CATALIsr
relationship so i raelly jcomi'dised. about men. men conditioned by the
2 The relationship is hopeful. but business of malencss. Leonard. for f Immu— l the contexz in which it occurs is the 2 example. is afflicted and burdened Cold War ofBerlin. [suppose my I by it ' Dalila M..Bennle reviews the latest argument would be that it's very I That Leonard wear s both his : 53'3"“ “won pape'backs- I
l hard lor private happiness and public maleness and his Englishness I’TI‘d‘efi (if Light Gregory Benford sorrow to remain long in awkwardly is ainusingly underscored l‘ (’5? 8-99) “19 Sequel ‘0 (1’90!
confinement. These things dc when he first mingles with the ' “‘1‘ RM” [1" mi" dUlhOf 0f the Classic
g i interfere.‘ : American soldiers in Berlin. He is ; “WU-“'11P? l'd Ns‘bUlii Award Winning i In spite ofthe horrific suitcase i alternately appalled and fascinated “W’k imd Q"? of the few anovelsl i ordeal. The immrni does end on an 3 by these gt own-up kids with ; Wild its 21 Virgina! and acne-ridden optimistic note. with the end ofthe chocolate milk moustachcs. ‘clean l WWW?” “'h‘Ch 5"” 'm'P‘mgC-g 0" my 1 Cold War in sight ":vcn though the g and huge with bristling heads”. All : “’mm’U-‘nc-SS “Minyl- lhe ROOd‘guY book was written before the. Wall j shone, in: 3 ion Mud}; hit.“ ,31' humans tic: trom the iiicchs to . l came itimblingi‘owiil an i 3 scduc tit " their loud All’uig ieaii ; 11"?‘lhi‘fl‘li1‘li‘l“NV“li’k‘C_0flll(llllt5_0l reconciliation ii; the air. - music. -"~.rt:iin songs become i l‘ynihmpttable cyborgs. NB. Marvin . Against the stark. self-seeking ' anthems. expressions of joy and a i Mlnfil‘}; “th” “‘9 “C” hc tic“ 3‘ com "om prev'ous page characters ofhis earlier work. vent for some ofthe passion 3 ‘1Cleml‘m"lhc‘m‘dcimd calves“ gain something in the face of McEwan‘s latter-day protagonists imprisoned wrthin himself. ’ ‘ sycopihiantic testimonial on the adversity. Most people who come to contrast sharply. like Leonard. they Music also has its place in lhe all“; L “h E ‘ .1 realjoy, real happinessasdistinct are vulnerable. longing for security. Imitation Game. in which the t M 1. (lmgy‘cslf’ “ ‘3‘ mm ("Prion from pleasure. have usually come for a relationship they can call 3 heroine Cathy isobsessed by I l“ f ._ {Dy-\x literary through something] l‘ioiuc'. In The (,‘hilil m i'mu' for Mozan‘g Fantasia 'I hat nitisiciias . Eli‘s“. it‘htlgi ofth sclc nce fiction More than just ‘something‘ in the example. Stephen‘s solitude can only ' played so important a part in his g SW1} diff} it“ l‘t‘ml’df’l“. {1.10%. case of Leonard, the ‘innocent' of be broken by a reconciliation With ; literature begs the question: how r . y 0b“ «1 piston to fantasy weight. in McEwan‘s new book. Asayoung his wife; ‘homc. he washomc f impurtantis it in McLZwan‘sown litc'? . ‘1h’df‘lfirftdfctlLtilick'flon’fiflwo technician working for an enclosed. safe and therefore able to What music moves him‘.’ . 3 dozen short stories. hm knock-out Anglo American line-tapping provide. home wither he owned and ‘Rock and rock '. he says with a t “‘11:”?! ‘m “5.) rum“ projectin post-war Berlin. he finds wasowned. Home. why he anybody l carefulness which reminds me of my . . “3 icemgl‘m‘léfifqan [MAC everything {TCSh and a lilth 3'30 father discussing ‘popular music‘. “\Slm‘f‘ L‘fi-‘Wl find other ' frightening. Then he meets Maria. '1 his change of direction in "l‘he first band I saw. when l was i short stones. be world best w ntcr older and scarred by an unhappy MCEWim’S Chin littlt'tistition t‘Wcs j thirteen. was actually above. a bus . “bill” 5‘s “T “LC find 51 Itm‘lh Inuno‘thcr marriage and years ofwar hardship. much to hisinter-zst It; the women‘s 2 station in (iuildford. and that was E l‘f’ll‘lltsl «musk-“yr batch of pieces. Gently she initiates him into a movement. l the Rolling Smncs. That was my i I he (mind blastc r needs no further fulfilling and loving sexual ‘It began to affect the w av I wrote , introduction. Then there were i lfllff’dllfiilt’h. . ' . relationship. Her bed becomes their about men. l m otc about man as a _ moments when listening to rock and ' I ""390 f'nglqggnesls-"llf)CtaVla ‘horne’. somewhere they feel secure. ; 30X raith that: as a human roll filled the with an impatience that BUN” 0 (“5f L399} Ddlmlcly 0'10 But underneath the bed'MeEvtra-fi’s ‘ condition. l‘hat was very much the i I had to do something. And the only ff” l’mlll‘dwd 11”“ 9‘ lhc PTCVIOUS
