A Report by Mann Rentoy

Brief Biography
Ian McEwan

born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot,
England

studied at the University of Sussex,
where he received a BA degree in
English Literature in 1970.

received his MA degree in English
Literature at the University of East
Anglia
father was a Sergeant Major in the
British Academy, this is why Ian lived
abroad in places like Singapore and
Libya

his mother suffered from vascular
dementia, the sickness of the main
character in Atonement, and the
same sickness of the main characters
mother in Saturday

an outspoken atheist
Prizes and Awards
1976 Somerset Maugham Award First Love, Last
Rites

1981 Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist) The
Comfort of Strangers

1987 Whitbread Novel Award The Child in Time

1993 Prix Fmina Etranger (France) The Child in
Time

1997 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for
fiction) (shortlist) Enduring Love

1998 Booker Prize for Fiction Amsterdam
1999 Shakespeare Prize (Germany)

2001 Booker Prize for
Fiction (shortlist) Atonement

2001 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for
fiction) (shortlist) Atonement

2001 Whitbread Novel
Award (shortlist) Atonement

2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Fiction)
(shortlist) Atonement

2002 WH Smith Award for
Fiction (shortlist) Atonement
2002 WH Smith Award for
Fiction (shortlist) Atonement

2002 WH Smith Literary Award Atonement

2003 National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award
(USA) Atonement

2005 Man Booker International Prize (shortlist)

2006 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for
fiction) Saturday

2007 Man Booker International Prize (shortlist)
2007 Man Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist) On
Chesil Beach

2008 British Book Awards Author of the Year On
Chesil Beach

2008 British Book Awards Book of the Year
Award On Chesil Beach

2008 Good Housekeeping Book Award (best
author) On Chesil Beach

2008 Readers Digest Author of the Year Award
2010 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse
Prize Solar

2010 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author
Award

2011 Jerusalem Prize Winner
Works of

Ian McEwan
Reviews & Interviews
about

SATURDAY
Various Editions
SATURDAY

London: Jonathan Cape, 2005. 279 p. (ISBN: 0224072994).
[Limited, signed edition] London: Jonathan Cape, 2005. 279 p. (ISBN:
0224076876).
New York: Nan A. Talese, 2005. 289 p. (ISBN: 0385511809).
Toronto: Random House Canada, 2005. 279 p. (ISBN: 0676977618).
New York: Random House Large Print, 2005. 418 p. (ISBN: 0375435328).
Zaterdag. (trans. by Rien Verhoef). Amsterdam: De Harmonie, 2005. 327 p.
(ISBN: 9061697476). [Dutch].
Shabat. (trans. by Semadar Milo). Tel Aviv: `Am `oved, 2005. 324 p. (ISBN:
9651318090). [Hebrew].
Sbado. (trans. by Jaime Zulaika). Barcelona: Anagrama, 2005. 328 p. (ISBN:
8433970763). [Spanish].
Sobota. (trans. by Andrzej Szulc). Warszawa: A.A. Kurylowicz, 2005. 319 p.
(ISBN: 837359275X). [Polish].
Saturday. (trans. by Bernhard Robben). Zurich: Diogenes, 2005. 386 p. (ISBN:
3257064942). [German].
London: Vintage, 2006. 279 p. (ISBN: 0099469685).
Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2006. 279 p. (ISBN: 0676977626).
New York: Anchor Books, 2006. 289 p. (ISBN: 1400076196).
Doyoobi (trans. by Taichi Koyama). Tokyo: Shincho-sha, 2007. 351 p. (ISBN-10:
4105900633 - softcover).
In 9 languages:
English
Dutch
Hebrew
German
French
Spanish
Polish
Russian
Japanese
The Plot
Backdrop:

February 15, 2003
Biggest ever assembly
of people in London to
protest US invasion of
Iraq (Post 9/11)
Henry Perowne
Neurosurgeon
* Wakes up at 3:45 am

* Plane on fire landing

* Chats with Theo, the son

* Makes love with Rosalind,
the wife
* Leaves for his usual
Saturday game of squash
with his anesthetist

* car accident involving
Baxter and his two goons

* Henry humiliates him after
detecting his neural disease
* The two goons abandon
Baxter

* Henry loses the game

* Henry gets fish for the
special reunion dinner with
father-in-law, daughter from
Paris to launch book of poetry
* Henry visits his mother in a
care-giving facility

