Ian McEwan, The Comfort of Strangers
I have picked up this novel (novella, really) by Ian McEwan because I had seen the movie back when it was released in 1990, but could not remember anything about it, except that it happened in Venice, Italy, that the creepy character played by Christopher Walken gets somehow involved in a couple’s life, and that the overall atmosphere is very disturbing…
It turns out, after all, that I remembered the most important things. Colin and Mary, an unmarried couple, bored with each other but in denial about the state of their relationship, spend a couple of weeks in a town which is never named, but is probably Venice. While rambling through the streets looking for a restaurant, they lose themselves one evening, and meet Robert, a man eager to help them and spend time with them.
After an evening with Robert in his bar, where he tells them the story of his childhood, Colin and Mary get lost a second time (it is true that it is very easy to get lost in Venice!), and, after sleeping outside, stumble upon Robert once again, who offers them hospitality, so that they can rest properly. Then they meet Robert’s wife, Caroline, a disabled woman who seems, more than her husband, eager to have them here…
The story is slow moving, and we realize that something is very wrong with Robert and Caroline, without precisely knowing what. Some hints about their personalities are dropped page after page, but this does not prepare the reader for the shocking finale. Ian McEwan demonstrates how easy it is to become as trusting and as dependent as a child when far from home, in a country where people, places and customs are foreign to us… As I have noticed with other novels, Ian McEwan is very good with characterization, and knows how to describe the subtle nuances of relationships between couples. There is not a spare word in his writing, which is very fluid and pleasant, but this story is a bit disappointing compared to others(Atonement and Enduring Love).
Rating: 3/5
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