Another enjoyable one from McEwan. One of those books where everything you don't want to happen happens but you want to keep reading anyway. Some amazing moments of buildup and release of tension ('someone's in the wardrobe'). Morally interesting in the way McEwan always is: '...you will see that I am no different from you, that I am not evil, and that all along I acted only for what I took to be the best.' The main (pre-postscript) ending is quite quick and Leonard develops pluck and composure quite suddenly, but the rest of the twists and turns are elegantly and gradually constructed.

Şimdiye kadar okuduğum kitaplarına bakınca Ian McEwan’ın stabil bir yazar olmadığı kanısındayım. Çocuk Yasası ve Düello’da yakaladığı çıta , Cumartesi ve Masumiyet’te (bu kitabında) daha düşük seviyede. Ewan’ın bu romanı gerçek bir olayın içine tamamen düş gücünü kullanarak kurguladığı biraz polisiye, biraz casusluk, biraz aşk romanı niteliğinde bir roman.

Heyecan seviyesini hep canlı tutarak sade, kısa ve anlaşılır cümlelerle çok rahat okunan bir roman. Esas olarak insanın varoluşunu, olağan dışı şartlar karşısındaki uyumunu, psikolojik gerilimlerini anlatan bir öyküye sahip.

Berlin tüneli ile ilgili bilgilerle ilgileniyorsanız bu link size ilginç gelebilir. https://www.cia.gov/library/readingro...

I picked up Atonement on a whim not long after it had come out and was absolutely floored by what I'd read. And I was excited to have an author I could read their other works, and so I did. But--is this my 4th Ian McEwan novel?--nothing has come anywhere close to what he was able to do in writing Atonement. And The Innocent is probably my least favourite of the 4. I mean, am I surprised I didn't love a post World War 2/early Cold War story about an underwhelming (and vile) man? Not really. But I also know what McEwan is capable of.

2.5 stars

Una lettura... Boh?
È quasi matematico che quando ci troviamo nel periodo della Guerra Fredda, con personaggi ignari che hanno dei lavori tecnici che riguardano le comunicazioni per inglesi, americani o quant'altro - a maggior ragione in una Berlino divisa tra la parte inglese e la parte russa (prima della costruzione del Muro di Berlino) - la storia risulti piuttosto nebulosa, piena di doppiogiochisti che cercano di coprire le loro mosse.
Leonard Marnharm è il tipico bravo ragazzo inglese, un po' fessacchiotto, che si trova a partecipare al gioco dapprima in sordina, ed entrandoci poi in pieno a causa di qualcosa di più sordido. E la storia, banale in un primo momento, si trasforma in un incubo gory. Anche se io avevo dei sospetti su Maria e continuo ad averne anche dopo la lettura della sua lettera finale...

Muy bueno, sería una excelente material para cine. Claro que después de leer varios libros del autor, especialmente el último, se va pillando el autoplagio, como con los discos de Calamaro que finalmente son siempre los mismos en una experiencia diferente y no por eso menos maravillosa.
Las trama nos traslada en el tiempo a la época de los inicios de la guerra fría, tiempos que hoy nos parecen tan extraños, con amores potentes e inolvidables, inocencia y crecimiento, como el de nuestro amor a los 20 años cuando creíamos que era todo eterno. Entonces el giro Mceweniano total que te pone a sudar frío y el cierre en nostalgia. Un maestro.

A história de "O Inocente" passa-se em Berlim dos anos 50, sobretudo em torno de Leonard, um jovem inglês inexperiente, e Maria, uma alemã divorciada, metendo pelo meio muito suspense e alguma (pouca) espionagem, alguma História decorrente da ocupação da Alemanha e de Berlim pelos ingleses, franceses, americanos e russos.

Se gostei? Gostei, mas ainda continuo a gostar mais de "Expiação". "O Inocente" só me conseguiu prender mais às suas páginas a partir do momento em que a personagem de Maria entra na história e, depois mais adiante, já depois de ter lido mais de metade da obra, quando o passado desta e o regresso do seu ex-marido irá "mexer" com a vida de Leonard e o próprio desfecho.

Para além de não ter apreciado o modo como a história termina, senti que lhe faltou qualquer coisa... Qualquer coisa que mexa de tal maneira com as emoções do leitor, que torne a obra inesquecível. Isso não se verificou. Aliás, o mais próximo que estive disso foi quando Leonard e Maria decidem pôr termo, a sério, às aparições do ex-marido desta. À parte disso, senti que tudo me passou um pouco ao lado...! Sem grandes emoções, sem grandes sensações...

The book you think you're starting is utterly different from the book you finish. That is a compliment. First half is a Cold War thriller written by a more reserved John le Carre, second half is a black comedy of the most high-macabre, queasily tense variety. The Innocent doesn't quite reach the (ridiculously high) bar set by Amsterdam, and part of me misses the sustained sensitivity of books like Saturday (what? I liked it.), but there is plenty of the fine-grained observation we know and love -- the inner thoughts of a British curcuit operator watching two American servicemen play catch is the best rendering of the Anglo-American dynamic I've ever encountered, and that includes Orwell. I feel such pulsing affection towards McEwan and all his wonderful books, reading an early work is never not pure pleasure, like looking through the baby pictures of a dear friend you've only known as an adult. Really bloody, intense, awesome baby pictures.