* Goes home to prepare
special dinner

* Daisy comes home

* passionate debate about
the war
* Father-in-law arrives

* Theo comes home

* finally, Rosalind comes
home, followed by Baxter and
one of the goons

* Baxter holds Rosalind
hostage
* Forces Daisy to recite one
of her poems

* Henry convinces Baxter that
theres possible cure for him

* Baxter asks Henry to show
him the papers/proof

* Once again, the goon
abandons Baxter

* Theo and Henry overpower
Baxter, throwing him down
the stairs

* police picks up the
unconscious Baxter
* Hospital calls Henry to
perform operation on Baxter

* Baxter agrees to perform
the operation

* later comes home to make
love again with Rosalind

* Sunday begins
Characters
Henry Perowne
Rosalind wife of Henry, a lawyer

Their two children:
Daisy poet, studying in Paris
Theo blues musician, composer
Henrys Mother - dementia
Medical Terms
Narrative in Varying
Tenses
Constant Review of
Events
Lapidary Statements
Autobiographical Details
Vascular Dementia of
Henrys Mom
Henrys Views on War
Summary of Events:
Plane Crash
Chat with Theo
Henry and Rosalind in bed
Baxter Encounter in car accident
Game of Squash
Fish Market
Visit to Mom in Care-Giving Facility
Band Rehearsal of Theo
House: Preparation for Reunion Dinner
Daisy Comes Home/Passionate Debate
Father-in-Law Comes Home
Theo Comes Home
Rosalind Arrives with Baxter and a Goon
Hostage
Theo and Henry Overpower Baxter
Surgery of Baxter at the Hospital
Henry and Rosalind in bed
Tiring Excursions
Or Flaunting Erudition?
Surgical Operation
War, Terrorism, Game of
Squash, Cooking,
Sickness, Surgery, Brain,
Television News, Medical
Language, Mercedes Benz,
Classical Music
Style of the Writer/ Writers
Tradition
Third Person Narrative in the Present Tense
with
Flashbacks
Ruminations
Views/Opinions on Various Issues
Stream-of-Consciousness-Like Narration
Historical Commentaries
Medical Procedures
Cooking Instructions
Musical Analysis
Medical Diagnosis
Poetics
Critique of Culture
Conclusion:
This is Post-Modern
Touches of
Stream-of-
Consciousness
Themes
Intrusion/Penetration
- in all its forms -
The Iraq Invasion

Saddams Terrorism

The Protest in London

Baxters Hostage Drama

Henrys Intrusion into the Minds of Every Character

Henrys Surgery of the Brain of Baxter

Sex at the Start and End of the Novel
Intrusion/Penetration
- in all its forms -
Daisys Passionate Debate with Henry

Henrys Intrusion of Theos Band Rehearsal

Mental Disorder of Henrys Mom

Father-in-Laws Penetrating Influence on the Family

Intrusion of Rosalinds Boss

Intrusion of Matthew Arnold

Theo and Henry Overpowering Baxter
Intrusion/Penetration
- in all its forms -
Daisy Forced to Recite Her Poem

Baby Inside Daisys Womb

Intrusion of the Frenchman into Their Lives

All Mental Disorders are Forms of Intrusion

Squash

All the Commentary Considerations are Intrusions in the Narration:

War, Terrorism, Game of Squash, Cooking, Sickness, Surgery,
Brain, Television News, Medical Language, Mercedes Benz,
Classical Music
New World Order
Paranoid World

Generation of Unrest

Blurring of Morals
Godlessness
Atheist Agenda of McEwan:

Evil in Man
How Dark Can Man Make of the World
Man Determines History/Man is god
Significance to Literature
Clear depiction of the kind of
paranoia that the world was
thrown into after 9/11
Lapses/Criticism
Snail-Paced Movement of the Narrative because of the
Present Tense Narration and the Excursions

Verbal Calisthenics / Flaunting

Henry Agreeing to Perform the Operation: Wasnt he just
shaken by the hostage drama?

Game of Squash: Showed Henrys Determination to Win
Why then was he like a weakling before Baxter?
Indecisive and Fearful
Evaluation:
Language: 10 Popcorns

Story: 7 Popcorns

Enrichment: 9 Popcorns

Over-All: 8.5 Popcorns
A Report by Mann Rentoy