Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

I wasn’t expecting to be posting so soon, however, this was particularly well-crafted story that succeeded to impress despite being really quite short. Through this process of reading the winners of the Man Booker Prize I have found that the shorter books are sometimes rather unsatisfying and leave you wanting more, however in the case of ‘Amsterdam’ its tale was cleverly and completely wound within its pages.

It has an interesting premise of starting at a funeral of a woman, who we only know from her lovers and friends’ reminisces.   It becomes evident that they are wrapped up in their own self-important work and act regardless of the impact that their actions have on others; which leads them all to wreak some revenge on each other.  It also poses some interesting reflections on how we sometimes judge others actions harshly while being oblivious to the effects of our own, especially when there is a personal gain to be made.

Of particular note, was how McEwan depicted musical form through words, as one of the main characters is a composer and describes his work ethic and how the piece emerges.  Furthermore, it is always remarkable when a writer, through depicting a character’s thoughts, conveys rather more succinctly and ably, one’s own thought processes on a particular topic.   McEwan describes Clive’s ponderings about how life has come about to involve scores of people living in identical houses crammed into cities in contrast to the beauty and majesty of nature landscapes.  Moreover, the feelings that evolve as he embarks on a ramble in the Lake District and how he overcomes the fears that would hold him back, and achieves pleasure from being on his own in the wilderness – really struck a chord with me. 

So I found this a pleasing read, with the story and characters ideally suited to the scope of the book with some interesting insights into a number of topics.  However, I did find the ending rather odd and unbelievable although it succeeded in conveniently tying up the story with a somewhat surprising twist.

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

I seem to have been reading, or actually, not reading this book for a rather long time, but I’m afraid unfortunately that I have been distracted by revision for an exam, work and more fortunately, the festive season!  With Christmas came the temptation of new books to read, which I mostly managed to resist except for one, which is the first non-Booker I’ve read since starting this project at the beginning of 2011.  So a year and a month on and an opportunity to take stock – I’ve read 23 of the Booker prizewinners, of which there are now 45 titles (with the obvious addition of the 2011 winner this year) but I can happily say I’m half-way through - and I’m still enjoying myself and continue to be motivated to carry on!  My optimistic aim would be to able to read the remaining half this coming year, however, I fear that with increased demands on my time this may not be possible, but still, here’s to the coming year of (hopefully) literary delights – and if you’ve been reading either regularly or sporadically- thanks for sharing in this project and please, as always feel free to comment and let me know what you think…

Right so, what did I think of ‘The Finkler Question’, which fell victim to being read rather intermittently?  Well I’m not sure really – it was rather a strange concoction of political and religious opinions mixed in with endless rambling thoughts and deliberations of the various characters, written in a mostly engaging style.  On reflection, I’m tempted to classify it together with ‘Last Orders’ and ‘The Old Devils’; being about middle-aged and elderly characters who dwell on past events in their lives, grieve the death of loved ones and explore the themes of longstanding friendships and relationships.  However, ‘The Finkler Question’ as the name suggests once it is explained that ‘Finkler’, being the surname of the main character’s Jewish friend, is the adjective he’s used since a boy to refer to Jews, is what is the recurring theme throughout the story.  What it means to be a Jew and what it means not to be a Jew, various opinions about Israel/Palestine, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust to name but a few of the issues covered encircling the story of three friends, two of which are mourning the deaths of their wives and the other who is mourning life in general.

The characters were not people to whom I warmed but they were skillfully depicted, in particular the main character Treslove was effectively portrayed as irritating, ineffectual and rather pathetic, whose interminable ponderings were exasperating to himself and to the other characters, and consequently the reader.  Of particular note for me, was the trajectory through which Libor, the eldest of the three friends who had been recently bereaved of his wife after numerous years of marriage, travelled through in the course of the novel.  Especially memorable were the feelings of guilt he felt towards his wife as she neared her death and a touching passage describing how he watched as she had to come to terms with her impending mortality on awakening every morning as the realisation dawned once more after the escape of sleep.  Despite not being a book I would probably rush to read again, it was thought provoking and insightful.  Moreover, it highlighted the contradictory and complicated world in which we live, with a minefield of conflicting thoughts swirling around within every mind, which we only really have brief and occasional glimpses into through our interactions with each other.