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The Cement Garden - Community Reviews back

by Steven Crossley, Ian McEwan
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Julian Meynell's Books
Julian Meynell's Books rated it 10 years ago
McEwan's first novel is very much a McEwan novel even if it is working within the genre of Transgressive fiction. It concerns a dysfunctional and repressed family with four children. I don't want to give too much away, but it is about dysfunctional coping strategies around grief and isolation.The ...
Chris Blocker
Chris Blocker rated it 11 years ago
Without a doubt, the best thing about The Cement Garden is the author photo. That's not to say the book is so bad that the photo stands out as being exemplary; instead, it is meant to be an indication of how awesome the photo is. Now I know, some may have read more recent editions of this novel, and...
Books etc.
Books etc. rated it 12 years ago
Re-reading it after years of the first read. It really is only ok for me. the story feels rather like cement garden to me, dry, grey... I wish I could hit Jack especially on his slum period.
newwavepolly
newwavepolly rated it 12 years ago
It's unsettling, to say the least. It's unsettling, lethargic, and casually disturbing. It was not as mindblowingly messed up as some reviews allowed me to believe, but it was effective. It left me feeling stilted and for lack of better word, gross. Kind of like a dead body buried in poorly mixed ce...
Ben Linus' adventures in Wonderland
Ben Linus' adventures in Wonderland rated it 12 years ago
I wouldn't say this book is disturbingly beautiful because it's nothing of "beautiful". But it was different, original, a good read.The first part was dynamic and terrible. Four kids lose their parents and they have to live on their ownThe second one started bad and ended up being good. The whole De...
Rowena's Reviews
Rowena's Reviews rated it 13 years ago
This story was a tough one to wrap my head around. It's very, very unsettling. I can't say any more without revealing the plot.
thebookcoop
thebookcoop rated it 16 years ago
Weird.I like McEwan and his brilliance with the English language. Words roll into sentences which roll into paragraphs that roll into pages and chapters until you reach the end.The story itself is perhaps nothing to write home about, although I thought this one was better then The Innocent - my last...
The Library of Babel
The Library of Babel rated it 18 years ago
Mmmh, this book was too tough for me when I've read it.The Cement Garden has given a lot of disturbing visions to me and even if this is probably the goal of Ian McEwan, I don't like to remember this book.Having no brothers or sisters I've been stunned by the nasty and sordid stories which happen be...
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