Lessons

14 year old Roland has turned up at the doorstep of his former piano teacher's cottage, after failing to arrive when she invited him a while ago. It's the height of the Cuban missile crisis, and Roland fears the world is about to end, and he will die a virgin. Miss Cornell makes sure the latter is not the case. Afterwards she cooks a Sunday roast, and becomes possessive of the young boy, wanting him to live with her and stay in all day waiting for her.I found Roland indecisive and cowardly for much of the book, but my impression changed dramatically when he brought about two difficult confrontations that most people would shy away from, to their eternal regret.McEwan doesn't go so far as to blame Miss Cornell for Roland's inability to settle down. Roland is, after all, a Boomer, and this stoic breed is reluctant to cry PTSD or seek therapy. He went to a boarding school and was loved in a stiff and undemonstrative way.Instead Roland drifts through life and into marriage and parenthood, several jobs and several post war inflection points: the reunification of Europe is one, where he finds himself at the fall of the Berlin Wall, but bemused, as if he doesn't feel the significance.In addition to Roland's story, we learn about the lives of those close to him: his mother and her lifelong silence which has hidden a story of wartime shame, and his first wife Alissa, who abandons Roland and their son to fulfil her dreams of becoming a writer. The women are at the heart of the book. McEwan has always had an innate understanding of women and their emotions, one of the reasons that makes him such a compelling writer.McEwan isn't making any moral arguments or political points in Lessons. It's quite a gentle, compassionate read, described as old fashioned by some of the literary critics. But there's a lot to admire and like. I am, as always, humbled by McEwan's intellect and empathy.

Well...this was my first read of McEwan. I know he is considered a literary darling, and the 85p price tag was too good an offer to pass up and not give him a whirl. I thought the title of the book was somewhat loose and vague, but it really is the theme of the tale, from beginning to end. Life lessons, this time experienced by its protagonist, Roland Baines. I found the book sprawling in its reach and scope, the writing was nothing short of majestic. McEwan's writing is very unique in its style; I can't remember coming across anything similar before. It really made me ponder my own life experience, weighing it against Roland's. It also cemented my thoughts that there is no right or wrong way to lead a life; much of life has a life of its own and will proceed whether it's to your liking or not. That said, there's a huge amount of cause and effect where decision making is made, and that is certainly borne out by this story. It's a lengthy book that remained utterly engrossing to its end. A book I will recommend time and again I'm sure.

Unlike many of us, who, during the Covid lockdowns, did not venture beyond making bread and taking out the yoga mat, Ian McEwan wrote his 17th novel. As he comments in the accompanying note, there are many autobiographical elements, including his family history, and the timeline that his main character treads matches exactly his own. However, apart from being a family saga spanning 7+ decades it is also an account of many major political and socioeconomic events and changes as they have been experienced by him, his contemporaries and even his parents generation.Liking an author is obviously a subjective matter and not all works need to be equally appealing. So, to the point for this book. Written in three parts, representing roughly the main character's adolescence, middle and old age, there are sections, especially in the third part, that I found reflective and thoughtful and simply brilliant, and just about enough to justify my 4 (and not 3) stars. The narrative is not linear at all, going back and forth in time. This however, is not a superficial creative construct to tell the story but rather a means for the main character to revisit events and retrieve memories and look at his life from different perspectives, which I thought worked very well. The problem for me was large sections referring to events that either had nothing to do with the main character or were detailed to such extent that detracted from the main story. As much as I appreciate, and I think I understand, the intention of describing one's life (and "lessons learned") within the environment and everything else that takes place, lack of focus, especially in the first part of the book made me wonder where this was going .... and for a 500page book this is not a good feeling.Some final random thoughts: A strange choice to have two pivotal female characters, which McEwan clarifies that are fictional, as(a) a clearly disturbed young woman in her early twenties, a teacher in a boarding school, who sexually abuses a child and(b) a darker and angrier version of a Doris Lessing character who writes about people but cannot love or show compassion for anyone, not even her child.

WW2 to covid. The life of Roland an unusual boy and slightly unusual adult. It was a good read, but ruined for me by pedantic passages on music and literature which were way beyond adding to the narrative of the journey through an interesting life. I am slightly younger than Roland so most of the backdrop to his life was familiar to me , evoking happy and not so happy memories. I’m glad I read it, but overlong passages as above reduced my enjoyment.

I’m 75 around the same age as the author and the subject of the story - the book covers my lifetime in a rich evocative narrative setting my experiences within a comparative framework of historical events running parallel to the book. An outstanding piece of work - a riveting and often emotional experience. I loved it - it made me think deeply and feel strongly - completely involving.

Interesting to reflect on the way in which world events impact upon our lives and how early decisions can generate repercussions throughout our existence.