Reviews for Lessons [sound recording]/

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A tale of aspiration, disappointment, and familial dysfunction spread across a vast historic panorama.Embracing the years from the Blitz to Brexit, McEwans latest finds Roland Baines, an unaccomplished fellow who scrapes out a living as a lounge pianist and sometime journalist, worrying about his infant son, Lawrence: Shocked, numbed, scar tissue forming within hours in the lower regions of the unconscious, if such a place or process existed? The boy has good reason to be damaged, for his mother, Alissa, has abandoned them. She will go on to great things, writing bestselling novels and, decades on, a memoir that will falsely accuse Roland of very bad behavior. Alissa is working out a trauma born of other sources, while Roland floats along, remembering traumas of his own, including piano lessons with plenty of illicit extras at his boarding school. McEwan weaves in the traumas of world history as well: As the story opens, the failed nuclear generator at Chernobyl is emitting radioactive toxins that threaten the world. Other formative moments include the Suez Canal crisis, Covid, and 9/11, which causes Roland more than his usual angst: Only a minuscule faction, credulous and cruel, believed that the New York hijackers reclined in paradise and should be followed. But here, in a population of 60 million, there must be some. McEwan is fond of having his characters guess wrongly about whats to come: A detective scoffs at forensics based on genetics (Fashionable rubbish), while Roland nurses a theory that the Chernobyl disaster would mark the beginning of the end for nuclear weapons. Well along his path, though, Roland comes to realize a point learned in childhood but forgotten: Nothing is ever as you imagine it. True, but McEwans imagination delivers plenty of family secrets and reflects on so many lessons unlearned in a world thats clearly wobbling off its axis.A richly observed story that spans decades to recount lives of sometimes-noisy desperation. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A tale of aspiration, disappointment, and familial dysfunction spread across a vast historic panorama. Embracing the years from the Blitz to Brexit, McEwan’s latest finds Roland Baines, an unaccomplished fellow who scrapes out a living as a lounge pianist and sometime journalist, worrying about his infant son, Lawrence: “Shocked, numbed, scar tissue forming within hours in the lower regions of the unconscious, if such a place or process existed?” The boy has good reason to be damaged, for his mother, Alissa, has abandoned them. She will go on to great things, writing bestselling novels and, decades on, a memoir that will falsely accuse Roland of very bad behavior. Alissa is working out a trauma born of other sources, while Roland floats along, remembering traumas of his own, including piano lessons with plenty of illicit extras at his boarding school. McEwan weaves in the traumas of world history as well: As the story opens, the failed nuclear generator at Chernobyl is emitting radioactive toxins that threaten the world. Other formative moments include the Suez Canal crisis, Covid, and 9/11, which causes Roland more than his usual angst: “Only a minuscule faction, credulous and cruel, believed that the New York hijackers reclined in paradise and should be followed. But here, in a population of 60 million, there must be some.” McEwan is fond of having his characters guess wrongly about what’s to come: A detective scoffs at forensics based on genetics (“Fashionable rubbish”), while Roland nurses a “theory that the Chernobyl disaster would mark the beginning of the end for nuclear weapons.” Well along his path, though, Roland comes to realize a point learned in childhood but forgotten: “Nothing is ever as you imagine it.” True, but McEwan’s imagination delivers plenty of family secrets and reflects on “so many lessons unlearned” in a world that’s clearly wobbling off its axis. A richly observed story that spans decades to recount lives of sometimes-noisy desperation. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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