Lessons is more biography than novel. It follows the span or Roland Baines’s life, from his youth in the Middle East to his twilight days in London, and because of the length and slow pacing I felt at times that I was living this in real-time! Every description is huge, passing characters are given full paragraphs describing their lives, long-winded digressions can span many many pages, and that bloat and preachiness often made this a chore to read. The redeeming feature is Ian McEwan’s prose – golden tongued as always there’s never a phrase or word that’s out of place. Sadly, this one didn’t connect with me. It’s better than a 3, so rounding up to a 4.
Review: Lessons by Ian McEwan
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