The Bibliophile's Compass

Title : The Cement Garden Author : Ian McEwan Publication Year : 1978 Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 Pages : 152 Source : physical book Genre : literary fiction First, let me begin with a warning: if you are uncomfortable with taboo subjects in almost any form, The Cement Garden is probably not the book for you. Please protect your peace and maybe go read something with a cottage and a harmless scone. Now that the warning is out of the way: yes, the beginning is disturbing, and yes, the ending is deeply disturbing. But taken as a whole, this is a brilliantly unsettling little book. And I do mean little in size only, because emotionally it is full of decay, grief, neglect, sexuality, family dysfunction, adolescence, isolation, and moral discomfort. The story is narrated by Jack, one of four children who find themselves without parents and decide to hide the truth in order to avoid social services and stay together in the family home. Of course, this disaster is not entirely sudden. These chil...

Title: Nutshell Author: Ian McEwan Publication Year: 2016 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 Pages: 208 Source: book Genre: literary fiction, retelling, humor So here I am, having finished the book and still blinking in confusion. No matter how long I sit with this story, it remains weird and different. Of course it is—someone thought it would be a good idea to hand the narrative over to the most unhinged type of narrator imaginable: a fetus. And not just any fetus. Oh no. This is a Hamlet-adjacent, aggressively thoughtful, politically attuned, philosophically overcaffeinated fetus who makes most adults look underqualified to do anything. From the opening line—“So here I am, upside down in a woman” —I simply surrendered. Fine, I thought, we’re doing this. I accepted the sheer madness of the point of view without protest. It was, in fact, ridiculously fun. But then this embryo starts casually displaying a level of knowledge about the outside world so encyclopedic, so disturbingly precise, that I b...

Title : What We Can Know Author : Ian McEwan Publication Year : 2025 Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pages : 320 Source : ebook Genre : literary fiction, historical fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Speculative Fiction First of all, What Can We Know? Absolutely nothing! I honestly don’t know how to review this book, because I was having the time of my life reading it while also being immensely annoyed by it. I was glued to the pages, deeply annoyed by the characters, and distinctly uncomfortable ever siding with or even empathising with anyone Ian McEwan puts on the page. At this point, I’m convinced it’s his signature move: make the reader squirm by the end, all by dragging out secrets that really should have stayed buried with no expiration date. This book is shelved as Science Fiction, Dystopia, Climate Change, Speculative… which is cute, but where are mystery, thriller, crime, and campus novel in that list? If you show up for one genre, you’ll leave with an armful of others and find you...

1840 Bon-Bon by Edgar Allen Poe US ( My Review ) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Edgar Allan Poe's short story about a self proclaimed philosopher, Pierre Bon-Bon, who has an encounter with the Devil and has a conversation with him. 1887  Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle UK Being the first novel is the Holmes detective series by Doyle, A Study in Scarlet largely introduces the reader to the forthcoming series by Doyle. 1919  Mr Pim Passes By by AA Milne UK A charming country estate, a respectable couple, and a peculiar visitor set the stage for delightful chaos in this sparkling comedy by A. A. Milne, best known for creating Winnie-the-Pooh. 1924 "La Révolution surréaliste" by André Breton FR 1997 Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris US David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. 1998 Amsterdam  by Ian McEwan UK A sharp contemporary morality tale, cleverly disguised as a comic novel,...

1939  Key Largo by Maxwell Anderson 1973  Good Doctor by Neil Simon This Broadway hit is a composite of Neil Simon and Anton Chekhov. In one sketch a harridan storms a bank and upbraids the manager for his gout and lack of money. In another a father takes his son to a house where he will be initiated into the mysteries of sex only to relent at the last moment and leave the boy more perplexed than ever. 2019 The Cockroach by Ian McEwan (UK) Jim Sams has undergone a metamorphosis. In his previous life he was ignored or loathed, but in his new incarnation he is the most powerful man in Britain – and it is his mission to carry out the will of the people. Nothing must get in his way: not the opposition, nor the dissenters within his own party. Not even the rules of parliamentary democracy. 2025 The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver by Rafael Torrubia (Scotland) No one remembers the calamity that killed the gods and stole the names of their people. Now Shipwright and Shroudw...