Amsterdam (1998)
Who wrote it?
Ian McEwan (1948-; active 1975-) born Aldershot, England. His father was a working class Scotsman who worked his way up through the army to the rank of major. As a result of this, McEwan spent much of his childhood outside England (including Singapore, Germany and Libya), returning when he was 12. He studied English at the University of Sussex and the the University of East Anglia.
He began as the writer of gothic short stories, and the subject matter of his first novels, The Cement Garden (1978) and The Comfort of Strangers (1981) led to him being nicknamed "Ian Macabre." Prior to 1998 he had been nominated twice for the Prize, for the aforementioned Comfort of Strangers and Black Dogs (1992), though controversially not for 1997's Enduring Love, a critical hit. Some have suggested that Amsterdam's victory was in large part an apology for that omission.
In total he has now been nominated a total of six times, including for 2001's Atonement, which was made into a hit film starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. A large number of his novels and stories have been filmed (including three in one year as recently as 2017)- though, perhaps tellingly, not this one.
What's it about?
Amsterdam is a short novel focusing on two old and extremely posh friends: Vernon Halliday, newspaper editor of the tabloidy fabrication The Judge, and Clive Linley, who is a very very serious composer. They meet at the funeral of Molly Lane, and are among at least four of her former lovers at said event. We don’t learn an awful lot about Lane, beyond the fact that she entertained a lot of men, and died of an unspecified madness-inducing illness. Vernon and Clive make a pact to “help each other out” if they ever find themselves in a similar state of mental deterioration, which sets in motion a series of highly improbable events in the name of, I guess, “satire.”
What I liked
Let’s start with a few positives. I didn’t hate the experience of reading this at all! Ian McEwan is an exceptional craftsman. His writing is always a breeze to read, never more so than in this brisk, sub-200 pager.
As anyone who has read Enduring Love or indeed most of his other novels will know, he’s a master of creating moments that stick in your head. Clive’s Lake District adventure is almost up there with the balloon moment in the aforementioned novel in its vivid and gripping writing.
It’s short and has genuine page-turning qualities. Whatever you take out of it overall, it’s not an unpleasant read and not entirely lacking in entertainment.
What I didn’t like
Others have said it better than me, but wow the plot isn’t half daft! The conclusion is jaw-dropping for all the wrong reasons. I won’t go into any more details, but seriously. What was that?! An unholy mix of contrivance, silliness and downright unbelievable motivations, is the best I can offer.
The characters are universally awful. I don’t mind a dislikeable character, at all. What I do mind is a novel full of half-drawn caricatures. Vernon is a paper-thin cliche of a newspaper editor and Clive is a barely believable head-in-his-music composer. Their “crimes” are predictable and not explored in any depth, and certainly don’t seem to justify the ridiculous measures taken to “avenge” them.
It feels like the judges were lost in a pre-millennial fug of attempted “relevance.” Prior to this point, the Booker seems to have barely ever chased relevance (more often than not it’s willfully steered aware from it…) but here we have an anti-Press novel in the wake of Diana, and a composer trying to compose a piece to celebrate the Millennium. It’s all so try-hard.
The female characters, such as there even are any, are reduced to ciphers for the tedious issues of the central male “characters.” We begin the novel at the funeral of Molly Lane, and throughout the novel she’s gossiped about, occasionally forgotten about, and then finally fantasized about in not one but two characters’ dying moments. The other female characters are someone’s wife and somebody else’s wife - both alive but might as well not be for all the depth they’re given.
I’ve not read a huge amount of McEwan, but it really does feel like an oddity that this is the book he was recognized for. It lacks both the subtlety and the depth of Enduring Love and Atonement, and just feels so silly and throwaway for a Booker winner.
Food & drink pairings
Gin and tonic, mostly gin, no ice or lemon.
Various other boozes of the type tortured middle class “creatives” turn to in times of supposed crisis.
Fun facts
What a motley crew of judges we had this year. Chaired by Douglas Hurd, who I can only think of in terms of his Spitting Image puppet, the rest of the panel saw the likes of Penelope Fitzgerald somewhat incongruously lining up alongside very much flavour of the moment Nigella Lawson.
