Amsterdam

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan Is it just me or do other people "shy away" from books that look a little too intellectual for them? I read because I enjoy it. I am at an age where I don't need to read to impress. I like a good book (and I hate a bad book) and will read anything that interests me. I am shal......more

A novel about moral dilemmas. From the title, the main theme is assisted suicide, legal in the Netherlands. Not only that, but suppose your lifetime best buddy asks you to pledge that you will accompany him to Amsterdam if he becomes incapacitated? The book opens with this theme at the funeral of a......more

This might sound tautological, but McEwan certainly reads well -- you have got to hand it to him. There are no cracks to be found in his controlled composure: storyline and structure seamlessly combine to create a work of majestic, unquestionable virtuosity. Amsterdam, winner of the 1998 Booker priz......more

This sly little dark comedy – an unusual Booker Prize winner – examines aging and ethics in turn-of-the-millennium London. A woman’s death irrevocably changes the lives of three of her former lovers: a composer, a newspaper editor and a politician, each one staring down middle-age and mortality with......more

3.5 Have you ever picked up a novel that initially gripped you but found the conclusion so disappointing that it altered your view of the book? Unfortunately, that was my experience with Ian McEwan's Amsterdam. The novel focuses on the unbridled ambitions and questionable ethics of two friends from th......more