Ian McEwan Libros

En estos siete episodios exquisitos, Peter Fortune, un hombre adulto, nos revela el secreto de las metamorfosis y las aventuras de su infancia: Ian McEwan nos brinda una encantadora obra de ficción que se dirige por igual a niños, jóvenes y adultos. Peter es un niño de diez años a quien los adultos consideran problemático sólo porque vive inmerso en sus fantasías. Entre la ficción y la realidad, Peter experimenta fantásticas transformaciones y nos traslada a fascinantes universos: intercambia el cuerpo del gato de la familia por el de un niño malhumorado, lucha contra una muñeca diabólica que busca venganza, y descubre en un cajón una especie de crema facial que hace desaparecer a la gente. Y en la última historia se despierta como un niño encerrado en el cuerpo de un adulto, y se embarca en la aventura de enamorarse. Conmovedora, irreal y extraordinaria, esta novela es una celebración de la imaginación y la fantasía.

Con la publicación de este libro, que fue galardonado con el premio Somerset Maugham, Ian McEwan se convirtió en la revelación literaria inglesa de finales de los años setenta. Posteriormente, confirmó de sobra las esperanzas suscitadas. En los ocho relatos de Primer amor, últimos ritos, bajo las manipulacionesde McEwan la depravación puede enmascararse de inocencia y las mariposas pueden resultar siniestras. Con igual fuerza puede mostrar cómo la vida de un niñopuede ser arrasada por lo macabro o destilar las primeras sensaciones del primer amor, rastreando sus rituales iniciáticos, infundiéndoles una lujuriante imaginería sensual. Asociando lo insólito y la provocación, la ternura y un humor glacial, Ian McEwan nos revela la cara oculta de nuestros fantasmas y nos ofrece una visión diferente de nuestra vida cotidiana.

Tienen poco más de veinte años y se conocieron en una manifestación en contra de las armas nucleares. Florence es una chica de clase media alta, su padre es un exitoso hombre de negocios y su madre una activa profesora universitaria. Edward, en cambio, pertenece a una familia que apenas se sostiene en la zona baja de la clase media. Florence es violinista y Edward ha estudiado historia. Y ambos son inocentes y vírgenes y se aman. Es un día de julio de 1962, un año antes de que, según Philip Larkin, en Inglaterra se empezara a follar, cuando El amante de Lady Chatterley aún estaba prohibido, no había aparecido el primer LP de los Beatles y el tsunami de la revolución sexual no había llegado a esas costas.

Molly Lane ha fallecido a los cuarenta y seis años, dejando tras de sí a cuatro hombres clave en su vida: Clive Linley, un músico famoso; Vernon Halliday, un periodista y director de un gran periódico; George Lane, su multimillonario esposo; y Julian Garmony, un político de derechas y candidato a primer ministro. Clive y Vernon, amigos desde los años sesenta, fueron amantes de Molly en su juventud, mientras que George entró más tarde en su vida, convirtiéndose en su cuidador durante su deterioro mental. La relación de Molly con Garmony, representante de todo lo que Clive y Vernon despreciaban, es un misterio para ellos. Sin embargo, la verdad saldrá a la luz cuando George ofrezca a Vernon unas impactantes fotos de Garmony vestido de mujer, tomadas por Molly. Este descubrimiento desatará una feroz, cínica y mordiente fábula moral que explorará los secretos y las complejidades de sus relaciones. En este contexto, se revelarán no solo los vínculos entre los hombres y Molly, sino también las tensiones entre sus ideales y la realidad que los rodea.

