The Cement Garden
Ratings27
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings27
Average rating3.6
In the arid summer heat, four children – Jack, Julie, Sue and Tom – find themselves abruptly orphaned. All the routines of childhood are cast aside as the children adapt to a now parentless world. Alone in the house together, the children’s lives twist into something unrecognisable as the outside begins to bear down on them.
Reviews with the most likes.
Well-written intro to McEwan's work, although some of the imagery is disturbing...
McEwan is an author I force myself to try because 1, some people I like and whose opinion I respect really enjoy him, 2, there was Atonement.
However, I see myself physically shying away from him. Don't like the characters, think the setting is unlikely and the people unrealistic. This is a good example. there was nice tension at the end, but three good pages ddin't helpme overcome the feeling everything else was oh so phony.
I wasn't as alarmed by this as I think I should have been, on reflection - other than that thrillingly disturbing scene at the end (the sledgehammer). Everything these kids do makes sense to them, and there's nobody around to teach them otherwise - and somehow that seems to justify their behaviour.
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