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lisarivers777's review against another edition
1.0
I love the way Ian McEwan writes and am a huge fan of his later work, but these stories were not for me.
mauragf's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 ⭐️
This is a quirky collection of short stories. The perspectives shared are predominantly those of men and often creatives, such as writers. As the book title suggests a core theme of the book relates to sex, particularly male sexuality, relationships and loneliness.
My favourite story was Dead as They Come. The story relating to the Ape and a few others I distinctly disliked though.
Overall this was a slow and somewhat laborious read for me. While I loved Ian's use of language at times and I enjoyed the unpredictable nature of the stories, I didn't love the characters or plots.
This is a quirky collection of short stories. The perspectives shared are predominantly those of men and often creatives, such as writers. As the book title suggests a core theme of the book relates to sex, particularly male sexuality, relationships and loneliness.
My favourite story was Dead as They Come. The story relating to the Ape and a few others I distinctly disliked though.
Overall this was a slow and somewhat laborious read for me. While I loved Ian's use of language at times and I enjoyed the unpredictable nature of the stories, I didn't love the characters or plots.
beverly_army13's review against another edition
2.0
I listened to this, but I'm too lazy to add an audio edition to GoodReads. Having read some of McEwan's later work, I can see the germs of it in this early collection of stories. The beautifully crafted sentences are a delight to read. His descriptive precision is admirable. I can see glimpses of the distant narrative that, in his later work, lures me in to the improbable. I can see the cool characters that are faced with passion. But this is an early work, and McEwan has not yet reached the mastery that he now has. It's worth reading to see how he has grown.
kris_mccracken's review against another edition
3.0
As ever with short story collections, this is a mixed bag. When good, they are VERY good. The mediocre are just that. This one is all right.
mattdube's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those books that is criticism-proof, by virtue of being just so shocking and wrong. The horrifying things that happen in each story are so overwhelming that no story could actually contain or make sense of them, yet they leave indelible marks on you as a reader. Yikes!
davidgrasse's review against another edition
3.0
Read four of the stories, none of which really piqued my interest. Not bad writing, just not captivating.
d_ran86's review against another edition
2.0
I absolute love McEwans longer novels and discovered him through them. However, all of his earlier work, I have really struggled to connect with...
The odd gem pops up (in this case, the story of a man & his love for a mannequin) but for the most part, I found it to be a bit of a chore to read.
Had I tried to read his works in chronological order of release, I don't think I ever would've got to his gorgeous longer-form stories! I have one last book of his that I haven't read yet...I'm hoping it is a good one to end on!
The odd gem pops up (in this case, the story of a man & his love for a mannequin) but for the most part, I found it to be a bit of a chore to read.
Had I tried to read his works in chronological order of release, I don't think I ever would've got to his gorgeous longer-form stories! I have one last book of his that I haven't read yet...I'm hoping it is a good one to end on!
ravenouskitty's review against another edition
3.0
More of the stories felt like a miss than a hit. I really liked the one with the mannequin and the story "Between the Sheets" and the rest I could take or leave them.
tdk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-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
2.5