Inglaterra, 1972. En plena Guerra Fría la joven estudiante Serena Frome es reclutada en Cambridge por el MI5. A partir de ese momento nada en su vida será lo que parece. Cada verdad oculta una mentira y detrás de cada lealtad se agazapa una traición. La misión que le encargan es crear una fundación para ayudar económicamente a novelistas prometedores, pero la verdadera finalidad es generar propaganda anticomunista. Y en su vida dominada por el engaño entra Tom Haley, joven escritor del que acabará enamorándose. Hasta que llega el momento en que tiene que decidir si seguir con su mentira o contarle la verdad, y será entonces cuando acaso se sabrá quién está engañando a quién. Esta deslumbrante novela se organiza como un ingenioso y perverso juego de muñecas rusas que atrapa y sorprende al lector con sucesivas vueltas de tuerca en las que realidad y ficción se funden y confunden. El autor se sirve de una trama de espionaje con toques de thriller para construir una historia en la que indaga el choque entre la lealtad y la traición, el amor y la redención, la honestidad y el engaño, la literatura y la realidad.

Named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review and The Washington Post What is it like to be a brain surgeon? How does it feel to hold someone’s life in your hands, to cut into the stuff that creates thought, feeling and reason? How do you live with the consequences of performing a potentially lifesaving operation when it all goes wrong? With astonishing compassion and candor, leading neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reveals the fierce joy of operating, the profoundly moving triumphs, the harrowing disasters, the haunting regrets and the moments of black humor that characterize a brain surgeon’s life. Do No Harm provides unforgettable insight into the countless human dramas that take place in a busy modern hospital. Above all, it is a lesson in the need for hope when faced with life’s most difficult decisions.

Rose Blanche was the name of a group of young German citizens who, at their peril, protested against the war. Until the tide of the war turns and soldiers in different uniforms stream in from the East, and Rose and the imprisoned children disappear for ever .

Matt Ridley, acclaimed author of the classics Genome and Nature via Nurture, turns from investigating human nature to investigating human progress. In The Rational Optimist Ridley offers a counterblast to the prevailing pessimism of our age, and proves, however much we like to think to the contrary, that things are getting better.

On the hottest day of summer in 1934, Briony Tallis sees her older sister Cecilia strip off and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is her childhood friend, Robbie Turner. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have changed for ever: Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed an unimagined boundary, and Briony will have committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

Travel is no longer a luxury and not always an entertainment. Many journeys need to be made‹to get home or away from an enemy, to work, to find a last resting place, or because someone has told you to go. This issue of Granta is about such journeys; you might call it necessary travel writing, with Decca Aitkenhead: looking for cheap sex and drugs; Manuel Bauer: a child¹s escape over the Himalayas; Isabel Hilton: what have they done to Beijing?; Ian Jack: the train crash that stopped Britain; Ryszrd Kapuscinski: in the forests of Cameroon; Ian McEwan: on the retreat to Dunkirk, 1940; John Ryle: the last Emperor makes his last journey; Dayanita Singh: inside a sanctuary for girls in Benares; Simon Winchester: how Britain and the US made a people homeless; plus the untold story of how the FBI pursued James Baldwin at home, revealed by James Campbell. Granta is the paperback magazine of new writing. Every issue features the best new fiction, reportage, memoir and photography, generally collected under a theme.

"Or Shall We Die", an oratorio commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, concerns the arms race and our future. Ian McEwan, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award for his collection of short stories, "First Love, Last Rites" is also the author of "The Cement Garden".

Few authors in contemporary English literature are as significant as Ian McEwan. Over his forty-year career, he has produced remarkable works such as Atonement, Amsterdam, and Enduring Love. His books are distinguished by precise prose, an atmosphere of suspense, and surprising twists that challenge readers until the end. Recently, his literature has emphasized the defense of scientific rationality against religious fundamentalism, a central theme in this narrative. The protagonist, Fiona Maye, is a High Court judge specializing in Family Law, known for her "divine impartiality and devilish intelligence." However, her professional success contrasts with personal failures, including regret over not having children and a troubled marriage. After her husband leaves, Fiona faces the case of Adam Henry, a seventeen-year-old boy with leukemia who needs a blood transfusion, but whose family, Jehovah's Witnesses, resists the procedure. The dilemma extends beyond the judicial decision, as Fiona, while advocating for rationalism, finds herself unexpectedly moved by Adam, a cultured and sensitive young man, prompting her to reflect on her life and emotions.

