Enduring Love

Written by Ian McEwan, whose other works include Atonement and The Child in Time, Enduring Love centres around Joe Rose, a simple middle aged man whose life changes when he attempts to help stop a fatal hot air balloon accident. Here he meets Jed Parry, a quiet, lanky twenty-eight year old with whom he shares a passing glance and an idle conversation.

This seemingly insignifigant meetings leads into what will become the most confronting, frightening experiences of Joe's life. Jed Parry, the seemingly average young man becomes obsessed with Joe, stalking and threatening the fabric of Joe's life.

I won't go into a lot of detail of what I read, I will however admit one thing. I did not like this book. I wanted to so badly, the story seemed incredibly interesting and I thought it would be a book I would take with me when I went to sleep. The story is well planned, but I found I could not engage myself in Ian McEwans' style of writing. I enjoy things that are beautiful or gripping due to their simplicity, Enduring Love to me felt like reading a textbook disguised as a novel.

It is very irregular for me to place down a book before it is finished, but in this case I did just that. That isn't to say it is a terrible novel, I just feel it could have been more engaging if written in a simpler way.