McEwan's protagonist is neurosurgeon Henry Perowne, a man comfortably ensconced in an enviable upper middle class existence. His wife is a successful newspaper lawyer, his daughter Daisy a budding poet. But as he wakes one Saturday morning and witnesses a plane accident through his window, he is not yet aware that this is a harbinger of a sustained assault on all that he holds dear. It’s a McEwan trademark to begin his novels with a striking or violent rupture of everyday existence, but this opening is a prelude to his most impressively sustained narrative yet. It’s the publication day of Henry’s daughter's poetry collection, but a chance encounter with a drunken trio emerging from a lap-dancing club ends violently, even as a march against the war in Iraq streams past nearby. And this encounter with the menacing Baxter, main antagonist of the group, is to have fateful consequences. As Saturday progresses, Henry is forced to examine every aspect of his life and beliefs, not least his attitude to the war.

The book will continue its journey in jellycat's "Big Yellow English-Box"! :-)

Out of the box and onto MTBR...

Edit Jan. 2007: I've read the book now but I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. Some parts felt a bit longwinded while others were interesting.
Passing it on to krab-te.

Das Buch ist schon heute gut hier angekommen. Vielen Dank an Nordkind für den guten Hinweis und an jellicat für das super schnelle Schicken. Ich werde das Buch an meinen Sohn weiter geben. Er muss dann seinen Eintrag selbst machen.

RELEASE NOTES:

Got the book personally a week ago.

Been having the book for a while now, sorry for the delay, I'm a bit forgetful