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Solar

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Book details

  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Jonathan Cape
  4. Publication date
    18 Mar. 2010
  5. Dimensions
    16.2 x 3 x 24 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0224090496
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0224090490
  8. See all details
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Michael Beard is a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. A compulsive womaniser, Beard finds his fifth marriage floundering. But this time it is different: she is having the affair, and he is still in love with her.

When Beard's professional and personal worlds collide in a freak accident, an opportunity presents itself for Beard to extricate himself from his marital mess, reinvigorate his career and save the world from environmental disaster.

Ranging from the Arctic Circle to the deserts of New Mexico, SOLAR is a serious and darkly satirical novel, showing human frailty struggling with the most pressing and complex problem of our time.A story of one man's greed and self-deception, it is a profound and stylish new work from one of the world's great writers.

Review

`a novel that promises comedy as well as crisis' --The Guardian

`McEwan has already aired extracts ... and the warmth, humour and zest of the book were unmistakable'
--Sunday Times

"Sizzling lucidity distinguishes this enormously entertaining novel... poised between the heart-warming and heart-stopping... scarcely a page fails to dazzle." -- The Sunday Times

"... in Solar, [McEwan] shows... a puckishness, a broadness of humour, an extravagance of style - that we haven't seen before."
-- Spectator

"From an early stage, [McEwan's] sumptuously textured language rested on a flair for finely engineered design." --The Independent

"McEwan is in many ways the closest thing we have to a national novelist... [Solar] will come to be regarded as a classic." --Daily Telegraph

"Vivacious and sprawling, a beautifully and compellingly written novel...McEwan's achievement is the brilliant creation of a flawed, larger than life character who all but walks off the page to shake your hand." --The Times

"This is an absorbing, accomplished, instructive, and very funny novel bye one of fiction's most fecund minds." --Country Life

"McEwan's reputation as one of Britain's greatest living writers remained safely intact." --Sunday Express

"McEwan excels at climate science but his protagonist makes you shudder." --The Observer

"he's green and he should be read." -- The Observer The Observer

"A sensitive study of selfishness versus altruism" --Mail on Sunday Live Magazine

"an ambivalent, comic picaresque of cunning and subtle wisdom ... McEwan's established readers will enjoy it, as will everyone else, not only for the humour but for many moments of eerie truth" --Irish Times

"...the overarching plot pulls off a clinching novelistic coup, using comedy to sneak grimmer matters past the reader's defences." --The Guardian Review

"Climate-change comedy that's every bit as brilliant as its title suggests" --Sunday Times: Culture

"A sharp, satirical tale" --Grazia

"among the best and most entertaining of McEwan's books" --The Lady

"This is an entertaining book and there are, as always, exquisite moments of observation" -- The Tablet

"the best Ian McEwan I've read so far" -- Farm Lane Books blog

"reliably entertaining" -- Literary Review

`masterful prose' --Time Out

`...avoids the problem of how to dramatise an emotive area of science by... effectively deploying a sly streak of comedy.' --Metro

"Solar has an engagingly direct, bleakly comic view of science and scientists. It also convinces." --TLS

`superbly written... Solar radiates joy from start to finish and is never less than entertaining. --Tatler

`Fascinating' --The Spectator

'A Booker contender, for sure' -- Cara- Enjoy Your Flight

Excellent...the turn here is new and interesting. -- The New Yorker Review, Michael Wood

The science doesn't take over the story, but it gives it necessary body and depth. -- Booktrust.org.uk

McEwan has researched his topic thoroughly and environmentalists will find much to enjoy here. -- The Environmentalist, Reviews

Solar raises a fundamental, and tropical, point - how we race (or slowly plod) to reverse climate change. -- Booktrust.org.uk

Ian McEwan's venture into comedy for his latest novel, Solar, is a triumph. -- The Environmentalist, Reviews

`I love just about all the books of his... his latest novel, which I'm reading now, is every bit as good as his previous work.' -- Daily Express, Gerald Scarfe

`McEwan's first overtly comic novel promises sunshine on several fronts'
--Independent

`McEwan is on top form in an exuberant and comic tale'. --The Sunday Times

`Human beings are frail, Mother Nature is implacable - and old McEwan is as bleakly entertaining as ever.' --The Times

`Hugely entertaining and the deserved winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction'
--Tatler

`Absorbing, comic and hugely enjoyable.'
--Daily Express

'Blazing with imaginative and intellectual energy, Solar is a stellar performance.' --The Sunday Times, Peter Kemp

About the Author

Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of seventeen books. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; and Machines Like Me, which was a number-one bestseller. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.

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Ian McEwan
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Ian McEwan is a critically acclaimed author of short stories and novels for adults, as well as The Daydreamer, a children's novel illustrated by Anthony Browne. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His other award-winning novels are The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award, and Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize.

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Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
1,154 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book's humor entertaining and well-written. They praise the writing quality as beautiful and vivid. The book is praised for its intelligent writing and serious appreciation of science. However, opinions differ on readability, storyline, and character development. Some find the book engaging and well-researched, while others consider it disappointing and unlikable.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
HumorWriting qualityIntelligenceReadabilityStorylineCharacter development
HumorWriting qualityIntelligenceReadabilityStorylineCharacter development
29Customers mention
24Positive
5Negative

Customers enjoy the book's humor. They find it funny, witty, and engaging. The dialogue is amusing and the turn of phrase is enjoyable. Many readers laugh out loud at the slapstick moments and find the book entertaining.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...His dialogue is amusing, and there are numerous well-honed and sparkling set pieces, though one of these is lifted (albeit with attribution) from..." Read more

"...brilliantly told by McEwan, with marvelous set pieces and lots and lots of humour, none of it absolutely malevolent. He (and we) have been there...." Read more

"...The story was quick to get into and McEwan's humour came across well, with many slapstick moments, as well as several subtler wry scenes too...." Read more

"...This latest confection is notable in two ways. First of all it is hilareously funny...." Read more

23Customers mention
21Positive
2Negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book. They find the science writing marvelous and vividly described. The story is beautifully told, with witty accuracy, drawing in great minds. The comedy is written in the highly recognisable style of Ian McEwan.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...It's rarely been clear just how beautifully McEwan writes - the pages are so easy to breeze through and his turn of phrase is so enjoyable...." Read more

"...His dialogue is amusing, and there are numerous well-honed and sparkling set pieces, though one of these is lifted (albeit with attribution) from..." Read more

"...I think his science writing is absolutely marvelous - he knows his stuff, can elucidate it brilliantly, can have an indecisive "internal parliament"..." Read more

"...The McEwan elements are there: well wrought sentences, the delaying of explanation to puzzling moments, the plot's synecdoche...." Read more

16Customers mention
14Positive
2Negative

Customers appreciate the book's intelligence. They find it well-researched, with a serious appreciation of science. The author is knowledgeable and can elucidate scientific details brilliantly. While some found the main character tedious, they found the scientific details seamlessly integrated into the story.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...McEwan, in contrast, is rare among novelists in having a serious appreciation of science, and in arguing that scientific ignorance is nothing to be..." Read more

"...The career and internal life of this middle class male is brilliantly told by McEwan, with marvelous set pieces and lots and lots of humour, none of..." Read more

"...Brilliant scientists - and he is after all supposed to be one - are obsessed with their work. That's how they get to be eminent...." Read more

"...The science and the economics are interesting, and McEwan has managed to weave them into Beard's points of view and reasons for action without..." Read more

46Customers mention
31Positive
15Negative

Customers have different views on the book's readability. Some find it interesting and enjoyable, while others find it disappointing and boring with unlikable characters.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...change - all are carried along by McEwan's fluent style and result in a fine novel...." Read more

"...favourite polar bear rug-related death in all fiction, plus an excellent scene featuring a man on a snowmobile freezing his privates off to risk a..." Read more

"...McEwan is let down by his central character who is unlikeable and unconvincing. "..." Read more

"...But otherwise, it was an enjoyable read." Read more

37Customers mention
18Positive
19Negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the storyline. Some find it engaging with a fast-paced narrative and side-splitting humor. Others feel the plot is not original, predictable, and not smooth.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...He (and we) have been there. There are also the most amazing twists to the narrative - you could have knocked me down with a feather several times -..." Read more

