Books on the Nightstand discussion

Ian McEwan will be on Charlie Rose tonight.

thank you!!!!!

Lmj wrote: "Ian McEwan will be on Charlie Rose tonight."

Thank you, LMJ!

I saw the interview and enjoyed it a lot. I loved his rapport with Rose. I also loved that he started talking about what "published prose" he thought was near perfect and quoting the Philip Larkin poem.

What a great interview. I want to have him over for dinner! I really enjoyed the discussion of "the perfect novel" etc. -- maybe a podcast topic, what do you think?

For those of you who missed it, you can watch it here: http://www.charlierose.com/view/inter...

Linda, thanks again for the heads-up.

Do not choose Attonement.MY 25 year old daughter and my(51) year old self did not care for it.Slow going and not much happens.Never really got to caring about the characters.I collected several of his books but am letting a little time pass before attempting another one.Which one is his best novel?Of course not every book appeals to all!Would like to hear other peoples opinions.

Oh, where to start with Ian McEwan is a tough one. I usually say either Atonement or Saturday, as both are good representations of McEwan's later writing style, though the two are completely different.

If you've got a stomach for the gritty and horrifying, The Comfort of Strangers is brilliant.

I have a hard time choosing, really. I also loved On Chesil Beach, but I will warn you ahead of time that you need to read slowly and deliberately, because it's a small book that is easy to speed through, but you miss much of the wonderfulness that way.

I loved Atonement and I'm looking forward to reading Enduring Love, which I bought a couple of months ago. Ann, you have me intrigued with your description of The Comfort of Strnagers, so I just added it to my TBR list!

I read three books by Ian McEwan and I really loved them all: On Chesil Beach, Amsterdam, Enduring Love. I wish I could write like that... (really wishful thinking).
Ann, your enthousiasm for The Comfort of Strangers has made me put in on my TBR list!

Ann, McEwan will be speaking at Middlebury (VT) College on Tuesday night! I screamed when I saw the piece in the newspaper! Hoping to get in, I WILL elbow students to worm my way into the crowd! Will let you know how I do. I knew you'd be excited, any chance you're in the area that day?

Oh Chris, you have no idea! I am frantically trying to rearrange my schedule, because even though McEwan is not going to be signing books after the talk, he will sign some ahead of time at the bookstore. Which means that I could actually be in the same room with him and just a few other people for 1/2 an hour!

I don't think it's going to work out, though, and I'm so sad! :)

Ann wrote: "Oh Chris, you have no idea! I am frantically trying to rearrange my schedule, because even though McEwan is not going to be signing books after the talk, he will sign some ahead of time at the book..."

Shoot! It would be wonderful to meet in person, I'll have to wait until April! ;-) If things change, do let me know!

I've been wanting to read an Ian McEwan for a while after hearing Ann rave about him on the podcasts. I currently only own two of his books - On Chesil Beach and Atonement. Which one would you suggest I start with? I'm inclined to start with On Chesil Beach, purely because it's the shorter of the two, but I'd be interested in your opinions. Or, is there another of his books that I really should start with? I could always pick something else up from the library.

Kirsty, I'd say start with Atonement. You'll either love it or hate it. If you love it, you'll want to move on immediately to On Chesil Beach. If you hate Atonement, I can tell you that On Chesil Beach is different and deserves to be read anyway. :)

Haha :) Great, thanks Ann. I have another library book to read after my current one, but Atonement will be next on my list!