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Saturday Ian Mcewan

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Bucher 1
Michael Bucher
Lit 240
Mr. Kuelker
July 7, 2013
“Saturday “ : Good and Bad
This paper represents the yen and yang criticisms of Ian McEwen’s novel “Saturday” and discusses its strengths and weaknesses. Critics rave about this novel and others don’t share the same enthusiasm. McEwan’s novel is “astonishing” and deserves “gratitude from its readers” according to The Literary Analyst. Agreeably when the plot is told from a third party it is a fantastic story of the complexity of one man’s life and the madness that happens to him in one 24 hour period. The novel loses its appeal with the blistered use of detail. McEwan attempts to dazzle his readers with his descriptive ability. He uses redundant unnecessary detail. …show more content…

The story feels lethargic due to the overuse of details and background. “Bit by bit the character-portrait is built up” (The Literary Analyst) The plot moves along too slow unable to keep the reader focused on what is happening. The over use of unnecessary detail and slow moving pace “can only be described as dull…Saturday is a chore to read, bogging down “ (Donahue, USa Today )
Scenes are written too jam-packed with description. When Perowne comes home and is preparing dinner the reader is again bombarded. McEwan goes off on a detour “his control of his material is too pronounced” (Heller, The New York Times Book Review). One example is the when he is describing the wine in the fridge and the preparation of the food for dinner.
Bucher 4
McEwan finds the need to take up four pages setting up this scene that plays no part in the plot of the story. Once again McEwan is drowning the reader with excessive details. This happens time and time again in Saturday “ readers may be disappointed that there isn’t more action to it” (The Literary Analyst ) This story “feels a little too artful, just a smidgen over- contrived “ (Dirda, The Washington Post) This makes the novel feel unnatural and odd to the reader. “Some scenes go on too long” (The Literary Analyst).
The character conflict is predictable and lacks surprise. When we meet Baxter for the

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