Saturday, February 15, 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man - a successful neurosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind, and proud father of two grown-up children. Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window of his bedroom and filled with a growing unease. As he looks out at the night sky, he is troubled by the state of the world - the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11, and a fear that his city and his happy family life are under threat.Later, as Perowne makes his way 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. But it is not until Baxter makes a sudden appearance as the Perowne family gathers for a reunion, that Henry's fears seem about to be realised.

Compulsively readable... McEwan's prose keeps its cutting edge and his books are the ones the reading public still crave... A masterly balance between research and imagination... One feels an immediate pleasure in returning to prose of uncommon clarity, unshowiness and control The Times

**The Number One Sunday Times bestseller** A Daily Telegraph / Guardian / Irish Times / Spectator / Sunday Times / The Times Book of the Year Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home - a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse - but not with John. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb. Told from a perspective unlike any other, Nutshell is a classic tale of murder and deceit from one of the world's master storytellers.

The story begins on a windy spring day in the Chilterns when the calm, organized life of Joe Rose is shattered by a ballooning accident. The afternoon, Joe reflects, could have ended in mere tragedy, but for his brief meeting with Jed Parry. Unknown to Rose, something passes between them - something that gives birth in Parry to an obsession so powerful that it will test to the limits Rose's beloved scientific rationalism, threaten the love of his wife, Clarissa, and drive him to take desperate measures to stay alive.

Leonard Marnham is assigned to a British-American surveillance team in Cold War Berlin. His intelligence work--tunneling under a Russian communications center to tap the phone lines to Moscow--offers him a welcome opportunity to begin shedding his own unwanted innocence, even if he is only a bit player in a grim international comedy of errors. Leonard's relationship with Maria Eckdorf, an enigmatic and beautiful West Berliner, likewise promises to loosen the bonds of his ordinary life. But the promise turns to horror in the course of one terrible evening--a night when Leonard Marnham learns just how much of his innocence he's willing to shed.

In "Vintage Living Texts", teachers and students will find the essential guide to the works of Ian McEwan. It is unique in that it offers an in-depth interview with Ian McEwan, relating specifically to the texts under discussion. This guide will deal with McEwan's themes, genre and narrative technique, and a close reading of the texts will provide a rich source of ideas for intelligent and inventive ways of approaching the novels.

Stephen Lewis, a successful author of children's books, takes his 3-year-old daughter on a routine Saturday morning trip to the supermarket. While waiting in line, his attention is briefly distracted. What ensues causes Lewis to spiral into a bereavement that has effects on his relationship with his wife, his psyche and possibly time itself. Winner of the 1987 Whitbread Prize for Fiction.

When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, 11-year-old Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. 2000 miles from his mother's protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade. Now, when his wife vanishes, leaving him alone with his tiny son, Roland is forced to confront the reality of his restless existence. As the radiation from Chernobyl spreads across Europe, he begins a search for answers that looks deep into his family history and will last for the rest of his life. Haunted by lost opportunities, Roland seeks solace through every possible means - music, literature, friends, sex, politics and, finally, love cut tragically short, then love ultimately redeemed. His journey raises important questions for us all. Can we take full charge of the course of our lives without causing damage to others? How do global events beyond our control shape our lives and our memories? And what can we really learn from the traumas of the past?

Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like this one, two lovers will be tested beyond their understanding. Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first batch of synthetic humans. With Miranda's assistance, he co-designs Adam's personality. This near-perfect human is beautiful, strong and clever - a love triangle soon forms. These three beings will confront a profound moral dilemma. Ian McEwan's subversive and entertaining new novel poses fundamental questions- what makes us human? Our outward deeds or our inner lives? Could a machine understand the human heart? This provocative and thrilling tale warns of the power to invent things beyond our control.

The first novel by the Booker Prize-winning author of Amsterdam. In the relentless summer heat, four abruptly orphaned children retreat into a shadowy, isolated world, and find their own strange and unsettling ways of fending for themselves.

