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A review by chuck9997
First Love, Last Rites by Ian McEwan
5.0
Physically revolting book
I confess to never once having bothered to read the summary of any book before picking it up, just vague recommendations from people whose reading choices I trust are more than enough, or an interesting title and cover. This book met the initial criteria and I expected sad, heartbreaking stories about love and loss, boy oh boy how wrong I was!
The 8 short stories in this book are directly focused on child abuse. Some being from POV of abuser, others from the victim’s. Reading the abuser’s POV makes you go numb, as vulnerable as the victim. All this is beautifully written. No moral reasoning is derived rather the saturated atmosphere around the events is explored. There is nothing in the book I want to hold on to. Done. Dusted. Glad that I picked it up. Packed and put away.
I confess to never once having bothered to read the summary of any book before picking it up, just vague recommendations from people whose reading choices I trust are more than enough, or an interesting title and cover. This book met the initial criteria and I expected sad, heartbreaking stories about love and loss, boy oh boy how wrong I was!
The 8 short stories in this book are directly focused on child abuse. Some being from POV of abuser, others from the victim’s. Reading the abuser’s POV makes you go numb, as vulnerable as the victim. All this is beautifully written. No moral reasoning is derived rather the saturated atmosphere around the events is explored. There is nothing in the book I want to hold on to. Done. Dusted. Glad that I picked it up. Packed and put away.