Solar

By Ian McEwan

Synopsis: Solar is an engrossing and satirical novel which focuses on climate change. It is a stylish new work by one of the world’s greatest living writers about one man’s ambitions and self-deceptions.

Michael Beard is in his late fifties; bald, overweight, unprepossessing – a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. An inveterate philanderer, Beard finds his fifth marriage floundering. When Beard’s professional and personal worlds are entwined in a freak accident, an opportunity presents itself, a chance for Beard to extricate himself from his marital mess, reinvigorate his career and very possibly save the world from environmental disaster.

Published: March, 2011 | ISBN-13: 978-0099549024

Author’s Homepage: http://www.ianmcewan.com
Author’s Facebook Page
Author’s Blog: http://ian-mcewan.blogspot.com.au

It’s always difficult to spend 300 pages with a character you don’t really like. That really split people on this book- the main character has so few redeeming qualities and makes such poor choices it’s a little like watching a really slow car crash! – @lisushi

The Guardian Book Review
Huffington Post’s Article: Why American reviewers disliked Ian McEwan’s “Solar”
The Telegraph Book Review
NYTimes Book Review