Amsterdam By Ian McEwan

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Ranked #118 in Books, #8,589 overall

Amsterdam - a novel by Ian McEwan

"Amsterdam" is a novel by multi-award winning author Ian McEwan, first published in 1998.

The plot of "Amsterdam" follows two old friends, Clive, a composer and Vernon, a newspaper editor, who attend the funeral of a woman who had been a friend and a lover to both men in the past. Her death from a sudden debilitating disease has a profound effect upon them and they make a mutual pact, the outcome of which, neither could possibly anticipate...

"Amsterdam" won the Booker Prize in 1998

Amsterdam Quotes

Ian McEwan's preface to Amsterdam;

"The friends who met here and embraced are gone, each to his own mistake" - W.H Auden

Plot Summary & Review Of "Amsterdam" By Ian McEwan 

Synopsis & book review of "Amsterdam" By Ian McEwan...

Two friends and former lovers of glamorous, witty restaurant critic Molly Lane, meet at Molly's funeral. The two men, Clive Linley a distinguished composer, and Vernon Halliday a newspaper editor, have been friends for many years.

Molly had many other lovers, including Julian Garmony, the Foreign Secretary, a political high flyer, widely tipped to be the next prime minister.

The sudden onset of Molly's illness and undignified manner of her death, upsets Clive and Vernon deeply. They particularly resent the fact that her incapacity robbed Molly of her independence and made her reliant upon and under the control of her stolid husband George, a situation Molly resented.

In the following days, Clive and Vernon begin to suffer from aches and pains they hadn't noticed previously and they become worried about their own mortality. Not wishing to end up in a similar situation to Molly, they make a mutual pact help one another commit suicide should similar fates befall them. Having done so, they both feel much better and get back on with their lives and careers with renewed spirits.

Clive has been commissioned to write a symphony for the forthcoming Millenium. He is close to finishing what he thinks will be the finest piece he has ever written and which he hopes will bring him the accolades he feels he richly deserves. He strives harder and harder for perfection, but the final spark of genius he needs keeps eluding him and he resents any intrusion from the outside world.

Vernon meanwhile, has been contacted by Molly's husband George, who, while sorting through her personal effects has discovered a set of photographs Molly had taken of her other lover, the M.P Julian Garmony. The photos are a journalist's dream, as they show Garmony dressed in woman's clothes, wearing make-up and clearly enjoying the experience...


Amsterdam

Vernon wants to expose Garmony and publish the photographs in an effort to revive sales of his ailing newspaper. His staff disagree. He approaches Clive in the hope of finding moral support from his friend, but Clive is immersed in his music and not at all pleased at Vernon's insistent distractions and demands upon his valuable time. When he finally agrees to listen to Vernon, Clive also disagrees with his decision, not because of a wish to protect Julian Garmony, but because he feels that publishing photographs Molly took for private purposes would be betraying her. A big argument between the two men breaks out.

As Julian Garmony fights for his political life, the consequences of the sequence of events play out, culiminating in a quite unexpected outcome.

Most of the story takes place in London, so why is the title of the book "Amsterdam"? You'll have to read it and find out!...

Amsterdam is another solid, entertaining read from award winning author, Ian McEwan. He paints a revealing picture of the private lifestyles of his fictional rich and famous characters - a picture that one suspects is mirrored in the exploits of more than one real life "celebrity" figure! The story has a twist in the tale - one that I am pleased to say that I didn't see coming and which was as good as any of Roald Dahl's famous "Tales of the Unexpected"!

"Amsterdam" is definitely worth a read!


Excerpt From "Amsterdam" By Ian McEwan  

Extract from "Amsterdam" By Ian McEwan

Bold Type: Excerpt by Ian McEwan
Excerpt from the first chapter of Amsterdam

Amsterdam Quotes

"It seemed to Vernon that he was infinitely diluted; he was simply the sum of the people who had listened to him, and when he was alone, he was nothing at all. When he reached, in solitude, for a thought, there was no one there to think it. His chair was empty; he was finely dissolved throughout the building..."

Reviews Of "Amsterdam" By Ian McEwan  

Salon Books |Amsterdam
Craig Seligman reviews 'Amsterdam' by Ian McEwan
Fickle Friendship in Ian McEwan's Amsterdam
A review of Ian McEwan's 1998 Booker prize-winning novel Amsterdam.
Amsterdam - Ian McEwan
A review and a link to other reviews of Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.