"...The character flaws, the comic excess, the challenge of tracing a nimble plot through the narrative stodge of climate change - all are carried along..." Read more

"...I'm glad I did, for I thoroughly enjoyed this. The story was quick to get into and McEwan's humour came across well, with many slapstick moments, as..." Read more

"...But I found the ending rather predictable, and the comedy sort of slowed down for me at that point...." Read more

22Customers mention
8Positive
14Negative

Customers have different views on the character development. Some find the characters clever, rounded, and believable with real weaknesses. Others find the main character unlikable, tiresome, and flawed.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...The character flaws, the comic excess, the challenge of tracing a nimble plot through the narrative stodge of climate change - all are carried along..." Read more

"...has shown himself highly capable of creating gripping plots and rounded characters...." Read more

"...by McEwan's design a cad, but also, by design, excruciatingly tiresome being for a lead character...." Read more

"...There is also an amoral aspect to his character which allows him to do the unthinkable without thought or regret. A deeply unpleasant man...." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Sphex
    5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Catheters of ceaseless traffic and the hot breath of civilization
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 April 2010
    Given Michael Beard's less than endearing list of personal weaknesses - he's a junk food junkie, a fat, lazy, greedy slob, and a serial adulterer with an impressive collection of five failed marriages - you could be forgiven for thinking that Ian McEwan has a rather... See more
    Given Michael Beard's less than endearing list of personal weaknesses - he's a junk food junkie, a fat, lazy, greedy slob, and a serial adulterer with an impressive collection of five failed marriages - you could be forgiven for thinking that Ian McEwan has a rather low opinion of scientists, were it not that he also makes Beard "unaccountably attractive to certain beautiful women". In any case, how we conduct our personal lives does not necessarily reflect how well we do our jobs, and McEwan's award of a Nobel prize in physics (for the Beard-Einstein Conflation) to his central character sets Beard at the top of his profession, except that we also learn that he's done nothing since. The tiny vehicle of Beard's talent "had hitched a ride behind the juggernaut of a world-historical genius". This man of science, who "had an automatic respect for internal consistency", is himself a mass of contradictions. The character flaws, the comic excess, the challenge of tracing a nimble plot through the narrative stodge of climate change - all are carried along by McEwan's fluent style and result in a fine novel.

    Ah, that word narrative. To Beard, people "who kept on about narrative tended to have a squiffy view of reality". He's wary of anyone interested in the "epic story" of climate science, when for him all that matters is the science. Even more squiffy is the postmodern "Nancy Temple tendency" to see science as "just one more belief system, no more or less truthful than religion or astrology". The Ms Temple in question, as well as believing that genes did not enjoy an independent existence and were, "in the strongest sense, socially constructed", took exception to Beard's suggestion, on the basis of good scientific evidence, that there were differences between the brains of men and women.

    She resigned from a committee rather than share a platform with the odious Beard. In a subtle parallel, many years earlier, Maisie, his first wife, had resigned from their marriage rather than share his objectivity. "There were other ways of knowing the world, women's ways, which he treated dismissively." Maisie and Ms Temple separately express anti-science ideas, absurd enough in isolation, undermined even further by the delicious contradiction between them when placed side by side.

    Maisie was studying English literature. Beard boned up on Milton to have something to talk about, and it worked, although the marriage that followed did not. She was not about to return the compliment and go dewy eyed over the Ricci scalar. No third-year arts person could have done what Beard did. "The traffic was one-way. His Milton week made him suspect a monstrous bluff... He suspected there was nothing they talked about there that anyone with half a brain could fail to understand... And yet they passed themselves off as his superiors..." Thirty-odd years later, he finds himself on board a ship in the Arctic, among the grown-up versions of those students, artists and idealists hoping to understand climate change. He "was among scientific illiterates and could have said anything" but didn't. A novelist called Meredith does the reverse. Forgetting there's a physicist present, he pontificates on Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and the moral sphere.

