Saturday

By: Ian McEwan

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Ian McEwan's novels have inspired sweeping critical acclaim and won such prestigious awards as the Booker Prize for Amsterdam and the National Book Critics Circle Award for his modern masterpiece, Atonement. With Saturday, McEwan has crafted perhaps his most unique achievement to date.

Neurosurgeon Henry Perowne enjoys life immensely and considers himself fortunate to love the woman he's married to. As he makes his way through an immense London crowd of Iraq protestors, he has a minor automobile accident. His trained eye immediately senses something neurologically wrong with Baxter, the other driver. So when the confrontational Baxter visits the Perowne home later that evening and events take a tragic turn, it is Henry who must employ his skills to save Baxter.

McEwan has been hailed as "one of the most gifted literary storytellers alive" by The New Republic, and Saturday is further proof of that claim.

Listen to an interview with Ian McEwan on Charlie Rose.

©2005 Ian McEwan (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Dazzling." (The New York Times)
"A wise and poignant portrait of the way we live now." (Publishers Weekly)
"McEwan is as provocative, transporting, and brilliant as ever as he considers both our vulnerability and our strength, particularly our ability to create sanctuary in a violent world." (Booklist)

Great writing and great reader

McEwan relies more heavily on character development than plot in this tale of a day's events, but what great character development it is. The reader hits a great tone. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I'm with the fives

I don't usually write reviews but I felt I had to put my two cents into this curiously bimodal distribution. Ian McEwan is a brilliant writer and this story is quite engaging, although I have to say I don't think it is a book I would have read. But listening to it was very enjoyable. I found it almost hypnotic. It's hard to believe anyone could write the way McEwan does.

Luxury of time

The prose simple and approachable while simultaneously beautiful and elegant. This isn't a 'car chase with a big twist' - book.

The way Saturday comes across is 'matter of fact-ly' benevolent and non-judgmental. This perspective was entirely refreshing to me. I'd like the McEwan to write a day of my life - he seem like he's be able to find the kind of time to explore and examine a life that we may not be able to find for ourselves. It really is quite an amazing, luxurious point of view I simply loved.

It does have a very feminine sensibility. I can't really put my finger on it, but the tone of the whole book is very soft and feminine. It is a departure for me - when I think about it the other books I love, they tend to be very masculine and unforgiving. That being said, I would still include it among my favorite books - easily making into my Top Ten list.

My new favorite author.

One day in the life of one man - ordinarily you’d have to pay me to read such drudgery. But having read The Children Act I’ll read anything by McEwan. This one is even better. It’s not just exquisite writing; it’s a powerful meditation on life in the modern world.

Excellent

One day in the life of a neurosurgeon. Incredible detail. Great prose. Intriguing plot. Good ending. The only quibble I might have is the authors tendency to self indulge on some of section topics (eg the cooking, the squash game). But these are minor. The narrator is one of the best in the business.

Wonderful!

I've been an audible.com subscriber for nearly five years and have listened to over 200 books. This book is easily one of the 15 best. I absolutely loved it! I often use customer ratings and reviews to guide my purchases. When I got this book, there weren't any ratings yet. Now, there are several and to my surprise they are poor!

As a anesthesiologist/intensivist, I often cringe at medical inaccuracies in literature. Perhaps it takes a physician to appreciate this book, but I found it absolutely stunning in it's accuracy and the way the author uses details to build the main character. The plot is suspenseful and very engaging. I couldn?t set it down. I was absolutely convinced the author was an accomplished neurosurgeon, and was stunned when I went to his website (http://www.ianmcewan.com/) and found that he it not. I?m American, but work with many UK physicians and nurses. McEwan captures the British personality in so many ways. I absolutely loved this book!

Thought provoking

Much is crammed into the meaning of Saturday..it has many themes but basically life is a slow movement through consequences, choices,
chance, and aging. It is always moving toward change and ultimately oblivion. There were many metaphoric themes in this novel representing this process: Iraq war, Bexters illness and brutality, Daisy’s poetry and pregnancy, Lily’s Alzheimer’s, Henry’s decision to take some responsibility in the process and do what he can to salvage something for Baxter. Carolyn Jacobson

A good listen

I enjoyed the story and the performance. I gave it four stars because it is not a book that I “just couldn’t wait to get back to”; but a pleasant distraction all the same.

Wonderful

I loved this book so much I went out and bought a paperback after listening to the book. Great reader, the story moves at a pace that, as one of my friends said, makes you both dread the next lines and sit anxiously waiting for them. His coverage of the mind of a physician is as accurate as anyone could have done - physician or not. ( I am one, although not a neurosurgeon) It is a masterful reading, masterful book and one that will have endure well beyond the time in which it is set.

A thoughtful Inner dialog

This thoughtful book delves the inner thoughts of one man in a day in the post 9-11 world in London. Those who expect a thriller will be disappointed. Those who look for the author's trademark tight style and craftesmanlike prose, will be delighted, as I was.

The book convincingly addresses the meaning of life, equity, and integenerational relationships. This is NOT airplane reading ---indeed it starts off with a plane crash.

A great read though hyperbole (a charcter does an impossible number of surgeries in a day, etc) detracts a bit. It's thoughtful ruminating style colored with vague menace fit me perfectly.