1002. Saturday

Saturday
Ian McEwan
2005

Around 310 pages

If you have the excuse to use the word "penultimate," you take it, dammit. Seriously, I can't believe this is the second to last novel. More importantly, it's our last McEwan novel! He is one of my favorite authors, and the first order of business after finishing this List will be reading the rest of his works. Until then, here's the ranking:

1. Atonement

2. Saturday

3. Amsterdam

4. Enduring Love

5. The Cement Garden

6. The Comfort of Strangers

7. Black Dogs

8. A Child in Time

A Child in Time is only earning its spot because it wrecked me emotionally. I love all of these novels, and while Saturday couldn't quite dethrone Atonement, it came pretty damn close.

The story follows Henry Perowne, a 48-year-old neurosurgeon, on the day of February 15, 2003, the day of the demonstration against the invasion of Iraq, which was the largest protest in British history. I love stories that take place over the course of one day, and there were enough echoes of Mrs. Dalloway to make me very, very happy.

This wouldn't be the McEwan novel I would introduce new readers to, as it is a ponderous work that might strike some as pretentious or pompous. But I always love McEwan's style, pacing, and observations of family dynamics. And it made me want to play squash.

Thank you Ian McEwan, you were my port in a storm of really bad novels.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Translated into eight languages.

While researching the book, McEwan spent two years work-shadowing Neil Kitchen, a neurosurgeon at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London.

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