    The fictional Meredith plunders science for jargon to impress his gullible peers. The real McEwan, in contrast, is rare among novelists in having a serious appreciation of science, and in arguing that scientific ignorance is nothing to be proud of, but a massive missed opportunity for anyone who claims to be interested in the world. Science matters because it's how we find out about the world. That said, this is still a novel and not a textbook: it's about the character of Michael Beard and not a biography of his scientific career. McEwan is a skilful storyteller and scientific details work their way in seamlessly: at one point Beard wonders whether he will ever wear the dressing gown worn by his wife's lover, which reminded me of the psychologist Bruce Hood's Fred West cardigan (Supersense: From Superstition to Religion - the Brain Science of Belief), and the decision-making mind is described "as a parliament, a debating chamber", which reminded me of a passage in Jonah Lehrer's (The Decisive Moment). These ideas are always germane to plot and character and don't require the reader to go and look anything up. Indeed, many readers may not even realize they've just consumed a scientific concept. (Given his character's and McEwan's respect for internal consistency, it's a surprise to find, within a few lines, "useful tailwind... cutting headwind". This is the minutest exception to the usually clear and lucid prose.)

    In the early stages of writing this novel, McEwan had the honour of addressing a meeting attended by several science Nobel laureates, where he felt like the intellectual equivalent of an after-dinner mint. There is a flavour of this modesty in a reflection he gives to his own fictional laureate: "There were novels Aldous wanted him to read - novels!" (Seldom has a single exclamation point had such reflexive charm!) Michael Beard - discoverer of the Beard-Einstein Conflation, pioneer of artificial photosynthesis, would-be climate change hero - almost certainly wouldn't get round to reading this novel, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should follow his example.
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  • emma who reads a lot
    4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Surprising and very funny, but went a bit weak towards the end
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2010
    This book was such a nice surprise. If you think of Ian McEwan as being a novelist of tormented stalkers, baby-snatchers and incestuous lovers, think again. This book is actually funny. Featuring my new favourite polar bear rug-related death in all fiction, plus an... See more
    This book was such a nice surprise. If you think of Ian McEwan as being a novelist of tormented stalkers, baby-snatchers and incestuous lovers, think again. This book is actually funny. Featuring my new favourite polar bear rug-related death in all fiction, plus an excellent scene featuring a man on a snowmobile freezing his privates off to risk a wee in minus 40, with delicate reverential shades of Dumb and Dumber.

    The main character, Michael Beard, provides most of the book's humour. A Nobel-prize-winning physicist, he is such an egomaniac that he manages to commit evil act after evil act, without ever realising that he's doing it. The book is being seen as having 'green' credentials, but it makes such a mockery of the rush to capitalise (literally) on climate change, that you find yourself wondering whether McEwan's own position is sceptical... (In fact, this book made me think a lot of Dickens, where there's humour in the characters who are striving to deal with modern life, be it domestic waste or railway shares.)

    It's rarely been clear just how beautifully McEwan writes - the pages are so easy to breeze through and his turn of phrase is so enjoyable. But I found the ending rather predictable, and the comedy sort of slowed down for me at that point.

    Still, a complete change from him as a novelist, so thoroughly delightful to see McEwan experimenting with this new flavour in his work. And to meet the grotesque Michael Beard in such cringey and entertaining detail....
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Diacha
    3.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Light Reading
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 March 2010
    With "Solar," Ian McEwan takes on the comic novel as well as the mega topic of anthropogenic climate change. The result is entertaining and at times thought provoking, but it is not wholly successful. McEwan is let down by his central character who is unlikeable and... See more
    With "Solar," Ian McEwan takes on the comic novel as well as the mega topic of anthropogenic climate change. The result is entertaining and at times thought provoking, but it is not wholly successful. McEwan is let down by his central character who is unlikeable and unconvincing.

    "Solar" revolves around Michael Beard, whom we are told won a Nobel Prize for physics in 1972 for discovering the "Beard-Einstein Conflation'" a breakthrough in the field of... oh never mind. Beard's story is told in three episodes. The first finds him in 2000 at the age of 53. He is living of his past fame, harvesting seats on commissions and visiting lectureships and serving as part-time chairman of the National Centre for Renewable Energy. He is 15 lbs overweight. His marriage to his fifth wife is falling apart as a result of, unusually, her, rather than his, affair. A bizarre accident involving - with appropriate irony - a polar bear rug presents Beard with the double opportunity to avenge himself on an adversary and steal some intellectual property.

