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A review by juliston
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed the plot of this book, and I sort of enjoyed the alternate timeline setting - it being so similar to our current society made me half think it was a commentary on the inevitability of how humans act with technology and half made me think there was a lack of imagination in how different a world cold be. Maybe Ian McEwan just didn't want to distract readers from the main themes by making it "obviously Sci-fi" novel in which we also had to understand a different worldly setting.
What I found really disappointing was that the themes and underlying messages about consciousness and technology and AI were rubbed so hard in the reader's face and there was no opportunity to face organic thought about them yourself because they were presented so blatantly as character thoughts or dialogue. The last Ian McEwan book I read (the cockroach, DNF was the same - we get it you think Brexit was stupid) and I feel like the lack of subtlety let down what could have been a really thought provoking novel.
What I found really disappointing was that the themes and underlying messages about consciousness and technology and AI were rubbed so hard in the reader's face and there was no opportunity to face organic thought about them yourself because they were presented so blatantly as character thoughts or dialogue. The last Ian McEwan book I read (the cockroach, DNF was the same - we get it you think Brexit was stupid) and I feel like the lack of subtlety let down what could have been a really thought provoking novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Suicide