The last few publications were, at least, brief and slim affairs (in every sense) but this one is quite the opposite – a monster 500 page saga that attempts to span the key social and political events of what might be called the ‘boomer’ generation. However, I’ve had the feeling that his creative well had run dry half a dozen books back and when I purchased his most recent publication, Lessons, I wondered whether this might be the last I’m likely to invest in. McEwan is a storyteller at the peak of his powers and this deserves to be near the top of the “best books of 2022” list.I’ve been buying and reading the more recent of Ian McEwan’s novels out of a sort of loyalty to an author whose earlier work felt essential and relevant. There are other themes here McEwan explores in depth - from envy to ambition to what truly constitutes a life well-lived - but the pleasure in reading this novel is letting it wash over you. “We are all one with history now, subject to its whims,” thinks Roland as he weathers the pandemic, alone, cut off from family and friends.
Those historic markers put the very personal story of Roland’s life in perspective. And at the end, it’s present day, with COVID altering everyone’s lives. Later, as a young man before the birth of his son, Roland is at the Brandenburg gate when the Berlin Wall comes down. The wife who is missing at the start of the book has parents who were members of the White Rose resistance movement of World War II. The prospect of being “vaporized” in a nuclear blast spurs him to hop on his bike and answer a three-year-old invitation to stop by her house for lunch. The event that precipitates his affair with Miriam is the Cuban Missile Crisis. One of the joys of the novel is the way it weaves history into Roland’s biography as well as the lives of other characters in the book. It’s clear that this abusive and domineering relationship will define Roland’s life long after Miriam is no longer part of it. When he hits a wrong note, “her fingers found his inside leg, just at the hem of his grey shorts, and pinched him hard.” That first touch awakens something in Roland and years later he is still not yet old enough to drive but is drawn into a passionate sexual affair with Miriam.
Their private music lessons quickly become about much more than music.
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