Ian McEwan. (Author focus)

With, The Children Act, hitting the cinema this week, I thought it apt to do my next author focus.

So, for this post, Ian McEwan, author of the aforementioned, and such books that you may recognise from previous visits to the cinema as, Enduring Love, with Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans, On Chesil Beach with Saoirse Ronan and of course, Atonement with Vanessa Redgrave and Keira Knightley, and, let’s not forget last year's excellent BBC adaptation of, The Child in Time, with Benedict Cumberbatch.

So, it's fair to say that at some time or another, most of you would have come across something written by this author, but, how many of you have actually read one of his books?

I confess that the extent of my reading is what you see in the picture on the left, so, no Atonement then, and I've yet to read his latest novel, but most of what I have read, I have enjoyed - some more than others of course.

Solar, was one that I didn’t really get on with, along with, The Daydreamer, but Sweet Tooth was excellent, capturing the dim, smoke filled offices and soot covered buildings of the 1970's very convincingly and along with Saturday, which takes us through one particular Saturday in the life of an eminent neurosurgeon, from a mundane traffic collision, through an epic squash match, to a climax that had me reading at double speed, they rank as my favourite McEwan books to date.

His novels aren't long, (so no excuses), with most not even making three hundred pages, and they can lack a bit for their brevity, but what you do get is an intense ride, intense characters and in some cases - Enduring Love being the one that really stands out for me - something that sticks with you. (The appendix in Enduring Love is worth buying the book for alone).

So, whether you like books narrated by a foetus, a child who time travels, young married couples who fear intimacy, or raving madmen who become infatuated, there seems to be something for everyone here, and hopefully, as long as McEwan keeps writing, we’ll get some excellent viewing pleasure too.

So, the film: Emma Thompson in the lead role, Ian McEwan as the writer, set in my old home town of London, what more could I want? (Maybe I'll let you know once I've seen it).

The Remains of the Day, book review. (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Another gem, from a master storyteller.

England in the 1950's, told from the prospective of Stevens, an ageing butler from Darlington Hall.

Beautifully written and another of Ishiguro's books that has been made into a film.

I can't comment on the film, as I haven't seen it, but his skill in writing a novel in the late 1980's that depicts the 1950's so convincingly, is amazing. The sense of 'Old England' that he portrays, the stiff upper lip, the congenial mild mannered ladies and gentleman Stevens encounters whilst on his travels, are all so totally convincing for a middle England in the decade after the war, that it feels like you're really there.

Ishiguro uses both Historical and fictional characters in this novel, which adds to the sense of realism.

Having visited Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh whilst reading this book, I was able to see first hand what it is like, to live in a large, stately home, and enjoyed the book more for it. 
A lovely book, deliciously written by an author of many talents.
Four well deserved stars.