A powerful drama of passion, obsession and tragedy from one of Britain's greatest living writers.

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here Set in Venice, two unsuspecting tourists, Colin and Mary, are vulnerable prey for those who know their way around. When searching for a restaurant, the couple encounters a polite man called Robert, who offers help, and then they enjoy a night of story telling and drinking. Yet somehow they will meet him again and become drawn into a fantasy of violence and obsession.

In 1946, a young couple set off on their honeymoon. Fired by their ideals and passion for one another, they plan an idyllic holiday, only to encounter an experience of darkness so terrifying it alters their lives for ever.

VINTAGE GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human

"Jim Sams has undergone a metamorphosis. In his previous life he was ignored or loathed, but in his new incarnation he is the most powerful man in Britain – and it is his mission to carry out the will of the people. Nothing must get in his way: not the opposition, nor the dissenters within his own party. Not even the rules of parliamentary democracy."--Publisher description.

Ranging from the Arctic Circle to the deserts of New Mexico, 'Solar' is a serious and darkly satirical novel, showing human frailty struggling with the most pressing and complex problem of our time. It is a story of one man's greed and self-deception

The second collection of blazingly original short stories from Booker prize-winning, Sunday Times-bestselling author Ian McEwan. A two-timing pornographer becomes the unwilling object of one of his victim's vengeful fantasies. A millionaire buys himself the perfect mistress – passive, yet beautiful – but the union soon becomes a nightmare of jealousy and despair. And an ape reflects on the relationship with a young female writer, mourning their fading love and musing on the fateful deceptions of art. In these seven stories of dream-like lucidity, the wasteland of the human psyche is mapped with deadly precision. ‘Resonant and frightening...totally original’ Observer ‘Exact, tender, funny, voluptuous, disturbing’ The Times

'One of the finest writers alive' Sunday Times 2014- A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no copy has yet been found. 2119- The lowlands of the UK have been submerged by rising seas. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. Tom Metcalfe, a scholar at the University of the South Downs, part of Britain's remaining archipelagos, pores over the archives of the early twenty-first century, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the great lost poem, revelations of entangled love and a brutal crime emerge, destroying his assumptions about a story he thought he knew intimately. A quest, a literary thriller and a love story, What We Can Know is a masterpiece that reclaims the present from our sense of looming catastrophe, and imagines a future world where all is not quite lost. 'A true master' Daily Telegraph 'McEwan is one of the most accomplished craftsmen of plot and prose' New York Times

All'età di tredici anni, in un caldo giorno d'estate del 1935, Briony Tallis sente di essere diventata una scrittrice. La sera stessa, accusando di un crimine odioso un innocente, commette l'errore che la segnerà per tutta la vita. Eppure la giornata era iniziata sotto i migliori auspici. C'era la commedia da mettere in scena, i cugini arrivati dal nord per trascorrere qualche tempo in casa Tallis, e da Londra era atteso l'amatissimo fratello Leon con un amico, industriale della cioccolata. Soltanto la sorella maggiore Cecilia impensieriva Briony, con quel suo misterioso rapporto che la legava a Robbie Turner, il figlio della loro donna di servizio. Tutti i personaggi entrano in scena ma, nella commedia della vita, non ci sono prove prima della recita e ogni gesto assume un carattere definitivo. Presto, sarà troppo tardi per fermare la macchina dell'ingiustizia e la guerra arriverà a spazzare via il vecchio mondo con le sue raffinate ipocrisie.