    The second episode advances to 2005. Beard is now 35 lbs overweight. He is involved with Melissa, a comforting woman determined to have his baby. He is working frantically to develop "his" new theory of artificial photosynthesis and has become famous all over again.

    In the final episode, we reach 2009. Beard, now 65 lbs overweight, is on the brink of the commercial launch of "his" invention at a site in New Mexico. He is also shacked up in a trailer home with a fifty-something waitress named Darlene. The sins and excesses of his past begin to catch up.

    "Solar," thankfully, is not a polemic on global warming. Certainly, all the familiar arguments are paraded out, but these are counterbalanced by Beard's shallow agnosticism: "In fact, greenery in general - gardening, country rambles, protest movements, photosynthesis, salads - was not to his taste." The epigraph also gives us a clue that Beard's chronic inability to control his appetites stands as a metaphor for humanity's inability to make short term sacrifices for the longer term good. As for the physics, McEwan scatters references to science like raisins. The novel contains a clever wink at this. We learn that while at Oxford, Beard boned up on Milton as a step in his seduction of a third year English student. He smugly reflects on how easy it was for a physicist to bluff his way through the English major's territory whereas the reverse would be unimaginable. However, McEwan makes a good fist of it here.

    McEwan makes an easy transition to comedy. His signature plot device of the game-changing accident - the mistaken letter in "Atonement," the balloon incident in "Enduring Love", the polar bear rug accident in this book- plays well in comedy. His dialogue is amusing, and there are numerous well-honed and sparkling set pieces, though one of these is lifted (albeit with attribution) from Douglas Adams and another recycles the real life experience of Larry Summers' fatal transgression against feminist correctness. There is wonderful satire, too, of environmentalist luvvies, postmodern critics and American fast food culture among other targets.

    The novel's two flaws - which do not render it at all unreadable - are its episodic structure, for the three parts do not fit together seamlessly, and its central protagonist. Beard is not likeable and he is not credible. He is unconvincing as a Nobel laureate, lacking the strength of intellect, character or presence that one would expect. Nor is he compelling as a womanizer - unless Dr K was mistaken and the ultimate aphrodisiac was not his power but his gong. Beard comes from the same cast as some of the characters in Updike, Roth, Amis Père, even Tom Sharpe. Above all, he made me think of David Lodge. Lodge would have created a Beard who was more appealing and more self-insightful. Indeed, I suspect Lodge could have written this novel better than McEwan.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • E. Clarke
    5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    fat slob triumphs
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2011
    Michael Beard is a Nobel laureate who over indulges in food, drink and sex, with the result of which, at sixty two he is - still determinedly over-endulging in food drink and sex. He may even have died just before disaster strikes of a heart attack as two women and one... See more
    Michael Beard is a Nobel laureate who over indulges in food, drink and sex, with the result of which, at sixty two he is - still determinedly over-endulging in food drink and sex. He may even have died just before disaster strikes of a heart attack as two women and one child rush forward to claim him as their best beloved. Not a bad way to go, and perhaps he represents the best possible future for the (equally) self-indulgent population of this increasingly sick. The career and internal life of this middle class male is brilliantly told by McEwan, with marvelous set pieces and lots and lots of humour, none of it absolutely malevolent. He (and we) have been there. There are also the most amazing twists to the narrative - you could have knocked me down with a feather several times - and the drive is maintained to the last page (or nearly the last - not sure what the appendix was about).
    In amongst this, McEwan deals expertly with almost the whole range of contemporary concerns - from broken families to global warming to the processes of corporte capitalism. I think his science writing is absolutely marvelous - he knows his stuff, can elucidate it brilliantly, can have an indecisive "internal parliament" on all of it, and weave it seemlessly into the main narrative. Almost every funny episode can be read as an illustration of some salient on-going scientific debate - most obviously about climate change, but also about the basic human constraints on the scientific enterprise. (Here come the PhDs on the boot room scenes!)I imagine he will disappoint those who expected a more valiant banner to be raised in favour of action of climate change. For me the science was real, the scientist was real and vividly described. This is a brilliantly entertaining book.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Simon Whaley
    4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Accessible McEwan
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 July 2010
    I've tried to read McEwan's Atonement, but got 'stuck' about the third of the way through. I know I'll pick it up again, but I need to be in the right mood to read literary works. This experience put me off from buying Solar, but the reviews about its... See more
    I've tried to read McEwan's Atonement, but got 'stuck' about the third of the way through. I know I'll pick it up again, but I need to be in the right mood to read literary works. This experience put me off from buying Solar, but the reviews about its humour were enough to encourage me to give it go.

