Customer Reviews
There's nothing about the coffee-shops... - By: cluricaune, 04 Apr 2008 
An ex-photographer & a well known restaurant critic, Molly Lane had been a beautiful, lively & funny lady. Her life had, sadly, been cut short through illness - a condition that had began with something as simple as a tingling in her arm. "Amsterdam" opens in early February, at Molly's memorial service.
Despite being married to George, Mollie had been a rather prolific lover - she'd had a string of affairs & (apparently) never reallly cared for her husband. However, for some reason, she'd never actuallly left him. George is the head of a publishing 'empire', one that operates in the crackpot conspiracy theories sector. His company also own a very smalll percentage of 'The Judge', a 'quality' newspaper based in London. He appears to be a morose, possessive man - a vaguely ridiculous character, though one who may have genuinely loved his wife. George had cared for Molly himself throughout her illness, rather than installling her in a home.
Among the mourners is Clive Linley, a famous & successful composer who had known Molly from their student days. He had been one of Molly's former lovers & is possibly a little deluded : he is convinced that he was the only one who had ever truly loved her, & that it should have been him who married her. Clive is currently writing the Millennial Symphony and, although it's close to completion, it's something that seems to be causing him a little stress. (A trip to the Lake District may just be the tonic he needs - Clive enjoys hiking, & sometimes visits the area when in need of inspiration). Unfortunately, Clive's stress levels aren't helped by vague tingle in his hand...and fears he has the same early symptoms that Molly had shown. Clive feels that Molly's decline robbed her of her dignity, & - given the opportunity - he believes he would have 'helped' her die. When he decides that he'd want the same thing for himself, there's only one person he would ask to help him.
Vernon Hallliday is Clive's oldest friend & another of Molly's ex-lovers. He & Molly had lived together for a year in Paris, though he's currently based in London. He's currently the editor of `The Judge' - a position he'd won by being generallly inoffensive, getting wildly lucky with a major scoop & then not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The previous four editors had been fired for failing to improve the newspaper's declining sales...Vernon is hoping to avoid their fate, by taking the newspaper towards the tabloid end of the market. Unfortunately, the situation seems to be getting to him a little, & he's feeling a little stretched. Like Clive, Vernon doesn't have a very high opinion of George - oddly enough, though, George may be in a position to offer both Vernon & the newspaper a helping hand. When going through Molly's effects, he'd stumbled across s few tasty photos of Julian Garmony - another on Molly's ex-lovers, & a high-ranking politician that both Vernon & Clive positively detest...
Garmony is a thoroughly unpleasant individual, a nasty xenophobe who (amazingly) holds the position of Foreign Secretary. (It's probably the sort of appointment a politician would probably find quite logical. Sadly, & unsurprisingly, he's also the hot favourite to be the next Prime Minister). He's strongly in favour of hanging, a punishment he once felt should have been applied to Nelson Mandela. (It's a position that should make his upcoming trip to South Africa a little spicy). Unfortunately, Clive & Vernon disagree on what should be done with the photos...Vernon is very keen to publishing them, & Garmony could well do with having the rug pulled from under his feet. However, Clive feels that publishing them would be a betrayal of Molly's trust...
In "Amsterdam", McEwan presents a collection of characters that aren't too easy to admire. It's reallly very difficult to feel any sympathy for Garmony, given his divisive views. George, Molly's husband, is the one character we probably should feel sorry for, but - by the book's end - I was left wondering why she had ever married him to begin with. Clive & Vernon's friendship fragments as time passes, with Clive (in particular) becoming increasingly deluded as the book progresses. Not great, though a short & easily read book.
A Booker prize ??? - By: Roger, 13 Feb 2008 
Mundane bordering the banal. It would have been a good short story (if less than 40 pages) but in this extended version one can't wait to get rid of it & the climax ending doesn't even save it.
A Good Yarn? - By: Mark Dickens, 28 Jan 2008 
There is something compelling about Mc Ewan's books that makes one want to keep on reading;`Amsterdam' is an extended short story which keeps the reader hooked (I read it in two days). So so, but won the Booker prize. It has that unique magical Mc Ewan ingredient. A good yarn is spun with a few frills but nothing more.
So over looked - By: A. Dixon, 24 Oct 2007 
I understand the frustration people may have with this book. It is short, a little rediculous & in alll fairness there isn't too much to it. However it is these points that make me like it even more. It is so simple & well written.
The light hearted tone adds irony to the plot & the ending, outlining the rediculous display of the rediculous thoughts that may go through our heads in the situations that the characters face, further aggrivated by the characters own arrogance. In reality, though, these thoughts would never be realised through sheer common sense, but the fact that McEwan does realise them makes them more rediculous & funny. Its alll like a strange dream you may have if you were to face the same situations & makes you wander about the thoughts that you may have had yourself when faced with a sudden dislike of a person you thought you knew. While the ending is unrealistic, it was obviously written this way to make you think. The characters own self rightousness became their downfalll. The stupid nature of the characters almost makes you glad of the ending. It is so extreme that it is funny as well as disaterous.
Amsterdam is to the point & says a lot in a smalll book. It seems, however, a lot of people miss the point of it.
A subtle, bewitching diversion - By: A A Catenaccio, 15 Oct 2007 I disagree with many of the reviewers of this book. It's no masterpiece, but I thought it was a subtle, bewitching diversion -- easy to read, but beautifully written; & while perhaps thin on plot it is rich in ideas & dominated by a breathtaking display of characterisation.
The suggestion that Amsterdam is a poor novel because of its single plotline seems a strange one. Fiction isn't measured in density of plot, thankfully, & Booker Prizes aren't awarded by weight of pages.
I won't comment on the alllegations of implausibility, except to say that the events of the novel seem more likely after ten years of a New Labour government than they must have done when they were penned.
I can't let the arguments about the 'one-dimensional characters' pass, though. Yes, the three men in the Molly Lane triangle are alll missing something: Molly herself, whose absence fills the novel, drives its plot & defines its characters. They only exist at the edges of the hole she leaves -- a fundamental human flaw; & one that makes for a blackly beguiling novella.
More rounded characters would perhaps leave the funeral of the defining love of their lives cheerfully whistling, emotionallly whole, to knock off the final movement of their symphony (or quell the editorial rebellion) in time for badminton & cocktails. That, for me, would be the more implausible story.
