It is difficult to fault the writing or the construction of this eerie fable.' - Sunday Times 'A shocking book, morbid, full of repellant imagery - and irresistibly readable.The effect achieved by McEwan's quiet, precise and sensuous touch is that of magic realism - a transfiguration of the ordinary that has far stronger retinal and visceral impact than the flabby surrealism of so many experimental novels.' - 'New York Review of Books''His writing is exact, tender, funny, voluptuous, disturbing.' - 'The Times''The Maestro.' - 'New Statesman''McEwan has-a style and a vision of life of his own.No one interested in the state and mood of contemporary Britain can afford not to read him.' - John Fowles 'A sparkling and adventurous writer. His account of deprivation and survival is marvellously sure, and the imaginative alignment of his story is exactly right.' - Tom Paulin 'Marvellously creates the atmosphere of youngsters given that instant adulthood they all crave, where the ordinary takes on a mysterious glow and the extraordinary seems rather commonplace. Inscribed by Author(s).'Darkly impressive.' - 'The Times' 'A superb achievement: his prose has instant, lucid beauty and his narrative voice has a perfect poise and certainty. (Yes, all white people.) Reduced from $250. The 1993 film starred Charlotte Gainsbourg, Andrew Robinson, and Alice Coulthard.

Celebrated third book (but first novel) by McEwan, a dark tale of a family of children who keep secret the death of their second parent so as not to be separated & remanded into foster care. Inscribed & signed (full name) by author to title page. Book will close its own text block and boards and would thus generally grade 'fine,' but we downgrade to 'near fine' because a) book smells a tad musty to us - not uncommon with books from the misty isles reaching us here in the desert, and b) the boards want to stand open by perhaps an extra 1/8th-inch - not a big deal, but mentioned here for completeness. Only / L8.95,' indicating the clipping may have been done by the publisher. The DJ front flap is price-clipped, but a price tag has been affixed near clipped area, reading 'Cape / Net U.K. 'First published 1978 / Reprinted 1979.' Thus, the second printing. Jacket design by Ron Bowen (illustrator). In the relentless summer heat, four abruptly orphaned children retreat into a shadowy, isolated world, and find their own strange and unsettling ways of fending for themselves.

The cement garden book review