"; if(is_file("header.php")) include "header.php"; else include "../header.php"; ?>

good but not great i found this novel to be a bit disappointing. it is a good novel which is welcome - there are so many mediocre novels out there - however it does not soar the way that mcewan' previous novel atonement did for me. it just does not have the substance, the gravitas that atonement did, with its descriptions of more than one character's inner life and experience, its inclusion of robbie's part in france during the second world war, the contrast of briony as a young teenager with her as a war time nurse coming into contact with severely wounded young soldiers, and with her as an old woman losing her memory. by contrast, in saturday, all the references to the iraq war and protesters and terrorism, and long and technical descriptions of brain surgery are not able to give this novel the same weight. and eighteen pages describing a squash game......for me that was over the top. we spend a day with henry and that is all it seems to be....it does not resonate strongly enough beyond that to be a really great novel.