Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a 1998 novel by British writer Ian McEwan. It is a morality tale revolving around a newspaper editor and a composer. McEwan was awarded the Booker Prize for the novel. The book begins with the funeral of Molly Lane. Guests at the funeral include the Foreign Secretary Julian Garmony, newspaper editor Vernon Halliday, and eminent composer Clive Linley. These three share certain attributes: each has a very high opinion of himself, each ... more

Amsterdam is a 1998 novel by British writer Ian McEwan. It is a morality tale revolving around a newspaper editor and a composer. McEwan was awarded the Booker Prize for the novel. The book begins with the funeral of Molly Lane. Guests at the funeral include the Foreign Secretary Julian Garmony, newspaper editor Vernon Halliday, and eminent composer Clive Linley. These three share certain attributes: each has a very high opinion of himself, each was at some time Molly's lover, and each regards the dead woman's husband George with a mixture of amusement and contempt. Clive and Vernon muse upon Molly's death. It seems she had some kind of rapid-onset brain disease (not specified) that left her helpless and mad. Neither man can understand her attraction to Julian Garmony, the right-wing Foreign Secretary who is about to challenge the Leadership. Clive returns home to continue work on his symphony. He has been commissioned to write a piece for the forthcoming millennium and much of the... less