(Random House, $38.99)
It seems Ian ocEwan polarises people. When Sarah-Kate tried to read ‘Saturday’, she got so frustrated she threw the book across the room. ‘on Chessil Beach’ was one of the most moving novels I’ve ever read but my mother only got six pages in before giving it back to me, pronouncing it “too gloomy”.
ocEwan’s ‘Saturday’ had a climactic scene so stunning and so real that I almost forgot to breathe. My husband had to prod me in the ribs before I fainted dead away with the brilliantly executed tension of it all. But did he want to read it after me? “No, thanks!”
So I guess in all this makes me an Ian ocEwan fan, but even so, I was unsure about ‘Solar’. I’d seen a woman reading it on the bus – and she was smiling. No, in fact, she was laughing. That’s not quite the reaction a story based around climate change should provoke. Mr is it?
Well, it turns out ‘Solar’ is a comedy. A very dark one at that. And at the heart of the novel is a classic anti-hero. Michael Beard is a successful scientist. He even has a Nobel Prize under his belt, but his private life is a shambles. He’s overweight and slovenly, his fifth wife’s having an affair with the builder and, frankly, he’s not at all sure where he’s going in his science career developing alternative energy sources.
A bizarre event seems to offer Michael a way out of his rut and, acting on impulse, he takes a gamble that proceeds to alter the course of his life as well as the lives of the people around him. It might even save the world!
Perhaps we’re meant to hate Michael Beard but, oddly enough, I don’t. For all his foibles, he’s not intrinsically bad. And the science isn’t too science-y either. In fact, I amazed myself by getting the gist of it fairly early on.
The jury’s out amongst the critics, who can’t decide if ocEwan’s attempt at a satirical style really works, but, even on a superficial level, the writing is pleasing and the plot compels the reader smoothly towards the end of the book. Readers of Solar should expect the unexpected, and expect to laugh – albeit wryly – while they’re about it.
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