Wednesday September 8, 2010
1035PM@Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rainy and Refreshing
On my 10 hour flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam, I read the book "Saturday" by Ian McEwan. The book made my flight bearable and go by quickly. I've been a big fan of Ian McEwan since I read "Atonement." Only three books have made me cry: Love Story by Erich Segal (but I was a teenager so not sure if that counts), Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (I read the whole book flying from JFK to Tokyo, years ago) and Atonement (which I read during an unexpected detour to Boston due to the power outage in NYC a few years ago). "Saturday" did not make me cry but made me wish I could write like Ian McEwan. Since my parents died, I've always read the ending and cliff notes versions of books I decide to read because the thought of not being able to finish a book before dying frightens me. (Yes, a morbid thought, but can't shake it even though its been over 10 years since they've past) So I knew the plot of "Saturday" and if you read the cliff notes version to find out what it is about, most likely you will reject reading it. It's about a Saturday in the life of a neurosurgeon and his family in London, 2 years after 9/11 and the UK is about to go to war. It sounds boring but every page he writes is poetry. Ian McEwan eloquently articulates the voices of ordinary people post 9/11, the anxiety, and impact it has on a family disrupted by a single "minor" event. It's a very powerful, beautifully written book.
Pages from "Saturday" by Ian McEwan
