One of the top awards in literature is the Booker Prize and Ian McEwan won the 1998 award with his book, Amsterdam. Ian's talent is never at doubt so if you pick up any of his books you can expect a good read. He has written eight novels and two collections of short stories. We will only review two of his books. If you are interested in getting any of the others; The Day Dreamer; Black Dogs (Short listed for the Booker Prize); The Innocent; The Child in Time (1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year); The Comfort of Strangers (Short listed for the Booker Prize); and The Cement Garden (Short listed for the Booker Prize) let us know. We can get them for you.

I will review the two books in the order in which they were printed.

Enduring Love was released in 1997 and some think it is Ian's finest novel. I am in agreement with that opinion. The story explains how a couple on a picnic witnesses an event that changes their lives forever. The event is the crash landing of a hot air balloon with a small child aboard. In trying to save the child a man is killed and a chain of events begins which will wreck the couples marriage and drive them almost to madness. As the plot unfolds the reader is drawn into Joe Rose's struggle to convince his wife they are in danger and to save their marriage. I found myself frustrated and suffering with Joe as his relationship with his wife became more and more strained. As in all of his books Ian is a master of surprise endings and this book is no exception. The ending on this book is a little contrived and I felt he could have left that twist out and ended it with just what happens to Joe Rose. I was devastated by how the book produce no definite conclusion to Joe's struggle which was an indicator how far I was drawn into Joe's difficulties.

Amsterdam being the winner of the 1998 Book Prize was a disappointment to me. I felt this small book was not nearly as well constructed as Enduring Love. The story relates how two friends who had been lovers of the same woman are changed forever by her death. Both men are successful, one a world-renowned composer and the other an editor of a prominent newspaper. From the time of the funeral their lives are on a path leading only to destruction. Each page it becomes clearer that they are trapped into a script from which they cannot escape. Many readers say they find the ending of the book a surprise but I knew from the halfway point where it was going to end. What is exceptional about this book is the elegant way Ian McEwan uses words to describe things. I think the most remarkable of these being how he describes how music is composed and how tormented the road from fame to redundancy is.