Hurd’s comments on the decision are not especially illuminating, but for posterity here they are:
“The prize went to Amsterdam by Ian McEwan, not because we thought it was about time he won the Booker, but because in a mild year most people (though not the chairman) thought his offering finished just ahead of Beryl Bainbridge, riding Master Georgie”
Sam Jordison’s always excellent Guardian Booker Club review is on blistering form for this one, describing it as McEwan’s “worst novel” and as “preposterous.”
Vanquished Foes
Beryl Bainbridge (Master Georgie)
Julian Barnes (England, England)
Martin Booth (The Industry of Souls)
Patrick McCabe (Breakfast on Pluto)
Magnus Mills (The Restraint of Beasts)
I’ve read and very much enjoyed England, England, but wouldn’t necessarily have pinned it as a Prize contender.
Master Georgie was Bainbridge’s fifth and final nomination without a win. She did get the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for this one, and was honoured by the Booker with a “special” award in 2011.
Elsewhere, Carol Shields won the Orange/Women’s Prize for Larry’s Party - the second Canadian winner in a row. There was no overlap with the Booker shortlist (unsurprisingly, given its heavy male skew once again.)
Context
In 1998:
Good Friday Agreement signed between British and Irish governments and most Northern Irish parties
Bill Clinton / Monica Lewinsky affair breaks, leading to impeachment proceedings against the president
Andrew Wakefield article in The Lancet about supposed links between MMR vaccine and Autism is published. Discredited and fully retracted in 2010, it was a spur to the nascent anti-vaccine movement.
Nuclear testing by India and Pakistan
Second Congo War begins. Lasting until 2003, it will be one of the bloodiest in history.
Creation of permanent International Criminal Court to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity
European Central Bank established
US Embassy bombings in Nairobi and elsewhere, linked to Osama bin Laden
Indictment and arrest of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
Hugo Chavez elected president of Venezuela
Google, Inc. formed in California by Larry Page and Sergey Brin
Geri Halliwell leaves the Spice Girls
Israel's Dana International wins the Eurovision Song Contest with "Diva"
Britney Spears, "...Baby One More Time"
Massive Attack, Mezzanine
Madonna, Ray of Light
Beastie Boys, Hello Nasty
Andrew Motion becomes UK Poet Laureate following death of Ted Hughes
Nick Hornby, About a Boy
Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters
Shakespeare in Love
The Big Lebowski
The Truman Show
Life Lessons
Oh I don’t know… don’t be a terrible bastard and if you are, don’t make some sort of loosely worded suicide pact with another one?
Score
5
Bang average. By no means unreadable, just an extremely odd choice for a major literary prize.
Ranking to date:
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (1989) - 9.5
Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie (1981) - 9.5
Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively (1987) - 9
Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth (1992) - 9
Oscar & Lucinda - Peter Carey (1988) - 9
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (1978) - 9
Life & Times of Michael K. - J. M. Coetzee (1983) - 9
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy (1997) - 9
Schindler’s Ark - Thomas Keneally (1982) - 9
The Bone People - Keri Hulme (1985) - 8.5
How Late it Was, How Late - James Kelman (1994) - 8.5
Troubles - J.G. Farrell (1970, "Lost Booker") - 8.5
Possession - A. S. Byatt (1990) - 8
Saville - David Storey (1976) - 8
The Siege of Krishnapur - J.G. Farrell (1973) - 8
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje (1992) - 7.5
Rites of Passage - William Golding (1980) - 7.5
Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald (1979) - 7.5
Last Orders - Graham Swift (1996) - 7
The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens (1970) - 7
The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer (1974) - 7
Holiday - Stanley Middleton (1974) - 7
Heat & Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1975) - 6.5
In a Free State* - V.S. Naipaul (1971) - 6.5
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle (1993) - 6
G. - John Berger (1972) - 6
The Famished Road - Ben Okri (1991) - 6
Something to Answer For - P. H. Newby (1969) - 5.5
The Ghost Road** - Pat Barker (1995) - 5.5
Staying On - Paul Scott (1977) - 5
Amsterdam - Ian McEwan (1998) - 5
Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner (1984) - 4.5
The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis (1986) - 4
*Read in later condensed edition.
**Third part of a trilogy of which I hadn’t read pts 1&2
Next up
J. M. Coetzee becomes our first two-time winner (in real-time chronology, at least) with 1999’s Disgrace.
