The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan :: English Literature

Review of The comfort of strangers by Ian McEwan==================================================This is a very interesting book by McEwan as well as being ratherconfusing. The name the comfort of strangers fits the storylineperfectly.This is a very mysterious book in which the two of the main characters Carolean and Roger are slowly tightening the noose on the necks of theother two main characters Mary and Colin.I think the book fits into the mystery genre as far as the writing ofthe author goes and I found that some parts of the book reminded me ofEnduring Love. The way that that Colin and Mary blindly repay involvedwith Roger shows one of many weaknesses in the novel. Rogers shadycharacter and his weird story about how his father was very strict andhow his jealous sisters do him eat chocolate so that he would getinto trouble with his father along with other things should have keptMary and Colin away. Stories like this one, which require the reviewerto suspend disbelief as the a ctors venture further and further intothe abyss are extremely hard to pull off, so its not surprising thatMcEwan doesnt kind of manage it. An author can get away with making hischaracters naive, but at the point where the reader is yelling at themand calling them idiots for following along with the novels plot,that author has lost control of his own narrative. A big complaintthat reviewers have had with this novel or rather this short storyis that the author full treatment around taboo issues meaning he may talk aboutthem for a moment or two and then ignores them. Another problem which think onto this is that many times the author builds up the story assomething really dramatic is going to happen and then nothing out ofthe ordinary happens for compositors case when Mary jumps in the water youwould think that one of them may drown but it turns out to besomething just ordinary. I think this has a prohibit effect on thereader as well as the fact that sometimes the reader is left to fillin the gaps themselves when we are not accustomed enough detail on thecharacters or the storyline. There is no real solution at the end ofthe novel. Another problem with the novel is how Mary and Colins sexlives suddenly become great again after meeting Caroline and Roger.Another similar instance is when Roger punches Colin in the stomachfor NO reason. The telescope of the novel, which is Venice, is notreally used well by