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bradbury's review
fast-paced
3.75
such creative perspective; i've never read anything like this. this novel wouldn't have worked if our narrator, an unborn baby, had been given a realistic and therefore indecipherable "voice". instead, the narration was bold and wholly adult, with this baby crafting such rich metaphors and critical thought that it reminded me of par lagerkvist's the dwarf (one of my fav reads of last year). the baby's commentary on the chaos inside and outside of his mother really worked for me. his commentaries on his favorite wine and food pairings was great dark comedy. favorite part was our narrator attempting suicide by umbilical cord to avoid the experience of sex!? loved it. a fun, quick read. my biggest gripe is the scientific inaccuracy at the end b/c newborn babies can't see color until they're like, 6 months old. fix it. jk
logolepsy_e's review against another edition
5.0
La noia, diceva tal Monsieur Barthes, non è lontana dal godimento. Si guarda alla noia dalle rive del piacere. Esatto! La condizione del feto moderno. Provate a pensare: niente da fare se non crescere, laddove crescere non rientra neppure negli atti consapevoli. La gioia del puro esistere, il tedio di giorni indistinguibili. Il godimento protratto è noia del tipo esistenziale. Questa reclusione non dovrebbe essere un carcere. Qua dentro mi spettano il lusso e il privilegio della solitudine. Parlo come un innocente, ma intanto evoco un orgasmo prolungato per l’eternità: eccomi servita la noia, nel regno del sublime.
Un Amleto moderno richiuso a testa in giù in un insolito guscio amniotico da cui sente, ascolta e percepisce tutto il mondo che si snoda intorno alla sua portatrice.
Non mi soffermerò su trama, storia o personaggi, perché non sono quelle le parti importanti. Quello che conta, qui, sono il narratore e la narrazione.
Un narratore inusuale, un feto all'ottavo mese in procinto di uscire a scoprire il mondo, che è però costretto ad assistere a una vicenda noir che coinvolge la sua indifferente madre e chi le orbita attorno. E il feto assiste, impotente, allo svolgersi di fatti che pur vorrebbe evitare, ma non può, o non ci riesce, racchiuso nel suo guscio di prigionia.
Ma il feto ascolta e assorbe tutto (compreso il vino, sua grande passione) e riflette, da narratore (quasi) onnisciente, su ciò che lo aspetta al di là dell'utero. Su quanto varrà la pena vivere una vita libera, su quanto e quale sarà lo squallore che lo accoglierà nel mondo, su cosa gli riserverà il futuro, se avrà un futuro.
La narrazione è magistrale. Lo stile è meraviglioso, spesso in bilico tra prosa e poesia, con qualche guizzo da commedia che richiama l'ispirazione amletica. Ispirazione che si sente molto anche in certe citazioni, alcune più sottili e altre meno, ma tutte sapientemente inserite nella storia.
Non mi dilungherò oltre, perché c'è poco da dire: rimane solo da leggere.
tabeasaurus's review
challenging
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
nataliamar's review
2.0
Prepare-se para ler o bebê mais inteligente e prepotente da história da humanidade.
Ele debate sobre sistemas econômicos, problemas da humanidade, uvas e roupas. Sabe o que é azul e verde sem nunca ter enxergado. Me poupe, licença poética tem limites.
Ele debate sobre sistemas econômicos, problemas da humanidade, uvas e roupas. Sabe o que é azul e verde sem nunca ter enxergado. Me poupe, licença poética tem limites.
heybalestoo's review
3.0
This book definitely takes an interesting perspective on storytelling -- told from the view of the child, in utero. The writing is beautiful but I wasn't ever able to fully embrace the story or feel deeply for the characters, for whatever reason. It may have been because the only character that I was able to feel compassion for was the unborn child and he was powerless. Or, perhaps it was because I never felt hopeful for any of the characters.
laurenreadsoccasionally's review
2.0
I generally love Ian McEwan, but I just could not get on board with the concept.
kerinl's review
2.0
A very strange little book narrated by an unborn baby. The writing is greats. The story, weird.
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Quite a read, when pregnant! I'm now wondering just what my unborn child can hear...
The narrator of this story is a rather unusual one. He spends the entirety of the book in his mother's womb, growing and listening, telling us the story of what is going on just centimetres from his listening ears.
And it's a corker of a family plot, could be a Hitchcock play (if someone could work out how to stage a 'womb'!).
The baby (we never do of course, know his name), is nearing full term, and has been sentient for quite a while, learning about the world through his mother's conversations, through her audiobooks and television habits, amassing quite an impressive collection of Shakespeare quotations and facts about the outside world.
He is also well aware of his mother's affair. With her brother in law - his own uncle (shades of Hamlet here). And he is also horrified to hear of their plotting to kill his own father...
We 'see' this through the womb, our own eyes and ears discover only what the baby knows, with his filters and opinions.
He's a bright one though, he makes a very verbose (and mature!) teller of tales with a sense of morality and love.
Some scenes are uncomfortable - experiencing sex INSIDE the womb. And it gets tense as the lovers' plan to poison the father comes to a head - will it go ahead?
McEwan is an excellent writer and excels himself here with a very readable (and short) novel that isn't too literary and highbrow, contains some very dark humour and themes (just what will happen to this baby when he's born?!), and a most unusual plot.
It ends on a rather open note and I wanted just a few more pages to see just where this baby will be. But it wasn't 'to be'.
Clever. Possibly not a good idea to read while pregnant! Though I do wonder if a foetus can 'hear' what a mother listens to through earphones!
A good choice for a book group discussion.
The narrator of this story is a rather unusual one. He spends the entirety of the book in his mother's womb, growing and listening, telling us the story of what is going on just centimetres from his listening ears.
And it's a corker of a family plot, could be a Hitchcock play (if someone could work out how to stage a 'womb'!).
The baby (we never do of course, know his name), is nearing full term, and has been sentient for quite a while, learning about the world through his mother's conversations, through her audiobooks and television habits, amassing quite an impressive collection of Shakespeare quotations and facts about the outside world.
He is also well aware of his mother's affair. With her brother in law - his own uncle (shades of Hamlet here). And he is also horrified to hear of their plotting to kill his own father...
We 'see' this through the womb, our own eyes and ears discover only what the baby knows, with his filters and opinions.
He's a bright one though, he makes a very verbose (and mature!) teller of tales with a sense of morality and love.
Some scenes are uncomfortable - experiencing sex INSIDE the womb. And it gets tense as the lovers' plan to poison the father comes to a head - will it go ahead?
McEwan is an excellent writer and excels himself here with a very readable (and short) novel that isn't too literary and highbrow, contains some very dark humour and themes (just what will happen to this baby when he's born?!), and a most unusual plot.
It ends on a rather open note and I wanted just a few more pages to see just where this baby will be. But it wasn't 'to be'.
Clever. Possibly not a good idea to read while pregnant! Though I do wonder if a foetus can 'hear' what a mother listens to through earphones!
A good choice for a book group discussion.
alexandramallia's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
lawagener's review
2.0
Didn't get a lot out of it. Commentary on our world today through the eyes of the fetus whose mother killed his father.