Enduring Love is the third Ian McEwan novel I’ve read. The first was the very poor Booker winning Amsterdam, which was more of a short story than a novel, and hence exceptionally poor value at 6.99 for 178 pages (of largish type as I recall). None of the characters were particularly likeable, and the whole thing rang very hollow.
Next up on the list was Atonement, which I read last year, and once again I fear the entry here has been lost. This was an execeptionally good novel, and it was reading that which made me pick up Enduring Love, as many had recommended it.
It really is an interesting idea. A freak ballooning accident gathers together a disparate group of people as they try to save a child. Tragically one of the strangers dies and an another forms a seeming attachment to our story’s narrator Joe. As the story unfolds, it becomes unclear who’s head is messed up. Maybe the conclusion is a little unsatisfactory, but overall a thoroughly entertaining novel.