Reviews with content warning for Incest - The Cement Garden

I've liked--sometimes loved--everything else I've read by Ian McEwan, but I found this one gross and depressing and regret the time I spent reading it.

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pseudolain's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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petedake's review

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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suprconman99's review

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dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

My second Ian McEwan read. While it feels a bit slight next to something like Atonement, his perfect prose and uncanny ability to inject tension and suspense into even the most domestic scenes propels the narrative forward. The infamous subject matter — incest — is rendered at turns with an almost clinical dispassion and with an earnest longing that makes these characters sympathetic even as they engage in something considered monstrous by most cultures. All couched in a convincing exploration of grief and its deranging effects, especially on still-maturing children, who see an opportunity to play-act at adulthood but who lack the mental and emotional tools or the life experience to do so.

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kiutu's review against another edition

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challenging dark

4.0

Kirjoja, joissa on näitä...teemoja, on tosi vaikea arvostella, mutta vaikka en pitänyt tapahtunista, ne pitivät minut otteessaan.

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sashley98's review

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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la_karina1818's review

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challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Throughout the whole novel, there is a particular creepy tone as you go along reading it, telling the story of these children hit by the death of their two parents and living by themselves. There was a sense of uneasiness even in the beginning as the entire family is quite isolated from society and hence when their parents die, the children only have themselves to rely on. The point of view of the story told from Jack, the oldest son, shows how isolated he is because he only talks about his family, having no hobbies or people outside of his home that interest him. This brings forward the strange things that the children do. From Spoiler
Julie and Jack playing doctor with Suzie (examining her private parts) and Jack later on masturbating to it, Tommy dressing up as a girl, having to bury their mother twice (the second time because the smell of her rotten corpse began to be noticed) and the sex between Jack and Julie
, they all play part in the fact that these children's home life even before the events of the book has been poor, with the father appearing as abusive and the mother being too sick to be able to take care of the basic needs of her children, let alone their psychological or emotional needs. The whole purpose of this novel is to express the danger of letting children rule over themselves in a world where they haven't been socialized properly and how due to their disturbed sense of normality they may not be able to fit in with normal society. Overall I don't have a lot of thoughts over the book itself, I found it to be something that was just written as it is, it doesn't hold a special purpose or message to me but it is still pretty disturbing.

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jasbennett's review

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

So messed up

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