    I'm glad I did, for I thoroughly enjoyed this. The story was quick to get into and McEwan's humour came across well, with many slapstick moments, as well as several subtler wry scenes too.

    My only complaint is its structure. This novel is split into three parts. There are no chapters. Finding a convenient place to stop reading was a little difficult! But otherwise, it was an enjoyable read.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Lili
    2.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Climate anti-climax
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 April 2010
    I am a McEwan fan (of Atonement and Chesil Beach in particular) so I was looking forward to reading Solar, especially as it promised to be about climate change, and McEwan has written more intelligently than most on this subect. But what a terrible disapointment this novel... See more
    I am a McEwan fan (of Atonement and Chesil Beach in particular) so I was looking forward to reading Solar, especially as it promised to be about climate change, and McEwan has written more intelligently than most on this subect. But what a terrible disapointment this novel is. And what a waste of good reading time. What a waste of Ian McEwan's writing time, too.
    Boy, how he blew it.

    Solar is a comedy. An odd approach to climate change, perhaps, but in fiction, anything goes if you can make it work. The trouble is, McEwan can't. Only one line made me laugh. (When a hefty naked girl parks herself on the central character's lap, he wincingly notes: 'such beauty is not weightless'.) But overall, it just isn't very funny, and I found myself skip-reading because I was simply getting bored. When it comes to the finely-turned sentence, McEwan remains unrivalled. But fine writing isn't enough.

    In previous books McEwan has shown himself highly capable of creating gripping plots and rounded characters. But Solar's central character, Beard, is an odious cypher and I didn't believe in him for a micro-second. Brilliant scientists - and he is after all supposed to be one - are obsessed with their work. That's how they get to be eminent. McEwan is more interested in describing Beard's tedious sexual appetites and his penchant for junk food than his thoughts on science. So bang goes any hope of learning anything useful, or feeling moved. The comedy is flat and embarrassing, and the novel's 'climax' is a dull, damp implausible squib.

    For anyone who hasn't read McEwan before, I'd suggest they skip this one. Despite being a fine stylist he is an uneven writer on the narrative and structural level, and this is one of his creakiest plots yet.

    What a shame to see such a huge and important topic handled so clumsily.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • Prof M. Baum
    5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    An unforgetable literary anti-hero is invented
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 May 2010
    I confess to being a great fan of Ian McEwan and as fast as he writes is as fast as I read. This latest confection is notable in two ways. First of all it is hilareously funny. I read in on a transatlantic crossing and embarrassed my wife by laughing out loud on a number of... See more
    I confess to being a great fan of Ian McEwan and as fast as he writes is as fast as I read. This latest confection is notable in two ways. First of all it is hilareously funny. I read in on a transatlantic crossing and embarrassed my wife by laughing out loud on a number of occassions. Secondly the anti-hero, Michael Beard, is an invention that will stand the test of time and I predict will find his way into our folk memory like Mr Pickwick, Falstaff and Billy Bunter. The episode of Professor Beard's artic journey and a ski mobile almost had me wetting my pants. At times I thought the author had created my avatar, same name and initials, same age, some body morphology,losing his mother at an early age from breast cancer, a famous professor who had won international prizes for his science, same love of scotch whiskey, same bad dress sense; yet in two important ways his character was rotated 180 degrees around mine in that I'm obssessionaly tidy and loyaly monogamous, whilst the fictional Michael is a slob with 5 ex wives and quite a bit on the side as well.Yet throughout the fast paced narrative and side splitting humour McEwan teats the subject of green energy with serious erudition and the description of the decline and fall of Prof Beard is an exercise in true pathos.
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  • NB
    4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Interesting
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2021
    The main character in this book made me feel angry with his selfishness, but it was interesting to get under the skin of such a disagreeable personality. I was hoping that the consequences of the injury gained peeing in the cold might have caused some reflection on the... See more
    The main character in this book made me feel angry with his selfishness, but it was interesting to get under the skin of such a disagreeable personality.
    I was hoping that the consequences of the injury gained peeing in the cold might have caused some reflection on the womanising, but was left a bit confused. Did it grow back like an axolotl limb? Or did I misunderstand what happened?
    Enjoyable read, but not my favourite title by this author.
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  • Anirban Ghatak
    5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Satisfactory
    Reviewed in India on 28 September 2024
    I'm satisfactory.
    I'm satisfactory.

