I read the short story it developed from, which was incredibly bad.
― And according to some websites, there were “sexcapades.” (James Morrison), Thursday, 15 August 2019 00:21 (four years ago) link
mcewan got slammed by the spec fiction community for thinking he was doing something new when the book's sf elements were actually a rewrite of frankenstein.
― adam the (abanana), Thursday, 15 August 2019 16:52 (four years ago) link
who cares about the sf community, i never really understood what was so interesting about science fiction. i think ian mcewan does write about something which is already there, artificial intelligence and sex robots exist. he just thinks a couple of years into the future. in the passage that i heard i had the feeling he managed quite well to put himself into the position of the machine, to think like a machine. this is a theme which will become incredibly important in the very near future. if you think about it, the smartphone is already the best friend of millions of people today.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 15 August 2019 19:40 (four years ago) link
As I said, read the short story. He does not successfully put himself into the position of anything other than a late middle-aged man who incorrectly thinks he's doing something new, and who is doing it very badly.
― And according to some websites, there were “sexcapades.” (James Morrison), Friday, 16 August 2019 00:05 (four years ago) link
That's sort of what bugged me bout the end of Atonement, too. It's just the driest possible version of cheesy Twilight Zone/Philip K Dick twist ending, posing as [something something] postmodernism
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 16 August 2019 00:57 (four years ago) link
He becomes a Companion of Honour.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/16/martin-amis-ian-mcewan-and-anna-wintour-honoured-in-kings-birthday-list
― the pinefox, Saturday, 17 June 2023 10:28 (ten months ago) link