Иэн Макьюэн – один из авторов «правящего триумвирата» современной британской прозы (наряду с Джулианом Барнсом и Мартином Эмисом). Его «Амстердам» получил Букеровскую премию. Русский перевод романа стал интеллектуальным бестселлером, а работа Виктора Голышева была отмечена российской премией «Малый Букер», в первый и единственный раз присужденной именно за перевод. Двое друзей – преуспевающий главный редактор популярной ежедневной газеты и знаменитый композитор, работающий над «Симфонией тысячелетия», – заключают соглашение об эвтаназии: если один из них впадет в состояние беспамятства и перестанет себя контролировать, то другой обязуется его убить…

Sous la canicule qui frappe l'Angleterre en ce mois d'août 1935, la jeune Briony a trouvé sa vocation : elle sera romancière. Finsi les contes de fées et les mélodrames de l'enfance. Du haut de ses treize ans, elle voit dans le roman un moyen de déchiffrer le monde. Mais lorsqu'elle surprend sa grande sœur Cecilia avec Robbie, fils de domestique, sa réaction naïve aux désirs des adultes va provoquer une tragédie. Trois vies basculent et divergent, pour ne se recroiser que cinq ans plus tard, dans le chaos de la guerre, entre la déroute de Dunkerque et les prémices du Blitz. La brutalité du réel va faire mûrir Briony. Mais est-il encore temps d'expier un crime d'enfance ? Prolongeant une grande tradition anglaise, celle de Lawrence et du Messager, tout en s'interrogeant sur les pouvoirs et les limites du romancier, Ian McEwan restitue, avec une égale maîtrise, les frémissements d'une conscience et les rapports de classes, la splendeur indifférente de la nature et les tourments d'une Histoire aveugle aux individus. Peintre admirable de la fragilité du bonheur et de la douleur du souvenir, il nous livre, avec Expiation, son roman le plus abouti.

Nel 2119: il mondo è sommerso, l'Europa è un paesaggio insulare, la libertà e la ricchezza del nostro presente sono un sogno lontano. Il letterato Thomas Metcalfe cerca una poesia perduta di fama mondiale. Il poeta Francis Blundy l'ha dedicata nel 2014 a sua moglie Vivien e l'ha recitata solo una volta. Tra le tracce lasciate dalla famosa coppia, Thomas scopre un amore segreto, ma anche un crimine. Ian McEwan delinea magistralmente un futuro in cui non tutto è perduto.

Ian McEwan betrachtet die Geschichte der Wissenschaft als faszinierende Saga, die intellektuellen Mut und Inspiration vereint. In brillanten Essays untersucht er das Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Literatur sowie die Verbindung zu unserer menschlichen Natur, illustriert durch Figuren wie Darwin, Einstein und Turing.

Nezničitelná láska, román z roku 1997, pojednává o obyčejných lidech v neobyčejných situacích. Vše začíná tragickou nehodou v balonu, jíž se Joe Rose – nosná postava příběhu – marně snaží zabránit. V této chvíli se setkává s Jedem Parrym, jenž se stává třetím v podivném lidském trojúhelníku – Rose, jeho žena Clarissa a Parry. Příběh vypráví, jak obyčejný člověk, lapený do sítě bludů jiného člověka, může být přiveden až na okraj šílenství a vraždy.

Berlino, inverno 1955: il tempo della guerra fredda, il tempo delle spie. Nelle viscere della città devastata si lavora all'"Operazione Oro", lo scavo di un tunnel al confine con la zona russa, allo scopo di immettersi sulle frequenze telefoniche sovietiche ed intercettare i messaggi operativi: un progetto ardito e pericoloso a cui collaborano la Cia e l'M16, i due servizi segreti alleati ed al tempo stesso rivali. In un simile clima di tensione e sospetto prende avvio la vicenda di Leonard, timido tecnico inglese coinvolto nel progetto spionistico, e Maria, donna tedesca, esuberante e desiderosa di vivere: una struggente storia d'amore e di iniziazione ai sensi ed alle emozioni. Un genere classico, la spy - story, reinventato da McEwan in un crescendo di orrore che a poco a poco dilaga sino all'esplodere della tragedia, ineluttabile e cruenta come un mito greco.

Anappara creates an endearing and highly engaging narrator to navigate us through the dark underbelly of modern India' Observer We children are not just stories. We live. Come and see. Nine-year-old Jai watches too many reality cop shows, thinks he's smarter than his friend Pari (even though she always gets top marks) and considers himself to be a better boss than Faiz (even though Faiz is the one with a job). When a boy at school goes missing, Jai decides to use the crime-solving skills he has picked up from episodes of Police Patrol to find him. With Pari and Faiz by his side, Jai ventures into some of the most dangerous parts of the sprawling Indian city; the bazaar at night, and even the railway station at the end of the Purple Line. But kids continue to vanish, and the trio must confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force and soul-snatching djinns in order to uncover the truth.

