![]() Baines is a rather passive, middle-class everyman figure to whom history happens and whose life is ultimately shaped by more decisive, more talented, more aggressive or more successful women. It's not just the length of the book that reminds me of a Victorian novel but his approach to the storytelling which unfolds at a steady pace and has aspects of a 'bildungsroman' - exploring the events life of an individual, Roland Baines, with a discursive relish. The last few publications were, at least, brief and slim affairs (in every sense) but this one is quite the opposite – a monster 500 page saga that attempts to span the key social and political events of what might be called the ‘boomer’ generation. However, I’ve had the feeling that his creative well had run dry half a dozen books back and when I purchased his most recent publication, Lessons, I wondered whether this might be the last I’m likely to invest in. I’ve been buying and reading the more recent of Ian McEwan’s novels out of a sort of loyalty to an author whose earlier work felt essential and relevant. ![]()
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