. I was waiting the entire book for some kind of event to happen, but the book stayed in the physcological realm, not in the physical. Never-the-less I enjoyed reading the book, it read quickly, and I felt some sort of satisfaction at the completion. Read the book, but don't expect to be grabbed and pulled in, it takes a little work from the individual.
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Summary: The rational mind
Review: What starts out as a seemingly action-packed mystery-esque novel turns out to be an exploration of the hyper-rational scientific mind. A death in the beginning throws the main character, Joe, into a confused, paranoid state, during which he isolates himself from the one person he loves most, his wife Clarissa. As he deals with the guilt of the death he is also faced with an obsessive gay man (Parry) who, in a way, stalks him throughout the novel. The book's strongest point is the way it contrasts Joe's rationalism with Parry's blind faith. Though told through they eyes of Joe, the reader can see the inherent weaknesses in both ways of thinking, and how one-way thought processes can lead one down undesirable paths. The title seems to mean two things-- literally it refers to the obsession Parry has with Joe and how Joe must "Endure" it. But it also refers to the relationship between Joe and Clarissa, pointing out that even the deepest love can have its complications.
Rating:
Summary: A mildly engrossing story that is saved by eloquent writing.
Review: The story of Enduring Love was not very interesting to me, but I nonetheless felt the need to keep reading; I was not able to put it down. This is chiefly due to McEwan. His prose is so beautiful that there was a line on almost every page on which I felt I could base my whole life. Many of his literary tools, though blatant, were also appreciated: he mentions opinions on things that have not happened yet (e.g. "If I had only known then what I know now..."). This is frustrating, given, but it involves you in the book in ways of which you are unaware. The book is also very consistent. The climax of the plot is not particularly exciting, (though there is a pretty great scene in a restaurant) but the ending is written so beautifully that you can't help but feel McEwan has redeemed himself. This book is the literary equivalent of a beautifully filmed movie which, though entertaining, is devoid of story. (That is a compliment, by the way.) I highly recommend the book.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, yet fascinating
Review: As the story unfolds, one is drawn into the struggle of the protagonist to free himself from a seemingly impossible situation. A good story with many twists and turns.
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Summary: Endure a Night Without Sleep
Review: I spent an entire night (darkness to bluish-pale-just-before) finishing Enduring Love and felt somehow disappointed at the end, reading the appendix, some kind of psychological crime report that reiterated the entire novel without the science and evolution and letters. I was highly engrossed, though, and the book was, as someone else said, refreshingly challenging (McEwan, the person said, doesn't underestimate the reader). Resent I felt when I read Clarissa's letter...I thought he developed her character not as fully as he could have and without much perspective, the narrator's voice was sometimes a little pompous. A generous character makes a better narrator, but I suppose Joe Rose was supposed to be hopelessly involved in himself and his stalker. I blame him, too!
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