A review by la_karina1818
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan

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
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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings