The Comfort of Strangers cover art

The Comfort of Strangers

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About this listen

 As their holiday unfolds, Colin and Maria are locked into their own intimacy. They groom themselves meticulously, as though there waits someone who cares deeply about how they appear. Then they meet a man with a disturbing story to tell and become drawn into a fantasy of violence and obsession. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Thriller & Suspense

Critic reviews

Haunting and compelling
McEwan, that master of the taciturn macabre, so organises his narrative that, without insisting anything, every turn and glimpse is another tightening of the noose
As always, McEwan manages his own idiom with remarkable grace and inventiveness; his characters are at home in their dreams and so is he
Has you in its stranglehold from the first page to the last. McEwan has honed his prose style (always admirably spare) to tell his tale, and with all the skill of an accomplished torturer, he throws the occasional crumbs of comfort, as the tension becomes unbearable, only to snatch them away within moments
The Maestro
All stars
Most relevant
This is an extended short story. I was drawn into the narrative but found the principal characters unbelievable. I always look forward to reading Ian McEwan but do not think this is his best work. It was just rather creepy.

The Kindness of Strangers

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Perhaps a cautionary tale. Or indulgent nonsense. A stranger punches you and you socialise with them as if they were friends? Well written of course but the description is relentless. Method writing? Try something a bit more inspiring if you know whats good for you. But who does?

Twisted short story

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A rip-snorting yarn that sucks you in. Loved it. McEwan writes in a way that has you in the room.

Engrossing

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I enjoyed listening to this audio book and love the reader. It was an interesting story- but can I say I enjoyed it? I am not sure. I felt the couple to be very naive and so the ending should not have been such a surprise. It was. I have no idea why it should end like this :(

How Weird is this ?

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A lot of hype around this book but failed to live up to expectations. Takes a good while to get going.

Use of language and writing style is good though.

Ok

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