Les voies qui mènent à la découverte de la sexualité sont multiples, comme le prouvent ces histoires dont les héros sont souvent des enfants. Mais l'innocence enfantine peut cacher des réserves de dépravation insoupçonnées, et du besoin d'amour naît parfois la pire perversité. Toutes ces nouvelles parlent d'amour, de son excès ou de son absence, du désir et de ses frustrations, de ses fantasmes, de ses délires sadiques ou masochistes... Le mal rôde sous le masque de la banale réalité quotidienne ; même les papillons à l'occasion deviennent sinistres... Insolites et insolentes, provocatrices, hautement originales, les nouvelles de Ian McEwan surprennent toujours, choquent parfois ; elles représentent un tour de force de concision et d'humour noir.

Het is 1935. Briony en Cecilia Tallis, twee zussen uit een rijke Engelse familie, brengen met hun familie de zomer door op een landgoed. Het lijkt een normale hete zomerdag te gaan worden, maar als Briony haar zus en hun vriend Robbie bespiedt bij de fontein van het landhuis krijgt dit voorval door haar verbeeldingskracht grote gevolgen. Als later op de dag een misdaad gepleegd wordt beschuldigt ze Robbie hiervan. Dit heeft desastreuze gevolgen en verandert het leven van alledrie voorgoed.

Nell'inverno del '55 Berlino è ancora devastata nel corpo e nel cuore. È il tempo della guerra fredda, il tempo delle spie. Nella vita di Leonard Marnharm, il giovane tecnico inglese protagonista di questo romanzo, il "tunnel di Berlino" rappresenterà il luogo, reale e metaforico, di un viaggio apparentemente senza fine negli abissi dell'esistenza. L'amore di Leonard per la tedesca Maria ha dapprima un sapore dolcissimo, ma c'è ancora nell'aria come un morbo latente di violenza, di disfacimento, che a poco a poco invade i pensieri, i gesti, le azioni quotidiane. Nel momento cruciale della sua esistenza, Leonard appare sopraffatto da una forza e da un orrore che lo trascendono.

"À l'étroit dans le ventre de ma mère, alors qu'il ne reste plus que quelques semaines avant mon entrée dans le monde, je veille. J'entends tout. Un complot se trame contre mon père. Ma mère et son amant veulent se débarrasser de lui. La belle, si belle Trudy préfère à mon père, John, poète talentueux en mal de reconnaissance et qui pourtant l'aime à la folie, cet ignare de Claude. Et voilà que j'apprends que Claude n'est autre que mon oncle : le frère de mon père. Un crime passionnel doublé d'un fratricide qui me fera peut-être voir le jour en prison, orphelin pour toujours ! Je dois les en empêcher." Il y a quelque chose de pourri au royaume d'Angleterre du XXIe siècle? Après L'intérêt de l'enfant, Ian McEwan n'en finit pas de surprendre et compose ici, dans un bref roman à l'intensité remarquable, une brillante réécriture d'Hamlet in utero.

Fin da ragazzi, Parker e Jocelyn hanno condiviso letture, progetti e ambizioni letterarie, forgiando un'amicizia destinata a durare. Le loro carriere hanno preso strade opposte: Jocelyn ha raggiunto un improvviso successo, mentre Parker ha vissuto un rapido declino, con una famiglia numerosa e un lavoro da insegnante, i suoi pochi libri ormai dimenticati. Nonostante le loro vite si siano drasticamente separate, continuano a considerarsi "una famiglia". Tuttavia, tutto cambia quando Parker trova il dattiloscritto dell'ultimo romanzo di Jocelyn nella sua casa. Leggendolo, si rende conto che è il migliore che Jocelyn abbia mai scritto e potrebbe garantirgli la posterità. La tentazione di appropriarsi di quell'opera diventa irresistibile. Ma cosa significa davvero essere "io" o "lui"? Secondo una prospettiva cara ai romanzieri, l'io è un "racconto incessantemente riscritto", una "storia che raccontiamo a noi stessi". Così, se la biografia si sdoppia - con lo scrittore di successo contrapposto all'everyman travolto dal quotidiano - anche il racconto dell'io può sdoppiarsi, permettendo che tra le pagine di un unico romanzo si consumi il crimine perfetto.

