Book #57: Solar

Title: Solar
Author: Ian McEwan

Whenever a new Ian McEwan book comes out, I look forward to taking the opportunity to sit down and just luxuriate in his writing. Oh my goodness, he is such a beautiful writer. And his characters. I could go on and on about how rich his characters are. They (to use a hackneyed cliche that Jasper Fforde has made a career out of twisting around) jump off the page. When I heard that Solar was being released, I was quick to reserve it at the library, and as soon as I got the "items you requested being held at the library" email showed up in my inbox, I rushed right down and picked up the book.

Solar focuses on the character of Michael Beard, who starts the novel as a short, paunchy fiftysomething who has gone through five wives and lived most of his adult life on the laurels of physics work he did in his early twenties. Brilliant enough work to earn him a Nobel Prize (although that may have been a mistake), but he hasn't done much with his life since then besides collect speaking fees and honoraria. Then something happens-- an accident, with fortuitous consequences for Beard. He has the chance to change his life for the better-- to become a better scientist and a better man. But can he overcome his nature?

Even though I love McEwan's writing and his characters, I've read quite a few of his novels that just don't come together for me as stories. I know that Amsterdam won the Booker Prize, but honestly, it wasn't my favorite of his books, and if it had been the first one I read, I doubt I would have been the kind of raving lunatic fan that I am right now. I felt the same way about On Chesil Beach, his most recent publication before the release of Solar. Solar is 304 pages long, and for the first 300, I was hopeful that it would be another Atonement or Saturday, books where the story is as memorable as the characters. It kept building and building and building. And then (spoiler alert), nothing happened. Just like the French films I attended at International Cinema back in college, the ending was nebulous. Could Beard escape this scrape like the others? If not, what would be the denouement of all of the forces of his life coming together in a small New Mexico town? C'mon McEwan, don't leave me hanging. If I'd gone into the book knowing that the end would be unknowable, then I think I would have finished the book feeling satisfied. But now, I feel like I had a great appetizer and a good dessert, but the host served up no main dish.