McEwan probes the cause and consequences of our actions through a relationship a young adolescent boy forms with his piano tutor. Yet, it is she who dominates. The consequences may or may not have effected his future relationships, that is open to opinion. McEwan tells a highly entertaining and fascinating story, but he has the irritating habit of cross referencing the key events of the story with the contemporary social, economic and political events of the time. Few relate to the story, and stick out like a sore thumb, as do the personal political views of the author. It is totally unnecessary and weakens the structure of the novel. Fortunately, the ideas and themes of the main story is well worth the read.

I was sent a copy of Lessons by Ian McEwan to read and review by NetGalley. I was enjoying this novel at the beginning, liking the way it was written. Unfortunately it soon became what seemed to be a series of historical essays with the odd addition of story mixed in. I almost gave up about a third of the way through but I decided to persevere a little longer as it seemed to get back to the protagonist’s own story. Unfortunately it didn’t take long to revert back into essays on the political and global issues of the time. I feel I gave this novel more than enough chances, but in the end I decided I really didn’t like or care about what happened to the protagonist and I am old enough to remember the wars and politics during my lifetime. I enjoy historical content and context in novels, I just didn’t like the way this aspect was written in this book and in the end I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

McEwan has managed to bury an interesting subject with historical padding and irrelevant rambling diversions, turning material for a novella into a novel just short of 500 pages.