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The Child In Time By Ian McEwan

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Ranked #524 in Books, #138931 overall

Rated G. (Control what you see)

The Child In Time By Ian McEwan

 

Ian McEwan's third novel, first published in 1987.

The Child In Time deals with the tragic and upsetting theme of child abduction.

Stephen Lewis, a children's book author, takes his 3-year-old daughter Kate on a routine Saturday morning shopping trip to the supermarket. At the checkout, Stephen's attention is distracted and Kate disappears...

Ian McEwan takes us on a journey of lives devastated by the disappearance of a child.

The Child In Time won the 1987 Whitbread Prize.

Plot Summary Of "The Child In Time" By Ian McEwan  

More about "The Child In Time" from Wikipedia

The Child in Time (1987) is a novel by Ian McEwan. It won the Whitbread Novel Award for that year. It concerns Stephen, an author of children's books, and his wife two years after the kidnapping of their three-year-old daughter Kate.

Online Study Resources For "The Child In Time" By Ian McEwan 

Teaching and study resources for "The Child In Time" By Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan Website: The Child in Time
Website devoted to the British author Ian McEwan
The Literary Encyclopedia
The Child In Time
Vandalizing time: Ian McEwan's 'The Child in Time.' | CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction | Find Articles at BNET.com
Vandalizing time: Ian McEwans The Child in Time. from CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction in Arts provided by Find Articles.
Teachit's English teaching resources
The Child In Time

Reviews Of "The Child In Time" By Ian McEwan 

The Antigonish Review: Michael Byrne - Ian McEwan The Child in Time
Michael Byrne Ian McEwan The Child in Time
The Child in Time
The Book Barn review of The Child In Time

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The Child in Time

The Child in Time (Paperback)
"In simple terms A Child in Time is a novel about child abduction, and a parents response to that. At a deeper level the story is hinged upon the two key themes of childhood and time, and is laced with satirical observations of modern society. "In every child there is a hidden adult and in every adult there is a hidden child" is a pivotal observation placed early on in the novel and one which repeatedly returned to. There is Kate, the child that disappears one day in a supermarket and held forever more as a child in her parents minds as they are robbed of her future, Charles, the adult who regresses to childhood in a breakdown, the surreal experience that Stephen, the father, has of floating back in time watching his parents discuss whether or not to have him aborted. Time, McEwan is saying, is not a constant. Time is malleable.

The plot itself is by no means the defining reason for reading this book. Character development is not done by McEwan for its own sake and therefore you never feel particularly sympathetic towards any of his characters. In every character detail (and one thing that Ian McEwan is renowned for is his almost exhaustive attention to detail) there an agenda. Every action or experience of any character is related to a theme. Children. Time. Children. Time. Every sentence is cleverly carved for achieve maximum literary effect. Even the structure of the text has a purpose as the observant reader will notice clever shifts between conditional, perfect, and imperfect tenses to demonstrate passage or insurmountability of time."

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The Child in Time

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"The Child in Time opens with a harrowing event. Stephen Lewis, a successful author of children's books, takes his 3-year-old daughter on a routine Saturday morning trip to the supermarket. While waiting in line, his attention is distracted and his daughter is kidnapped. Just like that. From there, Lewis spirals into bereavement that has effects on his relationship with his wife, his psyche and time itself: "It was a wonder there could be so much movement, so much purpose, all the time. He himself had none." This beautifully haunting book won a 1987 Whitbread Prize. "

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More About The Author Of "The Child In Time" - Ian McEwan 

Ian McEwan On Wikipedia 

Ian McEwan, CBE, FRSA, FRSL, (born June 21, 1948) is a Booker Prize-winning English novelist.

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qlcoach

Okay, I think authors need to network a little more. Feel free to interact at my lense:
http://www.squidoo.com/groups/publishingclub

Sincerely: Gary Eby, newly published author and therapist

Posted July 05, 2008

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