Ian McEwan

[sunnywong]

God, I bloody love him.

Just finished Atonement , and even knowledge of Kiera Knightley's performance in the forthcoming film could not detract from the power of the novel.

Love him.

Discuss

Black Dogs is my absolute favourite. A book, like Rebecca, that grabbed my on the first line.
Read Tis' Pity at Uni and loved it.

Love 'Cement Garden' and short stories.
Recent stuff wordy and self-indulgent (though opening of 'Enduring Love' is stunning).

Anyone else find his view of women really irritating? They're put on a pedestal and presented as somehow 'wholesome' in counterpoint to the nastiness of men, which is really pretty sexist in its own way.

I find his output varies a lot in quality. But The Innocent was great, if a bit gruesome. And A Child in Time is also good. But Atonement drags a bit. I think he's reached that age where novelists start getting long-winded and overly "philosophical". And their editors no longer have the courage to tell them to re-write!