"The innocent" werd in het Nederlands vertaald als "De Brief in Berlijn". Jammer, want "the innocent" vat het boek veel beter dan "de brief". Het eerste deel van het boek vond ik saai, maar halverwege krijgt het verhaal plots flink wat vaart. Ian McEwan schuwt wrede beschrijvingen niet, maar toch stopt hij hier een daar wat humor. Spanning en een streepje humor, ik heb het boek graag gelezen.

Books like this one are hard to describe. Having been familiar with Ian McEwan’s work already, I picked The Innocent out of a list of options for my seminar with the topic of Berlin. As the story is set in the 1950s, I’m not sure if McEwan ever experienced the destruction of the city himself, although it has been brought to my attention, that he seems to have spent some part of his childhood in Germany, but I haven’t yet managed to find any clear sources on that. However, it appears that he had a lot of help in his reconstruction of the city in the 50s through research and first-hand experiences of others (and has succeeded in doing so). Keeping this in mind, I would consider this book less as a (historical) spy novel and more as a book revolving around the loss of the subjective innocence, the human psyche itself, obsession in general and even a little bit the effects of war on the mindset of those who might have only played a passive part in it.

There is a big focus on the shy 25-year-old Brit Leonard, who is recruited to work at the American government project, which is disguised as a radio station, and his love affair with the slightly older German Maria, who is still haunted by her ex-husband. Within this relationship, Leonard completely rediscovers himself and “loses his innocence”, which is only the beginning of a chain of different terrible things to happen in the lives of both. While Maria unfortunately lacks a bit in the characterization department, especially the beginning of said relationship was a very nice read. Maria sending the message to “the young man with the flower is his hair” was a very nice touch and McEwan has a talent of describing sensual interactions without being too graphic and still adding some sense of elegance to it – unless he throws in some, as some might put it, mildly disgusting little details of juices and not showering. As off-putting as these might have come off to me due to me being hygiene-sensitive, they added a sense of realism.

There is a very particular scene during the first half that at first reminded me of a scene from Alfred Döbling’s Berlin Alexanderplatz. Fortunately, it developed very differently and left less of a bitter taste in my mouth than I had expected at first, but it did stick with me until the infamous thriller was introduced to the story. The before mentioned scene mostly felt like a preparation of what was to come. There are some very gruesome scenes included that are not for the faint of heart. I found myself quite surprised at the detailed description of some procedures, that I could really have done without. Looking back though, it caused the feeling of being included in it and experiencing the sheer terror that Leonard and Maria were going through during the last half of the story.

The aftermath of their gruesome act also led to one of the most interesting, and probably my favourite, chapter of the whole book. Mixing the conversation between Leonard and Maria with Leonard going after his day-to-day work while actually thinking back on said conversation, was exceptional and only added to the suspense of what was going to happen next.

The conclusion of the thriller section came unexpected and a little surreal. However, I really appreciated the post-script and I have to admit that it touched me in a weird way, that I hadn’t foreseen. It also added a somewhat warm ending to an otherwise quite depressing and sometimes gut-wrenching story, which was much appreciated.

In conclusion, this book suffered from a weak first half, which gave way to many horrid scenes, which ended up feeling pushed too close together in proximity. This big turn of events felt very sudden and caused a drastic change of pace, which fails to harmonize with the rest of the book. This really stood out to me while reading. Be that as it may, it does not take away from the fact that McEwans descriptions of personal change, trying to fit into a society of “manly men”, first (sexual) love, obsession over another person and finding out how far one is willing to take their actions, are exceptional – and he should be praised for that.

3.5/5 stars

Not at all impressed.

Another journalist looking to approach an event from an entirely different angle. Not many untouched angles available with this. So reaching far down into the barrel we pull out a rather messy, spoilt and smelly apple.

Yuck.

The only thing that redeemed this book from one star to two was the author's note on the last page, revealing that this fictional story was based very loosely on an actual MI6-CIA operation, with one character having actually lived. Apart from this tiny bit of truth it had no business calling itself a spy novel; what a laboriously, dreary waste of my time. The only reason I finished it so quickly was because I skipped over a dozen or so of the most boring descriptions of tunnelling and communications cables.

The protagonist himself is a loathsome little creature; a cowardly, adolescent little man whose inner darkness occasionally spills out into some despicable actions while he tries to figure out ways to ingratiate himself onto stronger characters. I could not like him, and felt terribly disappointed that McEwan ended it all with a note of hopeful expectancy for the end of this pathetic creature's life.

I wouldn't bother reading it if I were you.

Boring, pointless. The characters were flat and uninteresting; the romance was without chemistry and without meaning; the plot was underwhelming. The writing was nice, but without good characters or a compelling plot, what's the point? Two stars feels generous. Wouldn't recommend this one at all.