Beth

This second book in the Sherlock Holmes collection is incredibly similar in structure, writing style and execution to a study in scarlett. Watson's unfaltering admiration and praise for Sherlock Holmes grew more tiresome to read in this book as it was very repetitive and hyperbolic and after hearing him sing his praises in the first book it was a sentiment as a reader that we were already well aware of. Overall however Sherlock Holmes is a guilty pleasure read and I love hearing Stephen Fry narrate the story. Sherlock Holmes stories are fantastic and although rather far fetched they are always a pleasure escapism read. This book while similar to the first was equally as much fun to read.

This book was somewhat of a disappointing read for me. While Beatty writes intuitively and intellectually, many of the references littered throughout this novel were simple inaccessible for me. The satire was heavily bitter as well in this novel. As a reader I also finished the novel completely confused and unsure about what the main point of it's inception really was. The novel is hugely topical and as a intellectual human being I am aware of the current state of America and how race is presented and dealt with within that country. However I only felt a vulnerability and a clarity from the author in the very last pages of the novel which I found such a shame . The novel overall was unfortunately a struggle and chore to get through as every sentence and chapter is time consuming to fathom through and make narrative sense of. This author makes you work for his plot.This novel had some real promise but I felt it tried to hard to shock and be funny and as a consequence the real raw storytelling and soul searching elements of the narrative which I would have loved were lost. I really wanted to dissect the character of bonbon and homity and marpessa but their character development and inner motivations were stifled for elements of the story to thrive that for me were either dry or ostentatious. An unfortunate 2.5, at a push a 3 out of 5 stars. I couldn't connect with the content that made this novel an award winning piece unfortunately. However it's a very current and topical novel that is very interesting and unique.

A 5 star read. What a gem of a novel. Only Ian McEwan could successfully pull off such an ambitious and bizarre plot line. Trudy, the estranged wife of John, attempts to murder him with the help of her brother-in-law and John's own brother Claude whom she is also having an affair with. The only spanner in the works regarding their dark plot is the witness to their scheme, the nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb. The novel is guided along by the narration of Trudy's unborn foetus, who offers up an intellectual and engaging reflection of the novels twists and turns. A unique re-telling of Hamlet, littered with poetry and compelling drama. A fantastic and richly dark plot. I am Blown away by McEwan's elegant writing style and the way he can make a strange concept like a foetus protagonist so utterly convincing without a hint of farce. McEwan is a hugely impressive talent. Nutshell is a wickedly clever novel. A must read for any McEwan fans!!!

1.5 star read. Highly disappointing. Overly simplistic. Not realistic and slightly corny. This story tries to present a plot line of overcoming adversity by eating breakfast with God,Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a fictional dream world log cabin. I found this book an unsuccessful attempt at trying to make religion more contemporary and relevant in modern literature. Wasn't my cup of tea. Too far fetched for me. Maybe you can have better luck with it than I did. Good luck to all you who try!