• Nutshell

  • By: Ian McEwan
  • Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
  • Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (2,104 ratings)

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Nutshell

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
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Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Atonement, Nutshell is a classic story of murder and deceit, told by a narrator with a perspective and voice unlike any in recent literature. A bravura performance, it is the finest recent work from a true master.

To be bound in a nutshell, see the world in two inches of ivory, in a grain of sand. Why not, when all of literature, all of art, of human endeavour is just a speck in the universe of possible things?

©2016 Ian McEwan (P)2016 Random House Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Short, fast-paced, expertly rendered by a voice it seems written for, this is flawless production, and pure entertainment." ( AudioFile)

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The Long Version, and the Short.

This was my sixth novel by Ian McEwan, and though I'd be hard-pressed to say which has been my favourite so far, it's safe to say "Nutshell" now ranks among my favourite novels of all time. This is one of those audiobooks I felt the need to take on much-hated household chores for, just so I could have a long stretch of listening time, and I listened to this audiobook in one extended, fascinating session (the house looks much better for it too).

A modern and loose retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet, it has all the elements of high drama and theatrics you'd expect from the Bard, but whether you're 'into' Shakespeare, or even familiar with the original play or not hardly matters. Here is a very clever thriller about two lovers plotting murder for entirely selfish motives, the whole of which is narrated by a yet unborn foetus. An unusual and not especially credible narrator you might say, but then I've read books narrated by trees, dogs and horses among other things: the greatest reward comes if you're willing to suspend disbelief and go along with the story.

Trudy and her husband John are currently separated, though they are expecting their first child. The expecting mother claims she needs 'time to herself', but really, she just wants to keep the coast clear in the London marriage home that John inherited from his parents so that she and her lover Claude (who just happens to be John's younger brother) can indulge in frequent passionate sex and even more frequent plotting sessions. John must be gotten rid of, so they can get their hands on the fortune the sale of the house will bring, and nothing is going to get in their way. Possibly.

Our narrator has clearly inherited a large dose of his father's creative genius—John is a published poet and publisher, and baby expresses himself beautifully and with great wit, quotes famous literary authors and happens to be a wine aficionado thanks to his mother's frequent imbibing of fine vintages. He hates and mistrusts his uncle Claude, and for good reason. Apart from Claude possibly wanting to be rid of another man's baby, he's also an insufferable bore whose conversation is entirely made up of platitudes and boring clichés; not clear is whether Claude is a complete fool, or cleverly hiding his true self.

I've seen Rory Kinnear perform in Shakespeare plays, and his Iago, the great villain in Othello, was especially chilling. Here he brings all his talent to give voice to baby and all the other protagonists, and it's a brilliant performance.

***

But why am I using so many words? I should just copy/paste my spontaneous reaction when I finished the book, which I shared on Facebook:

"THIS BOOK IS BLOODY BRILLIANT!!! Hurry up and get your hands on it, and I defy you to NOT take it all in in one go. Also, if you're considering trying audiobooks, then this is one to go with, brilliantly performed by the fantastic Rory Kinnear, who is among other things, a superb Shakespeare actor, which is entirely fitting for a book referencing Hamlet. But wait! It's a thriller! Narrated by a foetus! With horrible people doing horrible things (plotting murder most foul), in most amusing ways. And needless to say, this being Ian McEwan, beautifully, beautifully written. I loved this book so much, I hurried up to purchase my own audio copy right after having listened to a library loaner. Kinnear's performance is definitely a keeper (and may he narrate many more remarkable books like this one).

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Hamlet as a fetus

Usually I don't buy shorter books because of cost per minute analysis my frugal mind cannot help making. This one is worth at least 2 or 3 listens so factor that in.

I'd suggest ignoring any negative reviews as those people seem to be looking for a traditional whodunit which this is not. This is literature. Brilliant, hilarious, poignant literature. McEwan is a writer's writer. This is one of the best books you will ever listen to. Unless a fetus as wine critic confuses or annoys you, then maybe skip it. If this intrigues you, you will love Nutshell.

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McEwan Does It Again

McEwan's latest novel (more a novella, really) is a wickedly funny riff on Hamlet. "So here I am, upside down in a woman," the narrator--a fetus--begins. (He's "bound in a nutshell," so to speak.) If you're going to enjoy this book, you have to be willing to go with this premise; if you keep asking how a fetus could have such an extensive vocabulary and sophisticated thoughts, or how he could know so much about what is going on in the world outside the womb, you'll miss the fun.

Trudy is roughly nine months pregnant. Although she separated from her husband John, a not very successful poet and publisher, she still lives in the dilapidated family home in London that he inherited., while John has moved to a flat in Shoreditch. Trudy initially told him that they needed time apart to make the marriage work--but she is deep into an affair with his younger brother Claude, a real estate developer (who has about the same level of class as the current Republican presidential candidate). Despite her advanced pregnancy, Trudy and Claude engage in regular and vigorous sex, leaving our narrator to worry that he will have his fontanel poked in or will absorb some essence of the deplorable Claude into his being. He does, however, enjoy the finer wines that his mother imbibes and has developed quite the connoisseur's palate.

