The protagonist, Michael Beard, is a thoroughly unlikable human being and the book follows his meandering, largely plot-less life for 300 pages. I don't mind reading about an awful character, but when I can't get invested in the lead, I need to get invested in the plot and there wasn't much there. I found the summary on the back misleading. It was an annoying struggle to read and I'm glad to be done. If I were the kind of reader who DNF'ed books, I would have given up on this a hundred pages in when I realized the plot I was waiting for was never coming.

I would not recommend. Just a disappointment all around since I've heard such good things about Ian McEwan, but I'm going to assume I just picked up the wrong book and I will give him a second chance.