What do you suppose I like about him?

There's no doubt about it. I have now read enough of Ian McEwan's novels to have formed the opinion that he is one weird dude. His 1981 novel, The Comfort of Strangers, which I finished a few weeks ago, is not only weird, but also deeply unsettling (violence included) in the end.

So why do you suppose I like him so much?

I can't honestly say that I liked The Comfort of Strangers. It was weird. It was uncomfortable reading all the way through, because I knew something violent was coming, I just didn't know what it was, and when it came, I hadn't been expecting the form it took at all. In my previous crusades against what I call "ugly fiction," I'll admit to not liking books that just seem dark and ugly for no reason. And this seems like it would be a textbook example. But yet...I was hypnotized by it (just as I was by Atonement).

It helps that much of McEwan's fiction (particularly the titles I've been reading) are short; this one clocks in at 128 pages. There's not a whole lot of story here, either, which is usually okay by me. Brits Mary and Colin, an older but not too old (frequent mention is made of Mary's school-age children, left behind at home), unmarried couple are on holiday in an Italian seaside village. They are passing their days with lazing, napping, and uninspired wandering, until they meet a native of the village, Robert, who wines and dines them at his establishment, and eventually brings them to meet his wife Caroline. Robert and Caroline seem to have some rather weird fixations, as well as some interesting ideas about gender roles, and that weirdness becomes horrifying at the end of the book. 

Did I mention that this is one weird book?

But the fact remains, for me at least, that there is something deeply sensual about McEwan's writing. I can't put my finger on it, but just reading his prose makes you feel a bit sultry. Maybe because it's a bit on the edge? A bit deviant? A touch too smooth?

"Through the warm nights, in the narrow single bed, their most characteristic embrace in sleep was for Mary to put her arms around Colin's neck, and Colin his arms around Mary's waist, and for their legs to cross. Throughout the day, even when all subjects and all desire were momentarily exhausted, they stayed close, sometimes stifled by the very warmth of the other's body, but unable to break away for a minute, as though they feared that solitude, private thoughts, would destroy what they shared." (p. 82.)

It sounds lovely, that. Keep in mind it occurs after what had been days of companionship but no real passion, and their renewed intimacy only appears after they dine at the weird couple's house. Hmm. 

Did I mention that this is one weird book?*

Anyway. So I'm now on the quest to read all of McEwan's novels (Enduring Love is up next) and try to figure out why he creeps me out, and why I don't mind. Any ideas what I should call this experiment? Sex, Lies, and Ian McEwan? Adventures in Ian?

*Even weirder? It was also made into a movie starring Rupert Everett, Helen Mirren, Natasha Richardson, and...wait for it...Christopher Walken.

Comments

Call the experiment, "Champagne, my dear?" I think you Christopher Walken fans will understand. Christopher Walken creeps me out and amuses me, and was something else in Sarah, Plain and Tall (gentle, sweet, shy?). I don't think I will read the book, though. I just can't take violence anymore. Might have to do with children and age, although leaves skittering across the road the other day made me want to re-read Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Sleeping holding onto another person? My husband and I don't see how anyone does it. We think it only happens in the movies, where it stops as soon as someone yells cut.

[Citizen Reader]

Ah, the cham-pagna skit from SNL. I totally heart Christopher Walken, even if he's a weirdo too.

And, dude! I just put "Something Wicked This Way Comes" on hold at the library--time to read it for October!

Yeah, the sleep holding. I totally think it's a myth too. It was still kind of a neat paragraph, I thought. Perhaps the idea that it was very out of the ordinary, very vacation-like. See? I lose all coherence around McEwan. I just liked it, okay? :)

[Citizen Reader]

Also: did you know Walken was the other person on the boat with Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood the night Wood drowned? Weird stuff, man.

[Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)]

I think I feel the same way about Joyce Carol Oates that you do about Ian McEwan. All of Oates' books are creepy and dark and have tragedy and sexual abuse and other things I don't like to read about, but I somehow always love Oates. I think it's her writing style, which is very fluid and impressionistic, or something, but I can't quite put my finger on it either.

[Tripp]

This one creeped me out something serious. I continue to read McEwan because I think he is masterful at portraying miscommunication, misunderstanding and our reactions to them. His earlier books have a higher oddity content, but there are still some good ones, like the strange Black Dogs.

[Citizen Reader]

Kim,
Oh yeah, Joyce Carol Oates. Sometimes I forget about her. I think you're right about the same kind of creepy appeal, though--I can't say I loved her horror novel Zombie, but I certainly remember it. Talk about shivers up my spine! Which novel of hers would you recommend? I feel like I should read more of her, but she's so prolific there's almost TOO many to pick from.

Tripp,
Yeah, creepy. I hear "The Cement Garden" is creepy too. You also make an excellent point about miscommunications and misunderstandings--that was a huge part of the genius of "Atonement," I think. Thanks for putting it into words.

[Brian]

I've been meaning to try out McEwan, so maybe I'll start with Comfort. I don't mind a bit of creepiness, and I like the sound of that sense of doom while you're reading it. Thanks for writing about it!

[Heidi]

I too have become an Ian McEwan lover. Again I'm not sure what it is about them - beautiful use of the language, minute detail, often a violent or strange act. Maybe we just enjoy the perverse.

I hope you enjoy Enduring Love. We have just read it as a book group, myself for the second time. What I love is the ambiguity - at times you don't know who is the mad person.

For those who have only seen the films - don't - we watched the film of Enduring Love for book group - the story was changed so much as to be almost unrecognisable and it certainly missed the tension and ambiguity of the book. It was only bearable because of the aesthetically pleasing Daniel Craig.

[Citizen Reader]

Brian,
If you read this one, stop back in and let me know what you think, okay? I don't know that I had a sense of doom while reading it, but there was definitely a sense of unease.

Heidi,
Yes, I'm pumped about "Enduring Love." What an interesting choice for a book group! Was it popular or was it more reviled than loved in your group?

Mmmm Daniel Craig. He's the only thing that made "Sylvia" watchable too. I can't WAIT for the Nov. 14 release of the new James Bond movie, which I shouldn't be excited about, but I can't help it. I'm weak.

[Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)]

The three Oates books I have read that I liked were The Falls, We Were The Mulvaneys, and The Gravedigger's Daughter. I think I liked We Were The Mulvaneys best, but it's been awhile since I read it. I've never read Zombie.

[Care]

==> "Walken was the other person on the boat with Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood"

I did not know this. Christopher Walken is amazing and creepy and pops up everywhere.

[Citizen Reader]

Kim,
Thanks for the Oates suggestions. I loved the Mulvaneys cover and always wanted to read it (struggled with the subject matter, though)--maybe I'll try the Gravedigger's Daughter. Good title.

Care,
Yeah, Walken gets around. Crazy stuff indeed.