Solar (2010) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“Engrossing and interesting. It has an peculiar perspective, at once intimate and detached. Well worth reading, if you have the interest and time getting into McEwan's universe. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“This was one tedious book...”

• Rated 2 stars

“I don't often abandon a book, but this one went back to the library today. Painfully slow and not very interesting. The main character was depressing, the book was so overwritten that there were sentences I had to read repeatedly and still didn't quite understand, and the quantum physics parts were lightyears beyond my brain. Goodbye, Solar. Maybe I'll see you later.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Meh. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“New York Times book review was very negative. I thought this was an entertaining read. It was about solar power as the way to solve our energy problems. The main character's personal life is a disaster....”

• Rated 3 stars

“Caustic, funny, and tragic. I never liked the main character, and to some extent, I didn't care at all what was going to happen to him [you see a lot of it coming], but I'm loyal enough to McEwan that I kept reading anyway. It's an indictment of us all: our greed, laziness, and mistreatment of the planet. If you like McEwan, give it a try. But if you've never read anything by him, don't start with Solar.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I laughed out loud, snortingly, in several places in this book. I wouldn't say it's about climate change as much as about the 'response' to climated change - the hustling, the denials, the jockeying for position, the cynicism, the greed. I found the main character supremely unlikeable so had to work at it!”

• Rated 4 stars

“I have finished reading part one and I know this for sure: McEwan doesn't disappoint. lthough the novel has no chances to be picked up by students in our school library, it eerily reminds me of a colleague...
The ending is quite unexpected. First, I thought that something was missing from the plot at this point, but when I thought about it some more, i decided it was thw usual McEwan--pure genius the belle lettre... at the end all comes into place.”

• Rated 4 stars

“A comic examination of the perils of professional academia, and the foibles of a particular, flawed character. Once again McEwan mesmerizes with words and charms the reader into a willing suspension of disbelief at some of the unlikely happenings in the life of the protagonist.”

• Rated 5 stars

“I loved this book, a refreshingly different read to Ian McEwan's usual work. It was funny and the anti- hero was engaging, despite his numerous faults.
The plot leaps forward several years at a time, which I quite enjoyed, there was the capacity for a lot of change in Michael's life. The characters were very well drawn, especially Tom Aldous and "The Ponytails", and his long- suffering girlfrend Melissa.
But for me, the highlight, and the section that made me giggle out loud (on the bus) was Michael's trip to the Arctic, and his ill- fated call of nature......

A fine, wonderfully written novel by a master, I just love his books, and this one had a lighter touch and was better for it.”