The trouble begins when John announces that he knows about and accepts Trudy and Claude's relationship, confesses that he has a new lover of his own, and states that he wants to move back into the family home. The plot thickens as Trudy and Claude decide that John must go--permanently. And our narrator is positioned to eavesdrop on their plans to murder his father and give him up for adoption. If Shakespeare's Hamlet was hampered by indecision, well, this protagonist is even more incapacitated by his unborn state. Literally and emotionally attached to his mother (he experiences every hormonal and adrenal shift), he is nonetheless horrified by the plot against his father's life and by the thought of Trudy giving him up to live with the detested Claude.

In addition to the obvious parallels to Hamlet, McEwan weaves well-known lines from the play into Nutshell, although the words are sometimes put into the mouths of unexpected characters and sometimes subtly changed, a word here or there. If you're familiar with the play, the effect is delightful--reminiscent of the way in which famous lines by the Bard keep popping up in Tom Stoppard's screenplay for "Shakespeare in Love." And McEwan brings it all to a climax that, in its own context, rivals the final scene of Hamlet. "The rest is chaos."

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Alas poor phœtus! I knew him, McEwan

Alas poor phœtus! I knew him, McEwan: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me in his sac a thousand times; and now, how
abhorred in my imagination it is!

Seriously, Hamlet + 3rd Trimester + Conspiracy + Poetry = funky magic. According to Christopher Booker*, "there are only seven basic plots in the whole world -- plots that are recycled again and again in novels, movies, plays and operas." Ian McEwan sucks the Hamlet story right up into the Queen of Denmark's uterus. Not really. This is not Hamlet, rather Hamletesque. I'm going to have to carry this to be or not to be baby through a dreamless night to properly bring her to full-term.

Ian McEwan seems to have been drinking a lot with Martin Amis. This novel seems to be almost too clever, but it is so unique that he kinda pulls the little bugger off. Imagine Hamlet soliloquizing inside his mother as his uncle Claude bangs his c#@k against his mum's thin uterine wall. This is the twisted stuff of literature and art. This is where both dreams and nightmares are born and borne. This novella contains both the spilt seeds of life AND the unfrozen nectar of death. Out of the mouth of unborn babes and placenta-nursing fetuses - tipsy after mum has had her 4th wine - new truths about the world are discovered. I wander, but not far too far; trapped within a membrane, I don't want to give much away.

*This quote is actually directly from an April 2015, NYTimes review of his book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Michiko Kakutani

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Literary Masterpiece? Not for me

I get it. Hamlet in a Nutshell. The prose is elegant and eloquent. The performance is flawlessly voiced by a fine actor. But our Hamlet was a fetus? A fetus who suffered all the insults a drunken mother and her nefarious horny lover could deliver Ugh. You'll never read sex scenes like these again....told from the viewpoint of one whose "home" is being forever violated by....ok...never mind. I'm happy to read all of the glowing reviews. But this one was just not....for....me!

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listening to the wise baby

Any additional comments?

Ian McEwan is one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint. One of the best of his that I have read. It was thought-provoking and touching. While the foreground story was about a fetus who "hears" a murder plot hatched up between his mother and her lover (his uncle) to kill his father, the background story is about how we are made to love even our most imperfect and/or dangerous love objects. It examines the conflict between love and morality in the human soul.

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Too Weird

Ian McEwan has a great ability with language. The words and descriptions layer upon each other to make a vivid picture. I could see the scene and characters so clearly. However the interior motivations of the characters are missing as they should be with a narrator who is basically looking at things from the outside. There is no real story that is unveiled in layers like the physical description. There was no exciting motivation to keep reading. I kept listening because the language was beautiful, not because it was a great story. There was far too much philosophical discussion to make it even vaguely realistic.

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Very Clever

Ian McEwan is one of my favorites writers. His imagination is inspiring. This is a very entertaining story and is beautifully read.

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complete twaddle, except the reader

Somebody really is taken with themself. In this case, it's the author.
What he intends to be shocking, i.e. the fetal Hamlet's head being banged by his uncle's man parts while he and Trudy couple is just gross. Not shocking. Just ewww. This whole book was like listening to an author talk about his writing skill while he's masturbating in a particularly seedy back alley.
The one bright spot is Rory Kinnear's narration. He's got a beautiful voice and perfect delivery. Even though what he's stuck delivering is a whiny, poncy, ridiculous proto-Hamlet. More Rory, please!

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A Wonderful Witty Unique Story

I was completely captivated by the "voice" created by the author. It is witty, erudite and held my interest from beginning to end. Great writing and great reading. Don't hesitate - go for it.

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