On a chilly February day two old friends meet in the throng outside a 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 as Britain's most successful modern composer, Vernon as editor of the quality broadsheet, The Judge. Gorgeous, feisty Molly had 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 ...
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On a chilly February day two old friends meet in the throng outside a 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 as Britain's most successful modern composer, Vernon as editor of the quality broadsheet, The Judge. Gorgeous, feisty Molly had 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 that will have consequences neither has 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 contemporary morality tale that is as profound as it is witty, this short novel is perhaps the most purely enjoyable fiction Ian McEwan has ever written. And why Amsterdam? What happens there to Clive and Vernon is the most delicious shock in a novel brimming with surprises.
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Although on the Booker prize shortlist in 1998 this is not a book I would recommend to any of my friends.Was it the clever,complicated plot ,the fact that there were three main subjects with their various problems and very different spheres of activity or that there were only a few parts I could visualize?
Maybe the plot was just too clever and contrived.
However, the chapter where the composer goes to the Lake District for total isolation with no distractions was very graphic and the scene with the champagne glasses was also very descriptive .
The clever and unexpected end was a good twist in the tail.That said, four weeks after reading the book I couldn't remember the plot and had to skim the book to be able to write this review.
MaryEllen
Mar 21, 2009
Amsterdam
I liked this book, very much. This is the 3rd book I have read by this author, and each one I have liked for different reasons.
Amsterdam, was very funny at times, but also very dark and sinister throughout. It starts off with the death/ and funeral of Molly Lane--and her relationships with her husband George, her friends and ex-lover's , composer Clive Linley and newspaper editor Vernon Halliday. Ian McEwan delves into the importance of marriage & friendships. How narrow minded, people can be. How forgiving others can be, in extrordinary circumstances, how full of themselves some people can be, how some can lose their way and all of their morales. We see how quickly tables can turn. This book has everything from infedeltiy, dirty pictures, to politicians. I found the ending somewhat shocking, but at the same time it became clear why the title was Amsterdam. The ending was brilliant.