Rethinking Spatiality: The Degraded Body in Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam" 

by Dana Chetrinescu

Ian McEwan Website: Dana Chetrinescu's Essay on Amsterdam
Essay by Dana Chetrinescu

Amsterdam Quotes

" Put most crudely, what did he, Clive, really derive from this friendship? He had given, but what had he ever received? What bound them? They had Molly in common. There were accumulated years and the habits of friendship, but there was really nothing at its centre..."

Amsterdam Links 

Websites and articles about Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

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Interview With Ian McEwan 

Interview with Ian McEwan following his Booker Prize win for Amsterdam

Bold Type: Interview with Ian McEwan
BoldType website interview with Ian McEwan following his Booker Prize win for Amsterdam

More About The Author Of "Amsterdam" - Ian McEwan 

Amsterdam Novel 

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan on Amazon USA

Amsterdam: A Novel

Amazon reader review;
"This is a wonderful satire on culture, art, pretense and manners.

McEwan is a good writer with a great eye for connecting things, using the segue without the reader being aware of any artificial change of person, time and place. Through his characterization, he is able to show the self-centeredness and outright ridiculousness of what we hold collectively meaningful.

I recommend this book for a good read and and some thoughtful laughs."

Amazon Price: $10.04 (as of 12/18/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $0.01

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Amsterdam On Wikipedia 

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan on Wikipedia

Amsterdam is a 1998 novel by British writer Ian McEwan.

It is a morality tale revolving around a newspaper editor and a composer.

McEwan was awarded the Booker Prize for the novel.

Plot summary of Amsterdam
The book begins with the funeral of Molly Lane. Guests at the funeral include: Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary; Vernon Halliday, a newspaper editor; and eminent composer Clive Linley. These three share certain attributes; each has a very high opinion of himself, each was at some time Molly's lover, and each regards the dead woman's husband George, with a mixture of amusement and contempt. Clive and Vernon muse upon Molly's death. It seems she had some kind of rapid-onset brain disease (not specified) that left her helpless and mad. Neither man can understand her attraction to Julian Garmony, the right-wing Foreign Secretary who is about to challenge the Leadership.

Clive returns home to continue work on his symphony. He has been commissioned to write a piece for the forthcoming Millennium and much of the work is complete, all save the crucial signature melody. He resolves to go walking in the Lake District, as this tends to inspire him. Vernon is the editor of a newspaper whose readership is falling. He is trying to change the content of the paper to be more sensationalist. George, Molly's husband, gives him a golden opportunity, but he and Clive argue furiously about the moral responsibility of the act.

However, in the Lake District, Clive faces a difficult moral decision himself. He chooses to walk away from a potentially dangerous situation he could have helped with, because his elusive melody, the crucial notes, have arisen and he has to get them down. Instead of helping, he crouches unseen besides a rock and writes his music. This has repercussions that will change his life.

During the course of the book Clive and Vernon become mortal enemies bent on exacting revenge. The consequences of their decisions, and a pact made between them, lead them both to Amsterdam where the novel's dénouement plays out.

Read this article on Wikipedia at Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

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"Amsterdam" - Feedback 

Have you read "Amsterdam" By Ian McEwan? Would you like to? Share your thoughts!

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  • Reply
    CDT CDT Aug 6, 2009 @ 8:36 am
    @RinchenChodron

    I wouldn't call the book depressing - it's a bit of a morality tale really.

    McEwan explores the innate pettiness and shallow nature of the two main characters which contrasts with their exceedingly high opinions of themselves.

    Vernon and Clive think they're great - but underneath their success and their money and their public images lurk two immature, selfish and egocentric men who are their own worst enemies as the conclusion of the book reveals...

    I think Amsterdam is one of McEwan's best novels :)
  • Reply
    RinchenChodron RinchenChodron Aug 6, 2009 @ 7:34 am
    I hate to say it but it sounds like a depressing book!!! But you did create a nice lens and I'm sure some people will run out and buy the book.
  • Reply
    Treasures-By-Brenda Treasures-By-Brenda Apr 9, 2009 @ 1:47 pm
    Well done lens on this book; sounds interesting! Your lens has been blessed by an Angel today.

    Brenda

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