Sweet Tooth

By: Ian McEwan

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of such prestigious honors as the Booker Prize and Whitbread Award, Ian McEwan is justifiably regarded as a modern master. Set in 1972, Sweet Tooth follows Cambridge student Serena Frome, whose intelligence and beauty land her a job with England's intelligence agency, MI5. In an attempt to monitor writers' politics, MI5 tasks Serena with infiltrating the literary circle of author Tom Healy. But soon matters of trust and identity subvert the operation.

©2012 Ian McEwan (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

Tooth

It took way to long to develop. I was ready to quit many times. It became interesting with about 1.5 hours left. Nice use of language but I was relieved when it ended.

Jms

A fantastic and insightful story of truth, life and love. McEwan never disappoints!
Highly readable and breezy style.

glad I listened to the end

What made the experience of listening to Sweet Tooth the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the performances of the characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Sweet Tooth?

Loved the twist at the end , not expecting it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO, it dragged a bit until the turn in the plot.

Any additional comments?

I almost gave up on the book until I read a review that wasn't a spoiler but mentioned the twist in the book. Glad I stuck with it!

A Wonderful Escape!

It's not until the final chapter that you realize just how cleverly this plot is constructed.
What seems like a simple storyline turns itself inside out in the final pages. McEwan populates 1970s London with flawed, relatable characters, all more than a little self absorbed.

My only reservation lies in a few passages that become overly introspective and drag down the narrative. But even that is redeemed by insightful social commentary on the cold war era and the social and economic chaos of the period. It's a compulsive read I was sorry to finish.

Sweet tooth

WOW! The soft Cold War! The pomposity of Serena’s bosses!
It was a bit hard to get through but the the last passage in the last chapter blew me away!

Beautiful writing, but too much summarized

What made the experience of listening to Sweet Tooth the most enjoyable?

Juliet Stevenson is awesome. I've listened to many books she's narrated including Jane Eyre, To the Ligthhouse, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Middlemarch, Room with a View, and she reads beautifully in every one, including this one. And even though I'm kind of complaining in my review, Ian McEwan's writing in general is exquisite. I tend to read his work to help improve my own writing.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The end left me hanging. I'm still not sure that everything turned out fine or not because of that abrupt ending (and I don't want to spoil the ending, so I won't elaborate further). I think technically the choice of ending was fine, but as a consumer of this story, as an audience member, I felt it wasn't enough. I have general complaints about McEwan summarizing too much of his story instead of writing out more actual scenes because his tendency to summarize leaves me with little to visualize in my own head, so instead I'm sitting there processing information and waiting for the next scene... so with this ending... Imagine you're watching a movie of this, and it ends like that: would you be happy? I wasn't. I feel like I was cheated out of an ending. Abrupt endings are more appropriate for short stories. I feel novels need a longer wrap-up, and though I understand this ending is part of his interesting plot twist, I still would have liked to have visualized a final wrap-up scene at the end in my own head.

Any additional comments?

I was only in Chapter 5 when I started writing the following out of frustration: "Oh my god--only a high caliber literary writer like Ian McEwan can take a cool story idea like a young woman joining MI5 and make it dull in that achingly beautiful, dull way that literary writers with prestigious backgrounds like to do. I'm at 2:26:05, Chapter 5, and so far all I'm hearing is summary. He's writing a 1st person point of view that's almost entirely summarized. Even when he starts a passage with "One day..." he still ends up summarizing the day. I'm at the point that when there is an actual scene with some dialogue, I'm gulping down the words as if they were drops of water in a hot desert, and then when he moves on to more summary, I feel like I didn't get enough and I'm suffering with thirst, hoping for more water, more cool drops of dialogue and scene. It's frustrating that the best writers on the planet write with such thin plots. What's the deal?" Now that I finished the book, I have to admit that things do pick up as you get closer to the end when things start to unravel. If you want a cool spy novel, this isn't it. And it takes a really long time to get the story going. This is really a love story, and though I'm sure McEwan had to do some research on Mi5 to ground the story in reality, it's still a love story about a writer and a woman who loves literature, which means he's not straying too far away from writing what he knows.

Just not captivating

What was most disappointing about Ian McEwan’s story?

The main character was just dull. Not worth reading a book about.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator read the main character as a bit haughty, rather than crafty and cunning. The narration might have worked better if the character hadn't seemed like such a naif.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Nope.

Any additional comments?

If you liked Atonement, don't assume this will be enjoyable.

Decent story, good narrator

I guess this author likes to use literary devices, as the twists (games?) here are similar to what I've encountered in the (some-not all) other books I've read by this author. It is a spy story that isn't a spy story. A romance that isn't exactly a romance, either. Neither do any of the characters have stellar motives for their behavior, so it was difficult to "cheer" for anyone. The author uses another literary device within the narrative, to share some of his own, older short stories....which were, well, related to this novel - in a way. Some parts in the middle drag a bit, but, upon rewinding, I found that I hadn't missed anything truly important in those occasional lost minutes.
I thought some, not all, of the "button it all up" pieces of the plot at the end were a bit contrived, though - and I expected better from the author who gave us Atonement.
If my review sounds muddled, it's because I am still feeling unsure of how I feel about my reading experience - and this may be one of those books I never quite make up my mind about. The writer in me enjoyed this experience more than the reader, I think.
Great narrator, though- soothing tone accompanied by a lovely aristocratic British accent which worked very well with the story's actual narrator - and - all Americans find this type of British accent enchanting to listen to, right? If you like McEwan's other books, you will probably enjoy this one, too.

Oh, to write like Ian McEwan!

This was my first McEwan novel. As a spy novel, it wasn't what you might expect--no bombs or gadgets--but stick to the end for the plot twists. As for his prose, I'm envious at how he makes words so delicious. The narrator's performance also made this book a 5 star. I might buy a paper copy just to underline the brilliant sentences.

Great!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes... wonderful story!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tony Canning

What about Juliet Stevenson’s performance did you like?

She brought the story alive.

Any additional comments?

Story became a little slow 3/4's of the way through... but the ending makes up for it.