Amsterdam: A Novel
by Ian McEwan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ian McEwanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-11-02
ISBN: 0385494246
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of Amsterdam: A Novel
Book Review: Beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
Overview:
The reviews on this book are strangely split, at least in my mind. I have read other Booker winning books (like Vernon God Little), and this one is better, by a long way. I've recently decided that placing books in the context of their genre is more fair than evaluating them based on inappropriate criteria. This book, however, has no clear genre, beyond fiction. Within that genre, there are books that are literature, and those that aren't. Some of them pretend to be, but aren't. This one doesn't pretend. It just is a nice little package, very well written.
A. Plot
The plot for this novel is simple, but elegant. Molly Lane, the only major female character (perhaps the ONLY female character in the book), has recently died with apparent signs of dementia. At her funeral, a panoply of her former lovers arrive, including Clive Linley, whom we are told is one of the foremost composers of his time, Vernon Halliday, a newspaper editor manning the conn on a paper that is doomed to fail in an era where news is one of the world's biggest businesses but newspapers go under every day, and Julian Garmony, a politician with a questionable discrepancy between his personal morality and his stated political viewpoints. They are gathered by George Lane, Molly's apparent last lover, who has taken care of her in her last hours, keeping her former lovers away.
Vernon and Clive, long-time close friends, remembering Molly's condition, ask each other to swear to prevent each other from degenerating into such a state of profound helplessness and confusion as Molly apparently was in her last days. This mutually assured destruction, to steal a phrase, plays an integral role in the conclusion of the novel, perhaps explaining the ending for those who did not understand its meaning, other than irritation on the parts of two wealthy, spoiled, and angry men who have grown distant and loathing of one another.
Each of them, in the course of the novel, makes a choice that condemns their future. Vernon, in a fit of journalistic intrigue, decides to expose the secret that Julian Garmony has been keeping. His reasons for doing this are spectacular. At least, he thinks that they are. Underlying all of his explanations is the desire to save his paper, play the hero, and become journalistic legend.
Clive, piqued by a symphonic treasure that only he could hear, and even then it is possible that he has begun to lose his grip, much like Vernon, decides to ignore an apparent quarrel between two individuals in the middle of nowhere, and focuses instead on the music in the aether, sacrificing one of the individuals to fate. Much like Vernon, his justifications are manifest, and poor. Much like Vernon, his oldest friend will condemn him for them.
B. Characters
One of the interesting aspects of this novel is the characters. As we watch them, Vernon and Clive enter a downward spiral of self-destructive and self-aggrandizing behavior.
The one missing aspect of this book, and perhaps it would have made it just a touch better, would be the sacrifices made by Julian Garmony, perhaps leading him to the compromised position that Vernon takes advantage of in the course of the book. This would give a nice circularity to the novel that it otherwise lacked.
C. Setting
The setting of the novel is largely in Britain, although the climax takes place in the titular city. The setting doesn't seem to be particularly important, as most aspects of the novel could have taken place in any modern, industrialized nation.
D. Theme
The most apparent theme in the novel is the concept of sacrifice for one's life's work. Interestingly, perhaps, this sacrifice isn't made by the characters trying to achieve their life's work and fame but, rather, is made by someone tangential to them, in all likelihood, unwillingly. This only thinly veils a darker vein of jealousy and possessiveness that forms a subtext that can be seen in all of the main characters, with the exception, perhaps, of Julian Garmony. This theme darkens the light-heartedness of the (majority of) the novel, grounding it and making the conclusion more powerful than it would have been if it had been left so humorous.
E. Point of View
The point of view is third-person omniscient, although the impersonal narrator does seem to lack reliability at times (e.g., the nature of Linley's opera is hinted at, but not directly revealed; the failure of Vernon's paper is obvious from the start, but it is never clear why he is the editor in the first place; the portrayal of George Lane as a bit of a mook is misleading, as he merely loves Molly and wished to protect her, etc.)
This combination of third-person omniscience and unreliability was quite good, as it leaves the reader surprised when something unexpected happens. The narrative is usually quite accurate, until you begin to question it.
F. Aesthetics
The novel is quite well-written in many ways. The characters are well-portrayed, little detail is wasted. The sentences vary in construction, length, and tone, allowing nuances and playfulness that would be absent in the hands of a lesser artist.
Conclusion:
This nice little novel was my introduction to Ian McEwan, but it certainly won't be the last thing by him that I read. Featuring well-written characters, an interesting plot, nice aesthetics, and an ending that I didn't see coming, this book was very well created. For those who have read Ian McEwan before, I doubt that you will do badly by choosing this to read. For those that haven't, most of you will be in for a treat. For those of you who haven't read Ian McEwan, this is a good place to start. It's where I did. It's definitely a book that is worth reading, as long as you like literature that has a neat and intricate little plot, a small, but complete cast of characters, and is beautifully written. For those who aren't convinced yet, I don't know what more to say.
A
Harkius
Summary of Amsterdam: A Novel
On a chilly February day, two old friends meet in the throng outside a London crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current eminence: Clive is Britain's most successful modern composer, and Vernon is editor of the newspaper The Judge. Gorgeous, feisty Molly had other lovers, too, notably Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister.In the days that follow Molly's funeral, Clive and Vernon will make a pact with consequences that neither could have foreseen. Each will make a disastrous moral decision, their friendship will be tested to its limits, and Julian Garmony will be fighting for his political life. A sharp contemporary morality tale, cleverly disguised as a comic novel, Amsterdam is "as sheerly enjoyable a book as one is likely to pick up this year" (The Washington Post Book World).
When good-time, fortysomething Molly Lane dies of an unspecified degenerative illness, her many friends and numerous lovers are led to think about their own mortality. Vernon Halliday, editor of the upmarket newspaper the Judge, persuades his old friend Clive Linley, a self-indulgent composer of some reputation, to enter into a euthanasia pact with him. Should either of them be stricken with such an illness, the other will bring about his death. From this point onward we are in little doubt as to Amsterdam's outcome--it's only a matter of who will kill whom. In the meantime, compromising photographs of Molly's most distinguished lover, foreign secretary Julian Garmony, have found their way into the hands of the press, and as rumors circulate he teeters on the edge of disgrace. However, this is McEwan, so it is no surprise to find that the rather unsavory Garmony comes out on top. Ian McEwan is master of the writer's craft, and while this is the sort of novel that wins prizes, his characters remain curiously soulless amidst the twists and turns of plot. --Lisa Jardine
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