time-bomb is ticking. A scuffle with case in The Irmm‘enland The (Ihildin thing I could think ofwas writing. W"? “l lhe (“’08)- hl” 0f WiiCkllY Maria’s drunken Cit-husband. Otto. Time. Patriarchy has isolated men. Wim Wenders said that he doubted Whimsical characters calledJodahs. turns intoafightin which Otto is Men have beeninvisible to g he‘d ever have been a filiti director if lelimb («0. Dls‘hiliill- Lllllh._lant killed. Rather than risk themselves. You can slccpwaIk t it hadn‘t been for rot k and roll and l JF-‘Um't- lfilkit Blt't’ltll'dl‘mppl and imprisonment for manslaughter. the through life and barely know you can see what he. means.‘ 5"hllflfl' - - OWN I mild“ "M “P- couplc decide to dispose of the body . mist And it‘s especially tempting And Mozart‘s Fantasia‘.’ : b)“ ‘1 3‘ 5 UUISUCSS Whls‘h‘mlc : -.- themselves. Painstakingly they l for men to do that because they find i "I‘hat was an obsession too. At l resumill‘l.‘ ()Clit‘ld BUlICTWTItCS 0'1 dismember Otto and pack him neatly ! lhcmscb es so neatly reflected in the university I had the idea that l was 1300mm”? 1“” J'Jdtimg by this into 1W0 enormous military institutions Iht‘y CfC'diL‘. going to write a book about Mozart‘s :I tormum drl‘CL Shc may We.” be a suitcases. Then. as Maria sets about I ‘A heroine is always representative piano pieces. although I had no 3 mm" “W” Pf‘5'lrt’ll10i’faln ~ . - cleaning the flat. Leonard embarks of Women. whereas at hero is just qualification to do so. When I was 5 I The "will Mayor Kim Nclt'mim on a nightmarish tour ofBerlin. ()ne representative of the human eleven I was in The Magit~ Flute at (NI—1L #330) 1“ thc “W N '5 alwfiiyt‘? man with two appallineg heavy condition. For instance The school. It was my first contact with two-thirty in the morning and raining suitcases. What can he do with Imitation Game. a play for television music and that early infatuation I - Light nil!“ 0“ “‘9‘ “0091*?! them? which had a heroine as opposed to a stunted me. I can‘t get beyond it S‘dcw'd'ks- SQmCOm‘ 15 Playing? Unfortunately for McEwan. these hero. was meant to be about the Who knows. if I’d been abtc to get tenor horn. footsteps echo . . . Yes. pivotal pages have been met by much struggle ofthe individual. but it was beyond Mozart. I might have been a [ L91”) “111k “CWT-“Cch Newman critical hullabaloo. and he is keen to taken to be purely about the different kind ()fwritcr. put that I has alot 0f fun With . - defend himselfagainst facile condition ofwomen. Since men down, write about The Magic Hun". ; SUb‘( hundlef'SqUC dialogue 1“ '4 allegations of ‘nastiness'. cannot identify with a heroine. it The Innocent by Ian .lli'Eii an is last'mm'w romp through the
i l
‘I think ofthis image ofa man with seemed more productive to write his suitcases as the starting point for a book. The Innocent was always intended partly as a kind of meditation on ‘the European Century", which has really been horrifically violent: the genocrdes. the wars of attrition, the fantastic cruelties. Somehow we have to make our happiness against that. In ten pages of the novel I try to reduce that to a private and personal nightmare. Like Leonard. we are carrying the heavy baggage of the EurOpean Century. What do you do with it? You open it and it scares you. It‘s hard to dispose of.‘
Does this mean that all the gruesome things that befall McEwan’s chracters are metaphors?
‘They‘re a kind of echo.‘
It seems hard that the reader should see Leonard and Maria‘s
80The List 1 7- l4June 1990
publisher! by Jonathan Cape a! £12. 9." “P”“«”.‘“‘”5 “Ham‘s (imam mingc‘
' with Dick Quick leaving film references splattered all over the place like Barry Norman in a black Maria. Machine-gun prose. . . Shiddown. Shweethart. and shtart readin‘ . . .
I Four Hundred Billion Stars Paul J. MacAuley (Orbit £3.50) In any other genre Dorthy Yoshida. telepath and astronomer. wouldn‘t have an ‘0‘ missing from her first name; but maybe it fell out when ‘they shot her i ass-backward out oforbit.‘
! I Spock’s World Diane Duane (Pan £3.99) 'l‘o boldly go where all Star Trek writers have gone before; our Mil-page mission to seek out new cliches. l he bane of Leonard Nimoy's lite. Spock is torn between Vulcan loyalties and his latent homosexual desire for James T. Kirk. To be read at Warp speed 10.