Lessons: A novel

This probably isn't a novel that speaks to all generations. It's the saga of one man's life in Europe from post-WWII to the present. I happen to be McEwan's age, and the age of his protagonist, Roland.. The events and personages described and experienced by the protagonist are in my memory bank as well. So if you're around 70, lived a rambling kind of "typical," unfocussed life in the 1970s, this book will speak to you, no matter what your response to McEwan overall. Highly satisfying, beautiful novel.

This is a good book. But it seems that part way through the book McEwan changed his mind about it. Or maybe he just drifted from the instigating story (the seduction) to another, the life story of the boy/man who was seduced. The parts about the seduction are far too long and detailed. Not that they're offensive, just boring. We get it. (And like the books of most very good authors today, the book is too long. Are editors afraid to say anything?) The story of the abandoned husband and child is very good. But how it relates to his childhood seduction gets lost. There's even a promise of a kind of mystery in it when the police question him. But all that disappears. And the story of the German mother-in-law is good, too.

Running deep, gives a lot of food for thought. Also the author knows how to deal with words and layers and layers of their meaning. Great.

and since the writer is, to our good fortune, still living, the story has a great deal of trouble finding an ending. It lacks the grace, polish, and form of good fiction. And yes, there are direct parallels to McEwan's life, particularly the story of his brother. The plot meanders, sways, dips, and rises. The protagonist loves, loses, and mourns characters he loves and knows intimately, but we do not know them at all well and so the fuss leaves the reader a bit confused and, at times, is within shouting distance of the maudlin.But this is McEwan, and he is a brilliant intellect and a great writer. There is something very interesting going on in the parallel not only between the protagonist and his brother Robert but bewteen the former and his wife Alissa, a kind of doppelganger dynamic concerning what turns out to be and what might have been, not unlike what Henry James treats in The Jolly Corner. McEwan's protagonist is a precocious and brilliantly talented artist who accomplishes nothing, while his wife, who is less obviously talented at first, becomes a great and famous artist. To do so she trades in her life. He retains his, such as it is.I think McEwan is one of the very best writers writing in English today, but there is something amiss here. It's almost as though he felt he had to write this book. It isn't up to his high standard.

Read this novel for the enjoyment of an author at the height of his descriptive powers; you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for a linear story that resolves the main character's struggles in a neatly satisfying conclusion, you may be. Ian McEwan has taken an all-too-common topic from the day's news about a young boy who has an illicit relationship with his music teacher. How the relationship impacts his future, career choices, and interactions with women are the basis for the story.Ten-year-old Roland lives with his father, mother, and two older half-siblings on a military base in Libya in the early 1960s. His father is overbearing and remote. His much older siblings don't figure much in his day-to-day existence. When he reaches eleven, he's sent to England to boarding school. There he meets the woman who will impact his life for years, Miriam Cornell. She is in her early twenties and grooms the unsuspecting boy during his piano lessons. She teaches him for three years before she seduces him. Roland is incredibly gifted. With discipline and study, he could be a celebrated pianist. But Roland is interested in Miriam Cornell. His studies lag, and the chances to go on to a higher level disappear when he becomes obsessed with her. Roland is given the opportunity to further his music education, but Miriam kidnaps him and locks his books in a shed. He is so intoxicated by her; it takes all his will to leave her. For years he drifts, playing keyboard part-time for a band and trying to write.He meets a German woman, Alissa, whom he marries. Alissa and Roland have a baby. Though his circumstances have changed, Roland remains unsettled and aimless, only halfheartedly writing verse for a card company and occasionally teaching tennis lessons. One day Roland comes home to find a note on his pillow that Alissa has left him. She vanishes, leaving him with a six-month-old baby. He is frantic because he didn't see any signs of Alissa's unhappiness. Then he begins to wonder if she did just leave him. The police wonder about this too. The detective assigned to the case thinks Roland knows much more than he shares.It isn't easy to do justice to this novel in just a few words. It asks profound questions about how trauma affects relationships and how the single-minded pursuit of dreams can hurt those close to us. It has elements of intrigue and romance mixed in with history lessons on the Cold War from an East German perspective. Above all, it's a literary novel. I'll be thinking about this one for days. Note this is not a book to be rushed through in a couple of sittings. Those who like superb writing with a philosophical bent will be enthralled.

McEwan hasn’t lost his touch as a great storyteller, with the ability to touch on many controversial topics. His characters are well-developed and multifaceted, and his deep, poignant dives into history’s vicissitudes are wonderfully entertaining. My only real criticism is that the book is about 30% too long, primarily due to meandering descriptions and events that showcase that author’s intellectual capabilities, but add little to the novel.

Based on the fact that I had really enjoyed 'Atonement' and absolutely loved the little gem 'On Chesil Beach' I was really looking forward to reading Ian McEwan's latest publication. It doesn't have the drama of Atonement nor the purety of Chesil Beach, but it draws you in little by little until you start to care about what happens to Roland Baines and his many friends and family.Roland Baines seems to drift through life not really feeling very strongly about what happens although he will be very much affected by two events: his relationship with his music teacher ( he is a gifted pianist) which started when he was eleven and ended when he was a teenager, as well as the disappearance of his wife early in his marriage. Both these events will alter his personality and ultimately his behaviour.His relationship with his music teacher is described at length and by today's standards would be unthinkable. The disappearance of his wife which will be resolved much later in the story nags at him constantly. It seems to indicate that for women a successful professional life and a happy family life are totally incompatible. And that to end the dilemma, extreme measures are needed.The life of Roland Baines could be called the saga of missed opportunities. He has the talent to succeed in two professional areas but he will go through life making do with almost the lowest forms of both activities, and doing only what it takes to make sure he earns enough to get buy. One could almost think that feelings of guilt are pulling him down.This quasi biographical tale takes place on the quite detailed political background of the U.K. in particular, Germany somewhat and the rest of the world in general. Born in 1942, his story takes us all the way to the advent of Covid-19 and the confinement which affected pretty much every country in the world. The ending seems to tell us that Roland is now at peace with his life.Ian McEwan is a superb writer as we know. One surprising aspect of the book is the German language content. Roland's first wife is from Germany, thus he inherits German in-laws who also become part of the narrative. There is a lot of travelling back and forth to Germany. I did find the sequencing of the different events somewhat disjointed and a little confusing, although as is the case with any talented writer, it all makes sense in the end. The book format I received from Amazon is solely a Canadian edition. Very often, there is only one edition for both the Canadian and US markets, which results in the manuscript being edited for the U.S. market, a practice I have never understood and never liked. I want to read a book the way it was written by the author. Let's hope this practice is maintained.

Increíble escrito, te cuenta una vida con toda la historia que va sucediendo a su alrededor. Muy entretenido, con buenas sorpresas y polémicas.

ein schönes Buch, sehr interessant

After a slow start I was completely hooked. A brilliant combination of analysing a changing political context set against a very interesting personal story! I loved the central character, Roland, his mistakes, his many relationships, especially with his family and his talents. Being left by his wife with a small baby to bring up and seduced at the age of 12 by his music teacher gives it an unusual angle. I recommend this highly.

Besteld en 48u later geleverd, prima!