Having overlooked the
Atonement hype from years past,
Enduring Love is the first Ian McEwan novel I've picked up. I watched the film adaptation when it came out in 2004, and the versions differ enough to be enjoyed in any order without compromising the suspense of the plot. On a windy day in summer, Joe and his partner Clarissa are picnicking in the Chilterns when, along with a number of other bystanders, they are inadvertently swept up into a tragic accident involving a hot air balloon. Their calm, ordered, intellectual lives are shattered by the incident, Joe's in particular, for he soon after become the hapless victim of a stalker - Jed Parry. Jed suffers from an obscure psychosocial disorder known as de Clerambault's syndrome where he is driven to obsessed, religious love of Joe. Lacking support from Clarissa and the police, Joe spirals into a web of paranoia and mental degeneration as he attempts to deflect the increasingly sinister attentions of Jed.
McEwan's writing is sharp, tense and intelligent, and he delivers a rare clarity of insight, almost too good for the demands of his chosen genre. It was rewarding to witness a pompous navel gazer being brought to breaking point by an unhinged madman, and I flew through the pages faster than the wayward hot balloon of the novel. Compared with the film, which I felt improved some elements, the ending was quite anti-climactic. This was fine, considering McEwan is writing a realist book where people behave like real people, yet I still felt that the setup was rendered superfluous. A chapter where Joe goes to purchase a gun from a group of hippies was a low point and could have been omitted without losing much. This is a minor criticism, and compared with the last six months I wasted reading Proust,
Enduring Love was a riveting, well crafted thriller that I would definitely recommend to anyone. In fact, I wish I had invented the character of Jed.
Rating: 3/5
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