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  • Sara
    2.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Ew
    Reviewed in Italy on 24 December 2022
    CHE DIAVOLO HO APPENA LETTO?? Ho dovuto leggere questo libro per un corso universitario e pensavo sarebbe stato quello che più mi avrebbe preso e più mi sarebbe piaciuto. Il professore, il primo giorno del corso, aveva descritto questo libro come "la storia di uno...See more
    CHE DIAVOLO HO APPENA LETTO?? Ho dovuto leggere questo libro per un corso universitario e pensavo sarebbe stato quello che più mi avrebbe preso e più mi sarebbe piaciuto. Il professore, il primo giorno del corso, aveva descritto questo libro come "la storia di uno scienziato che scopre come risolvere l'innalzamento della temperatura, però è una storia divertente!". Lo è stato? Non direi... "Solar" segue il nostro protagonista, Michael Beard, mentre racconta la sua vita, i suoi problemi con il cibo, le donne (che sotto sotto disprezza e ha una misoginia interiorizzata terrificante) e i "suoi" pochi studi di fisica. Fin dal principio, Beard ammette che è da anni che non si aggiorna nel suo ambito, ammette di non essere una persona perfetta, ma ciò non mi ha fermato ad odiare pesantemente il suo personaggio. L'unica cosa vera è che ci sono alcune parti divertenti, ma non poi così tanto, mentre altre penso sarebbero dovute essere divertenti nel 2010, ma non lo sono più adesso. Il finale è stato abbastanza prevedibile, a parte un minuscolo colpo di scena. Sicuramente, non è un libro che rileggerò.
    CHE DIAVOLO HO APPENA LETTO??

    Ho dovuto leggere questo libro per un corso universitario e pensavo sarebbe stato quello che più mi avrebbe preso e più mi sarebbe piaciuto. Il professore, il primo giorno del corso, aveva descritto questo libro come "la storia di uno scienziato che scopre come risolvere l'innalzamento della temperatura, però è una storia divertente!". Lo è stato? Non direi...
    "Solar" segue il nostro protagonista, Michael Beard, mentre racconta la sua vita, i suoi problemi con il cibo, le donne (che sotto sotto disprezza e ha una misoginia interiorizzata terrificante) e i "suoi" pochi studi di fisica. Fin dal principio, Beard ammette che è da anni che non si aggiorna nel suo ambito, ammette di non essere una persona perfetta, ma ciò non mi ha fermato ad odiare pesantemente il suo personaggio.
    L'unica cosa vera è che ci sono alcune parti divertenti, ma non poi così tanto, mentre altre penso sarebbero dovute essere divertenti nel 2010, ma non lo sono più adesso. Il finale è stato abbastanza prevedibile, a parte un minuscolo colpo di scena.
    Sicuramente, non è un libro che rileggerò.

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  • Pete Shields
    5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Honesty, humour and description
    Reviewed in Australia on 20 July 2019
    So very observably funny, human with incredible and unique descriptive passages. Funniest book i have read. Roger is like your best mate. London becomes your city.
    So very observably funny, human with incredible and unique descriptive passages. Funniest book i have read. Roger is like your best mate. London becomes your city.

