Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Lessons by Ian McEwan

10 reviews

mjudleh's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Normally I love Ian McEwan, but I struggled to finish this one. Middle aged white male navel gazing. Fair enough. 
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haylsr's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mrlsdevos's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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zara89's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bernard_black's review against another edition

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emotional reflective
  • Loveable characters? No

4.25

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raelin's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I am glad I finished this, because I liked it more than I thought I did halfway through. I needed the reflections of the old man on the young man to balance out the thoughts of the young man, and I had to keep reading to get to that part. 

There was a lot in this to digest and it is ripe for discussion in a book club.
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rubyjubbbaddiel's review against another edition

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dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Everything about this book shouts Ian McEwan. It’s beautiful and elaborately written and of course involves some sort of disturbing sexual exploit. This book left me with existential panic but by the end became an enjoyable read. 
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miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The start is a struggle tbh but it does improve a lot, about growing up and getting old and just life more generally

‘He wasn’t waiting for her. But if she ever turned up he wanted his options open. Which was another was of saying, he was waiting.’

‘A form of narcissism, or closely related paranoia.’

‘It was his right to want nothing.’
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rosereadsalot's review against another edition

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2.0

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bridgetkay's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I wanted more from this book - and by more, I certainly don’t mean words or pages. From the blurb I was expecting some skilful weaving of a person’s life with the background of major world events. But I was not compelled to continue reading, and found myself quickly wanting to get this book over and done with. Some parts were enjoyable, but with the amount of different huge issues that were attempted, I didn’t feel like any were done justice. 
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