Ian McEwan: A writer's life

One of Britain's most successful living writers, Ian McEwan has made a career of dreaming up stories. But his new book, "Lessons," features a plotline inspired by a secret his mother kept from him until her death: that she'd given up McEwan's brother for adoption. The author talks with correspondent Seth Doane about his latest novel, a winding, lifelong journey chronicling love, child sex abuse, and lost opportunities.
#ianmcewan #writer #writing
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[@elizaheathen]

"it's no longer a job; it's a way of being. to stop doing it would be to cease existing."

[@prasantbanerjee8199]

Ian Mcewan is always a pleasure to listen to. In this talk, I was intrigued also by the constant, robot-like, and determinedly unflinching stare of the interviewer.

[@cyndiezahner5883]

Autobiographical, yes. Always. Wonderful interview and gives those of us who turn out sixteen-hour days, seven days a week, hope. It's a way of being. Truly. Even for those of us who live in small houses.

[@Algabatz]

Now I have to read one of his books!

[@vesely8814]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@xinxinli8779]

Just got this book, it's a difficult subject, but it's a rewarding read.

[@anitahayne8621]

After watching this segment, I bought his book.

[@dr.amitabhamukherjee3601]

Wow! Unbelievable that he has been at it for half a century. The Cement Garden and The Comfort of Strangers still read like they were written yesterday. His pellucid prose cuts like a scalpel, making art out of depravity and personal demons. He is a minimalist genius, parsimonious with the tools at his disposal but so semantically exact that he knocks you out. At his best he combines the precision of Flaubert with the sensuous delight of Updike.

[@feelinguru-vywiththepaingu9808]

Beautifully written, your comment and McEwan's books!

[@OldBluesChapterandVerse]

Well, Ian McEwan has a very, very nice home. 🤯 Nice to see a point being made by the prominent, foregrounded placement of the recent biography of Philip Roth on his coffee table.

[@Numismatists_Matter]

#IanMcEwan 😌☺️ A Bookshop is wonderful , so is your mom and home.

[@reddkat6349]

Great interview, really enjoyed. He sounds alot like my mom describing her love of teaching. She taught for 45 years. Thanks

[@petestevens3970]

Nice closing remarks by the author.

[@ericjflaherty1330]

Great Author & great books too

[@steveconn]

Along with Martin Amis last of the great, non-children's fantasy English novelists. Atonement made a powerful, poignant film adaptation. Will check his new work out (Late Art critic Robert Hughes very good too! And Pauline Kael!).

[@_aworldthatspoke950]

Have you read Anne Quinn? Iain Sinclair? Johnathan Meads? Don’t narrow yourself into the barnes and noble pigeonhole

[@yasminhelenendangeredspecies]

I agree Ian McEwan is truly one of the Finest Writers and yes, he sits at the table alongside Martin Amis. And so many other truly Fine writers; many of them are Women as well.

[@dr.amitabhamukherjee3601]

@@yasminhelenendangeredspecies IMHO Amis is a gifted prose stylist who never made the cut as a novelist. It's not enough to write a polished, perfect sentence to be a great novelist. Among McEwan's eminent contemporaries, Julian Barnes, Graham Swift, Salman Rushdie and maybe Howard Jacobson, writers as diverse -- and as good -- as they come, knew the trick (not to mention IM himself).

[@Nothereforit174]

Give people who aren’t white men a chance 😂....

[@SandyWolf-]

Stunning man lovely writer!

[@lpinbrez]

A brilliant author!

[@deadinthebed963]

Couple of hours from London😂 That's all the Americans would recognize

[@jeanlaubenthal698]

To an artist work and play have little distinction.

[@emiliobello2538]

Saw this at breakfast

[@scottkerns5095]

I saw this at 5:15 in the afternoon while eating chicken rice and sipping on a Pepsi.

[@thelaurels13]

A brilliant author and a beautiful house.

[@SimplicityForGood]

why write and read really.. why watch film or act.. is it not better after all we go live an actual life and challenge ourselves in this physical space than luring ourselves to live in the minds of other people''s fantasies likes book, plays and films... Perhaps we should give up the fiction in all forms and set sail to find ourselves out in the real world we never otherwise will see.

[@aldosam5317]

Just another leftist

[@Pitboolia59]

Beautiful. I have always loved his work.