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  • ABB
    5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Tragischer Held unserer Zeit..
    Reviewed in Germany on 7 November 2013
    ...oder Nobelpreisträger und selbsterklärter Weltretter mit zerrüttetem Privatleben. Ein echter Ian McEwan eben. Die Geschichte von einem, der Höhen und Tiefen meistens Letztere, irgendwie gelassen durchsteht und dabei immer irgendwie eine Partnerin zur Seite hat, die er,...See more
    ...oder Nobelpreisträger und selbsterklärter Weltretter mit zerrüttetem Privatleben. Ein echter Ian McEwan eben. Die Geschichte von einem, der Höhen und Tiefen meistens Letztere, irgendwie gelassen durchsteht und dabei immer irgendwie eine Partnerin zur Seite hat, die er, wenn überhaupt immer zu spät schätzen und lieben lernt. Die scheinbar über ihn hereinbrechenden Tragödien und Schicksalsschläge sind bei genauem Hinsehen eigentlich nur zeitverzögerte Spätfolgen des eigenen Handelns und damit hausgemacht. Menschliche Unzulänglichkeiten vor der Kulisse einer globalisierten Welt, die sich immer schneller selbst abzuschaffen scheint. Am Ende scheitern, wie es kommen muss, zwei Parallelbeziehungen weil sich der Held, welcher nur nimmt und nie wirklich gibt, glaubt vor Entscheidungen drücken zu können. Gleichzeitig tauchen die verdrängten Dämonen der Vergangenheit auf und zerstören innerhalb eines Spätnachmittags sein Lebenswerk. Alles verloren, die Weltrettung fällt leider aus..
    ...oder Nobelpreisträger und selbsterklärter Weltretter mit zerrüttetem Privatleben.
    Ein echter Ian McEwan eben. Die Geschichte von einem, der Höhen und Tiefen
    meistens Letztere, irgendwie gelassen durchsteht und dabei immer irgendwie eine
    Partnerin zur Seite hat, die er, wenn überhaupt immer zu spät schätzen und lieben lernt.
    Die scheinbar über ihn hereinbrechenden Tragödien und Schicksalsschläge sind bei genauem Hinsehen eigentlich nur zeitverzögerte Spätfolgen des eigenen Handelns und damit hausgemacht. Menschliche Unzulänglichkeiten vor der Kulisse einer globalisierten Welt, die sich immer schneller selbst abzuschaffen scheint. Am Ende scheitern, wie es kommen muss, zwei Parallelbeziehungen weil sich der Held, welcher nur nimmt und nie wirklich gibt, glaubt vor Entscheidungen drücken zu können. Gleichzeitig tauchen die verdrängten Dämonen der Vergangenheit auf und zerstören innerhalb eines Spätnachmittags sein Lebenswerk. Alles verloren, die Weltrettung fällt leider aus..

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  • Ary
    5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
    Un anti-héros irrésistiblement drôle
    Reviewed in France on 28 December 2012
    Ce roman non conte l'histoire d'un Prix Nobel de physique. Ce n'est pas rien un prix Nobel ! Talentueux, certes, mais pris au piège de ses faiblesses humaines, son arrogance, sa petitesse, sa fatuité, sa vanité d'homme qui se prend pour un Casanova. Auteur...See more
    Ce roman non conte l'histoire d'un Prix Nobel de physique. Ce n'est pas rien un prix Nobel ! Talentueux, certes, mais pris au piège de ses faiblesses humaines, son arrogance, sa petitesse, sa fatuité, sa vanité d'homme qui se prend pour un Casanova. Auteur anglais doué entre tous, Ian McEwan n'épargne rien à son héros. Il le travaille avec un sens magistral de la distance, le met à l'épreuve avec un humour dévastateur (mais sans méchanceté). Le lecteur (la lectrice, plutôt ?) se délecte et en tire une leçon fondamentale (car McEwan est un moraliste) : l'être humain est faillible. A lire absolument par tous ceux qui ne se prennent pas au sérieux.
    Ce roman non conte l'histoire d'un Prix Nobel de physique. Ce n'est pas rien un prix Nobel ! Talentueux, certes, mais pris au piège de ses faiblesses humaines, son arrogance, sa petitesse, sa fatuité, sa vanité d'homme qui se prend pour un Casanova. Auteur anglais doué entre tous, Ian McEwan n'épargne rien à son héros. Il le travaille avec un sens magistral de la distance, le met à l'épreuve avec un humour dévastateur (mais sans méchanceté). Le lecteur (la lectrice, plutôt ?) se délecte et en tire une leçon fondamentale (car McEwan est un moraliste) : l'être humain est faillible.
    A lire absolument par tous ceux qui ne se prennent pas au sérieux.

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