Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

In itself, the accident would change the couple and the survivors' lives, filling them with an uneasy combination of shame, happiness, and endless self-reproach. But fate has far more unpleasant things in store for Joe. Meeting the eye of fellow rescuer Jed Parry, for example, turns out to be a very bad move. For Jed is instantly obsessed, making the first of many calls to Joe and Clarissa's London flat that very night. Soon he's openly shadowing Joe and writing him endless letters. (One insane epistle begins, "I feel happiness running through me like an electrical current. I close my eyes and see you as you were last night in the rain, across the road from me, with the unspoken love between us as strong as steel cable.") Worst of all, Jed's version of love comes to seem a distortion of Joe's feelings for Clarissa.

Apart from the incessant stalking, it is the conditionals--the contingencies--that most frustrate Joe, a scientific journalist. If only he and Clarissa had gone straight home from the airport... If only the wind hadn't picked up... If only he had saved Jed's 29 messages in a single day... Ian McEwan has long been a poet of the arbitrary nightmare, his characters ineluctably swept up in others' fantasies, skidding into deepening violence, and--worst of all--becoming strangers to those who love them. Even his prose itself is a masterful and methodical exercise in de-familiarisation. But Enduring Love and its underrated predecessor, Black Dogs, are also meditations on knowledge and perception as well as brilliant manipulations of our own expectations. By the novel's end, you will be surprisingly unafraid of hot-air balloons, but you won't be too keen on looking a stranger in the eye. --Alex Freeman

Average Customer Rating:

'Enduring Love' as an A level text

Customer Rating:

I had to read this book for my English Literature Exam which is in two weeks time. I had been led to believe by my Literature teacher, a mother of a friend and also a friend that the book is fantastic. My dislike started with reading the very first page. It is slow and uses to many 'time shifts' and there is too much examination - I can understand that McEwan does this so that the narrator is 'proven' to be a scientist and not a natural, Literature novelist, however, the detail that McEwan extends to is unnecessary and makes the story incredibly boring. It was actually so bad that I gave up half way through and read three other books (which I enjoyed thoroughly) instead of reading what I had to for the exam. I eventually pushed on and the ending (the last three chapters and appendix 2, not including appendix 1) was much more exciting because action was taking place - not only constant re-visiting and talking. Overall, this book only gets two stars because of the incredibly slow pace and detail that is incredibly boring to a reader who wishes to read Literature - not about scientific analysis, experiments or debates (for example at one point McEwan writes about a smile for a whole page). It's only redeeming features are; an interesting ending (when it changes to a more crime thriller which it subverts) and the actually plot of a male stalker.

Beautiful but strange

Customer Rating:

There's absolutely no denying Ian McEwan has an incredible writing ability, if you've read Atonement you'll know this all too well! The way in which he makes you engage with the characters is incredible, you really really know how they feel. The only downside I'd say is that the story is a bit bizarre - no plot spoilers but - it wasn't the most believable idea for a plot. If you like his writing style then I'd say definitely buy this book, but if you're more into a really good story then its a bit farfetched..

Disappointing

Customer Rating:

After reading (and watching!) Atonement, I expected that Enduring Love would be good. Boy, was I wrong. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm studying it for A Level English Literature or what but this book is the most boring and unimaginative book ever written. McEwan goes into too much detail in pretty much every description he makes, and I just lose interest. I can't actually read a page of that book without glazing over. Yeah, the first chapter was alright, I'll give him that, but when you use the same, long-winded, dull and time-wasting technique, it turns into torture. There's such a good plot and a brilliant idea that appears to be really creative, however McEwan takes the imaginative idea and turns it into something so scientific and when you read literature, you don't want to read a science book, you want to read something beautifully written and captivating!! Overall, Enduring Love was actually awful and the worst book I have ever read in my life. It is boring, dull, uninteresting, long-winded, tiring and just plain bad. I normally like a book, in some way or another but this book is just unlikeable and horrible! McEwan has usually written so beautifully, so where did that go?? It certainly isn't in this horrendous book and frankly, it shouldn't be bought. Borrow it from your local library before you do buy it so you can see for yourself. If I weren't studying english lit that book would be at the dump right now. I cannot stand it.

Close study reveals hidden depths	Customer Rating:
My class is sudying this for A Level coursework and under close analysis it's really interesting and thought provoking. Ian McEwan introduces thoughtful ideas and clever points about life and human nature. I felt it also worked as a novel for entertainment but not as well because the plot is not exactly fast-paced. IMPORTANTLY if you do read it, also read the Appendices at the end...

Good plot if you can find it in the drivel

Customer Rating:

The overall plot was really enjoyable and well written. However, the majority of the novel was made up of pointless waffle. I actually got to the point where I was skimming the less interesting bits (which in places was several pages at a time) and don't feel that I missed out anything at all of importance. If McEwan had just stuck to the basic plot and not tried to seem impressive by talking about irrelevant topics then I would have given this 5 stars