The Child in Time

Rating:
Summary: Not quite hitting the spot
Review:
Ian McEwan - 'The Child in Time' (1987)

This book was well-written in terms of style, but the ingredients the author chose to juxtapose (a family drama, beside a political story) did not fit together well.

Chapter One was very exciting and promised much, and that chapter gets 5 out of 5.

The book then became two separate stories (the 'family crisis' story and the 'political' story), but the political story became too far-fetched to be credible, particularly in the penultimate chapter (which got silly). In the end the book failed to come together well to form a sensible whole, and failed satisfy.

Marks out of five: 3 out of 5



Rating:
Summary: Powerful, Moving
Review: "The Child in Time" is my first Ian McEwan work, although I was aware that he studied at Malcolm Bradbury's creative writing program at the University of East Anglia, as did Kazuo Ishiguro, of "The Remains of the Day" fame.

McEwan is a subtly brilliant writer with amazing psychological understanding and insight. With equal ease, he navigates the political landscapes of family; personal life; commercial London, and Thatcher's 1980's Whitehall.

The tribulations of his friend, publisher Charles Darke in the treehouse in rural Suffolk is altogether telling and allegorical in itself. The stark tragedy of losing his child Kate, brings the neccesary focus needed to capture the reader's attention for the duration of the novel.

Heartfelt, and very well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: the loss of a child from a father's perspective..
Review: 'The Child in Time' has many of the hallmarks of a McEwan novel. It is extremely well written, splendid characterizations, and it is a slow-paced read. Full kudos on his use of written English but as with his other works, even the terrific 'Atonement', he seems to stretch what should be a relatively short piece of fiction into twice or three times its appropriate length.

However 'The Child in Time' is certainly an interesting read. A young couple losses a daughter in a most traumatic way ... abduction. We then live through its aftermath from the father's viewpoint (..the father character narrates the story). The author is extremely sensitive and caring in the way he handles the the father's shock and ultimate recovery (..in a sense) of the situation. A very well-observed analysis.

Bottom line: at times McEwan's over-elegant prose almost buries the keen psychological analysis of parental suffering. Yet it's a most memorable read (even to single guys like me).

Rating:
Summary: Interesting bit about Time but dead on the suspense
Review: I didn't enjoy this book very much - it seemed to not flow very well - I like Ian McEwan's writing - have read some of his other works but this one just didn't do it for me. I would suggest Amsterdam over this one.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully engaging
Review: I have been a fan of McEwan's for years now and this novel did not dissapoint. It has so many interesting themes that there isn't a second to be bored. I was especially fascinated by the time travelling aspect of the book.

The loss of Stephen's daughter and his subsequent disintigration is masterfully handled. The ending is very moving and beautifully portrayed. The one criticism I had was that after three years he became less obsessed with where his daughter was and whether she was alive or dead. I doubt any parent would rest until they found their child. I know I wouldn't.

But all in all, a mesmerizing journey into Stephen's psyche.

Rating:
Summary: McEwan Is A Terrific Writer!
Review: On a most ordinary day Stephen walks with his three-year-old daughter Kate to a supermarket. At the checkout lane there is no no other customer behind him. As he checks out, he turns briefly from his daughter, looks around and she is gone. What has to be one of the worst nightmares that any parent can possibly conceive of happens to Stephen and his wife Julie: their beautiful daughter has been kidnapped. With that calamity, Ian McEwan begins another fine novel.

The trademarks we have come to expect from McEwan are here: something horrendous happens to people through no fault of their own, and their lives are irrevocably and forever changed. In McEwan's own words, a "malevolent intervention" occurs. McEwan asks hard questions about the very nature of existence and relationships and life. He makes profound philosophical observations; and as usual, even though his prose is dense, the reader races through his story.

McEwan delves into the meaning of childhood-- children always live in the present-- memory-- you remember what you remember; you forget what suits you-- the relativity of time: time is dependent on the speed of the observer; time slows down during a panic.As always, McEwan's language is both precise and concise. And I believe he coins a couple of verbs too: "first-naming" and Brylcreemed."

Without giving away the ending of this incredible novel, I can say that this is the most positive McEwan I've read, and I've read my way through most of his works. Usually the action takes place someplace beyond despair. Here we have the joy of starting over. As Emily Dickinson would say, "love is all we know of love. A beautiful ending to a beautiful novel.

Mr. McEwan is one terrific writer.

Rating:
Summary: McEwan at the peak of his form
Review: The Child in Time has it all. Ian Mcewan has witten a profoundly moving, deeply personal work that rings true on every page.
It is a novel about loss and the effort to find meaning despite of it. It probes issues of family, marriage, and personal growth.
I found The Child in Time to be one of the most satisfying novels I have read in years. The rewards in reading it are many.

Rating:
Summary: McEwan at the peak of his form
Review: The Child in Time has it all. Ian Mcewan has witten a profoundly moving, deeply personal work that rings true on every page.
It is a novel about loss and the effort to find meaning despite of it. It probes issues of family, marriage, and personal growth.
I found The Child in Time to be one of the most satisfying novels I have read in years. The rewards in reading it are many.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: This is the first of McEwan's mature novels, and easily one of his best. He goes well beyond the psycho-sexual darkness of his short stories and novellas into new philosophical territory. When it opens with the daughter of children's author Stephen Lewis being snatched from the local supermarket, you could be forgiven for thinking this novel is going to be about Stephen's obsessive, fruitless search for her and his inevitable psychological collapse. But Kate's disappearance is just the beginning. McEwan sidesteps the perils of family melodrama and rapidly escalates this into an intelligent and surprisingly moving novel about childhood, memory, growth, the horrors of conservative politics, and the joys of theoretical physics. McEwan's topic is time, and in addressing it from unexpected and seemingly disparate directions he demonstrates that a novel doesn't have to be an obvious, linear, plot-driven story. By the end, you realise you have in fact been told a wonderful story - one about Stephen's emotional adaptation - but that the novel is all the better because this has not been the explicit or only focus. In fact, all the pieces of this dazzlingly audacious philosophical puzzle slot perfectly into place in a final chapter which is as wonderfully unexpected as it is profoundly moving. McEwan's gift is for making the "big themes" real for us; for showing us how they're constantly moving, like continental plates, beneath the mundanity of our every day lives. He takes you places you don't expect to go. He assumes you're as intelligent as he is, and he gives you plenty to think about and plenty to do. When it works, as it does here, it's wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written piece, I found the ending very moving
Review: When Kate, daughter of Stephen and Julie is taken from a supermarket(don`t worry, I haven`t spoiled anything!)there is no way for Stephen`s life to go but down.The book centres on his struggle to find his daughter,meeting people from his time and even travelling to the past to discover aspects of his parent`s lives. The time element in this book is uncomfortable to the reader, yet McEwan`s writing takes you fluidly through the plot,with the difficult subject of time beautifully interwoven. I really enjoyed reading this novel and studying it for English Literature A-Level as it is written so provocatively that one cannot fail to relish the piece. The characters are fully rounded and fit into the plot with the greatest of ease. The plot itself is extremely well thought out and expertly written by a great English writer. McEwan is able to draw upon the innocence which the plot desires, Whilst also creating a clillingly spooky atmosphere. This book is no easy read, it`s wonderfully moving ending is reached only after a disturbingly beautiful and sometimes horrific plot. This has to be counted amongst McEwan`s greatest works,and all in all, "The Child In Time" is a wonderfully written journey through the darkest elements of time, which leaves the reader with the radiating glow of hope.