Amsterdam - Ian McEwan 1998 **

One of the worst and most depressing books I have read in a long time. 'Amsterdam' means nothing, accomplishes nothing, and finishes like the author forgot to round it all off. It was sloppily written and completely uninteresting. Boring would be an understatement. The novel supposedly centres on the relationships between certain people when they gather at the funeral of an old friend, but within the first ten pages or so, we have left this story, and gone off into bizarre and dull segments surrounding each character and their awful lives. The book becomes nothing to do with the central character, and more just a random collection of 'snapshots' about some horrible people with no resolution whatsoever. Dreadful book.

Started 26th May
Finished 27th May

About a Boy - Nick Hornby 1998 **1/2

I think I might have to stop reading Nick Hornby now. Sure he's easy to read but I find his novels so depressing and full of despair that it takes a while to recover afterwards. I've seen the movie of this book so of course I already have pre-set notions of the characters but I must say overall I was disappointed with the general tone of the book. Hornby's characters are so unlikable that you struggle to find any sympathy for them or their personal situations. On this occasion it's safe to say that the film is much funnier.