Title: Saturday

Author: Ian MacEwan

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher: Anchor

Format: Paperback

Pages: 289

Rating: 3/5 stars

*Warning: mature content. Parents please be advised.*

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Saturday, February 15, 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man, a successful neurosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind and the proud father of two grown-up children, one a promising poet, the other a talented blues musician. Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window of his bedroom and filled with a growing unease. What troubles him as he looks out at the night sky is the state of the world, the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11 and a fear that his city, its openness and diversity, and his happy family life are under threat.

Later, Perowne makes his way to his weekly squash game through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors. A minor car accident brings him into a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive young man, on the edge of violence. To Perowne’s professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him.

Towards the end of a day rich in incident, a Saturday filled with thoughts of war and poetry, of music, mortality and love, Baxter appears at the Perowne home during a family reunion, with extraordinary consequences.

Review:

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it dealt with a very important and intriguing topic, and was quite exciting at parts, and then on the other hand some parts dragged on way too long!!

The book follows the Saturday of Henry Perowne, a neurosurgeon living in London in 2003. At this time, the British government is deciding whether to go to war in Iraq. There are demonstrations on the streets rallying against the war, and there are others, like Perowne, who sees the war as the bringing down of tyrant! I loved the multiple perspectives that this book brought out, and the argument Perowne has with his daughter about the war brought to light many arguments people still have over the reasons the west went into Iraq after 9/11.

What I didn’t like was how the book seemed to drag on with unnecessary descriptions of things. Granted this book was covering a single day, so I should have expected for it to drag on a bit! The writing was good, I just got bored in some places! And then there was a bunch of drama near the end, that while enjoyable in a “omg what’s happening” kind of way, the drama didn’t really link well with the premise of the story, in my opinion. I loved Atonement by this author, and was looking forward to reading another book of his. I’m not quite sure I would recommend this book, unless you enjoy slower paced books that really delve deep into a character’s thoughts!

Happy Reading Bookworms!