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Amsterdam cover art

Amsterdam

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Adrian Scarborough
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Summary

Winner of the Booker Prize 1998.

Brought to you by Penguin.

On a chilly February day two old friends meet in the throng outside a crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current eminence, Clive as Britain's most successful modern composer, Vernon as editor of the quality broadsheet The Judge. Gorgeous, feisty Molly had had other lovers too, notably Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister. 

In the days that follow Molly's funeral Clive and Vernon will make a pact that will have consequences neither has foreseen. Each will make a disastrous moral decision, their friendship will be tested to its limits and Julian Garmony will be fighting for his political life.

©1998 Ian McEwan (P)2019 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about Amsterdam

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Too much British cynicism for my taste

I’m struggling with what the author is trying to tell us readers apart from warning us of the lethal consequences of too much British snobbism and cynicism.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

The narrator was bad. At the start. He. Kept on pausing. In the wrong places. But he got better and better, and I found him excellent by the end. I enjoyed the book through most of it until the end. Disappointing ending.

We never found out who Molly was. The characters are interesting, but they just end up being pointless. It's almost as if the author got halfway through the book and then decided he'd had enough and finished it. Goodness knows why this is a Booker Prize winner!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Read, Excellent narration

Darkly amusing commentary on the social elite, well observed and delivered with requisite and delightful absurdity.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully written

A great story with wonderful characters. I really enjoyed the book from start to finish.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • GW
  • 15-07-21

Meh

Not my favourite. Maybe be I just didn't like any of the characters - pompous and dull and self centred. Never mind.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Always an interesting author

Narrated incredibly well.
Beautifully written…….obviously as you would expect from this author.
Very clever story line……ditto as above!
However I was glad to finish it.
Just didn’t enjoy it. I found all the characters loathsome.
It made a change though to have no empathy for anyone in a book. This may have been the desired effect by the author.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Audible tech issues spoilt listening

Continuous playback issues & jumping forward & back ruined my enjoyment of this otherwise enjoyable book, made the end impossible to listen to. Would not delete for me to reload. Please sort this issue Audible

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Tedious to the extreme.

This seems to be a vitriolic attack on newspaper editors. No real story. No drama. No interesting characters. A washout.

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