On the way back to their London flat from Heathrow, Joe Rose (a science journalist in the mould of a much milder version of Richard Dawkins) and his partner Clarissa (an English academic who works on Keats) stop for a picnic in a field. No sooner do they open their wine and they hear screaming. A hot air balloon has broken its anchor rope leaving a 10 year old alone in the basket in high winds. Joe and several other bystanders run to the boy's aid and attempt to pull on the rope and bring the balloon down. In the attempt one man dies as the balloon lifts in the high wind and the other men let go leaving him to fall to his death. One of the other men who was attempting to help retrieve the balloon, Jed Parry, perceives that Joe is giving him some kind of sign and commits his undying love to Joe. Parry believe that Joe is drawing him in and reciprocating the love he feels. Parry is also a devote believer of his own twisted version of Christianity and he commits to making Joe believe as he does. Parry follows Joe wherever he goes and starts leaving insane numbers of messages on his phone and writing him deranged letters. Joe instantly believes that Parry is highly dangerous but Clarissa and the police won't believe him so the stalking continues and Joe's other relationships start to crack under the pressure of his attempt to prove Parry is a threat.
Awww Ian McEwan... always one for darkness. McEwan's amazingly beautiful Atonement is one of my favourite novels even for its sadness and the only other work of his that I have read is the heartless, depressing but also brilliant Amsterdam. McEwan readers I know are of two camps- the fans who love his work even with its inherent darkness and the admirers who read his work despite the fact that they find it depressing. I think I edge towards the fan side though both Amsterdam and Enduring Love made me none too happy and Atonement makes me cry. Like the other McEwan I have read, I found Enduring Love beautifully written and masterfully crafted. Unlike the others it also had this rapidness to it which was driven by the compelling creepiness of the story. The story of the balloon accident is described vividly that seems like it will be highly significant to the novel and to have it merely act as the catalyst for the later events just shows McEwan's talent. Like many of the books I've read of late I found the main character not the most likeable of people- Joe's treatment of Clarissa grated and he was more than a tad pompous. I did like the character of Clarissa though as she seemed the most rational person in the book- also I've got to support people who work on the Romantics, they're my people. Parry is one of the best and creepiest pictures of a stalker I've seen in fiction and he seriously wigged me out- his overt religiosity will jar with some readers of faith and it did rattle me a bit until I remember that the version of creepy religious fervour displayed by Parry is a common symptom of psychotic conditions and that wasn't McEwan putting all people of faith in the bin of raving loon-doom (or maybe he was but I choose to believe he wasn't). Definitely worth the read and it is a fast read but be prepared for the creep factor.
Also just discovered (or re-discovered as I'm sure I saw reviews for it when it was at the cinema) that there is a movie of Enduring Love which stars Daniel Craig as Joe, Samantha Morton as Claire (not sure why but they renamed Clarissa) and Rhys Ifans as Parry. Can I say (not having seen it) that it looks DREADFUL! Every character is miscast in particular Daniel Craig, usually always a welcome addition to any film, as Joe is supposed to be mid-to-late forties and balding. Reading the user review that comes up first on IMDB makes it sound even worse as whoever wrote this review repeatedly says Parry is gay which is not stated in any way in the book- he is obsessed and in love but he is also insane and the form of his obsession whilst seemingly homosexual is never spoken of in sexual terms in the book. Best avoided like the plague I think.
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