Enttäuscht von Los Angeles, beschließt ein englischer Schriftsteller, Abschied zu feiern. Er trifft sich mit seinen Freunden – einer feministischen Buchhändlerin, einem frustrierten Schürzenjäger und einem Partyzubehörverleiher – zu ein paar Drinks. Was sich als gemütlicher Abend anläßt, wird schon bald zum Alptraum.90

Hochsommer, die alte Stadt ist von Touristen überschwemmt. Auch das Liebespaar Colin und Mary, das kein Liebespaar mehr ist, macht hier Urlaub. Sie machen sich sorgfältig zurecht für ihren Dinnerspaziergang durch die Stadt; und dann lauert im Labyrinth der beklemmend engen Gassen ein Minotaurus auf sie. Die Kanäle haben Gegenströmungen, die Lagune ungeahnte Tiefen.

Michael Beard aurait tout de l’antihéros pathétique (boulimique, chauve, bedonnant, il est proche de la soixantaine et son cinquième mariage est sur le déclin) s’il ne s’était vu décerner le Prix Nobel de physique. Croyant que son heure de gloire est derrière lui, il végète en faisant de vagues recherches sur les énergies renouvelables, et c’est par ailleurs un coureur de jupons invétéré. Mais voilà qu’il rencontre un étudiant, Tom Aldous, qui prétend avoir trouvé la solution pour lutter contre le réchauffement climatique. Contre toute attente, cette rencontre va remettre Michael Beard en selle. Celui-ci décide de se rendre au pôle Nord et à son retour, il va de surprise en surprise. Non seulement il trouve Aldous installé chez lui (il est flagrant qu’il est devenu l’amant de sa femme) ; mais lorsque Beard lui demande de quitter les lieux, Aldous glisse malencontreusement, sa tête heurte le coin de la table et il meurt. Beard se débrouille alors pour faire accuser Tarpin, l’amant « officiel » de sa femme, lequel écopera de 18 ans de prison. Dans le même temps, Beard compulse les notes qu’Aldous avait laissées pour lui. Il se les approprie et parcourt le monde de conférence en conférence en prônant cette thèse d’avant-garde, mais ne tarde pas à se voir traité d’imposteur et de plagiaire par son propre centre de recherche, désireux de récupérer le brevet… Comme souvent chez McEwan, trajectoire individuelle et destin collectif sont indissociables : de même que l’état de la planète sert de toile de fond pour mettre en scène les déviances de Michael Beard et le pousser dans ses derniers retranchements, les errements du physicien représentent autant de signes avant-coureurs de l’apocalypse annoncée. Le comique du début cède la place à une ironie absolue, le divertissement à la parabole. Beard, qui devait sauver la planète du désastre écologique, apparaît pour ce qu’il est : un prédateur narcissique incapable d’accepter la moindre frustration. Malgré ses promesses répétées de se réformer, il remet sans cesse au lendemain et court à sa perte. Comme l’humanité. Le dernier sommet de Copenhague rend d’une actualité « brûlante » ce roman, sans doute l’un des plus intelligents et des plus narquois de Ian McEwan.

England, im Juli 1962. Das frisch vermählte Paar Florence und Edward sitzen in der Hochzeitssuite eines Landhaushotels in Chesil Beach beim Abendessen. Beide sind verkrampft. Das Naheliegendste sprechen sie nicht an: Die Hochtszeitsnacht steht bevor.