Welcome to Litsy!

Nope, did not enjoy. The only element that sparked anything for me was the inclusion of Turing in thr eighties, and that surreal idea of how much future technology might have been widely used then if things had been different.
But the actual plot, the characters, no empathy or sympathy for any!

Fascinating and worth the read I think. Didn‘t love the political interludes but was engrossed otherwise. Highly recommended if this seems like your thing.

So it took 608 minutes yesterday & 45 minutes this morning, but I couldn't put this down. Really interesting listen with a bunch of unexpected topics like open access, colonialism, robotics, social politics. All the time with a core cast of four characters keeping the story relatable. Dont understand the low ratings, I really enjoyed this.

1980‘s London. Charlie is in love with his neighbor Miranda. He purchases a robotic human named Adam. Charlie courts Miranda and Adam finds himself central to their affair. I didn‘t care too much for this book especially when Miranda started having sex with Adam. That was too much for me so this became my least favorite McEwan book. Can not recommend this one!

#MachinesLikeMe #IanMcEwan #authoramonth

Ian McEwan never writes in the same genre and always examines the human experience. Set an alternative 1980's England, the protagonist is a slacker who purchases a synthetic android named Adam and shares him with his would-be girlfriend. A love triangle ensues as well as character flaws that make this novel more about the dependence on technology, the importance of human interaction, and the traits that define us people.

"Before us sat the ultimate plaything, the dream of ages, the triumph of humanism - or its angel of death."

#RedRoseSeptember
Man, woman, synthetic human..... sounds like a pretty #bizarrelovetriangle to me!
Not read this yet, but hope to soon. I‘ve yet to be disappointed by McEwan, so I‘m #cautiouslyoptimistic 😊🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

I read this Sept 2-6 and gave it 3.5 ⭐️. I was somewhat disappointed with this story. I think McEwan tries to do too much with this alternate history with robots in the 1980s in too short a book. Also Charlie, Adam and Miranda just aren‘t interesting characters to follow. The book raises a valid question about AI but falls a bit flat.

#human or machine? #ayupaugust
Not read yet, but want to read despite reviews 🤷‍♀️

Bits I liked - Miranda and Adam mainly - but let down by the narrator who didn‘t have much to offer in the way of originality, beautiful writing or interesting food for thought. I‘m not sure why the main character was needed in the story about Miranda and Adam other than to make sure there was a man there. McEwan‘s style seems to get more and more ‘look at me doing important literature‘ and sounds less and less natural to my mind

Not my favorite from McEwan I'll admit, but quite brilliant. Alternative history? Science fiction? Who cares? He was accused of genre snobbery after a recent interview but every author has the right to be snobbish about their own work. They write the books and we get to tell them what it's all about!

The power of the child's brain - through play.

This is a very odd book.

Androids and alternative histories - intriguing start.

⭐⭐✨
Not quite what I was expecting. I enjoyed the actual storyline involving Charlie, Miranda, and Adam but there was a lot history, politics, and, what I found to be, "filler" that, in my opinion, took away from the story. I skimmed a lot of the "fluff" just to finish the book faster.

Weird, troubling at times. Accurate description of AI challenges. Good discussion points

Oh how disappointing! I've loved many of McEwan's books, adore speculative fiction and was excited for his take on AI, but I only made it halfway. It was BORING. Writing a sci-fi novel is harder than he thought (he's shunned the genre but really, it's about robots?!). He spends too much time explaining his alternative reality via clumsy dialogue or the narrator's voice. He's so caught up with how clever he's being he forgot to tell a good story.

#bookclubpick I liked this much better than I thought I would and I cannot wait for the book club discussion on this book. It still leaves me with an unanswered question but that might be the point.

This is the fiftieth book I have read in 2019. An intriguing mix of science fiction and alternative history it tells of Charlie Friend‘s experiences when he buys Adam, a highly elaborate lifelike Android. Set in a very different 1982 in which Britain has just lost the Falklands War. See my Goodreads review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42086795. #ianmcewan #machineslikeme #books #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookish #fiction #dauntbooks

Wtf Ian?! Ultimately, this novel fails on a number of fronts. I agree with the criticism I've read that the treatment of sexual assault is fundamentally problematic. Beyond this, I found the characters essentially unbelievable in many places- equally too flat, and too unrealistically detailed. The tone was off, the plot veered wildly between disparate events and ideas, it still managed to feel dull most of the time I was reading it.

Ian McEwan can't write badly but I did not enjoy this book. I could cope with the moral philosophy, although I didn't actually agree with him much, and I could cope with the alternate reality and may have enjoyed an exploration of the inevitability of history, but neither was served by being in the same book. Or maybe they would have been but not this book. I left me cold and unsatisfied.

Having a work day where I spend time in the car between meetings so am starting this variously reviewed new title from Ian McEwan

I tried to like this. The main characters though - why on earth would you spend Qc,000 on an android, then ignore it? What a waste of money and potential adventure/ pleasure! The main characters were pretty unlikeable, which isn‘t usually a problem for me, but they really grated on me. The alternative British history was interesting (Britain lose the Falklands war, and Alan Turing doesn‘t commit suicide), but I nearly gave up reading this,

Time to see wtf my old mate Ian is up to 😬 #readharder2019 an alternate history novel

Enjoying a very civilised lunch in the Hideous Concrete Fortress. The soup is far tastier than its anaemic appearance might suggest. #book #books #bookstagram #ianmcewan #machineslikeme #ministryofjustice #hideousconcretefortress #booklove #booknerd #booksbooksbooks #booklove #bookcommunity #bookphotography #fiction #dauntbooks #guardianbooks #lunchtime #lunctimereading #booksandsoup #soupandbooks

⭐️⭐️

It pains me to pan this one because McEwan is one of my favourite authors but this is a colossal hodgepodge of balderdash unfortunately. The least of its problems is the engorged robot shenanigans much more irksome to me was the poorly handled “moral dilemma” and the absolutely appalling characterisation.
Obviously, this one rankled me !

I don't usually read books naked (without the dust cover), but the artwork on the Canadian edition of the hardcover is hideous! Looks like a softcore erotica. Unfortunately, the novel itself is not one of McEwan's best. Full of rants and plots that are better handled in his other novels, this book is about an alternate 1980s in which a man buys a Blade Runner-level robot who inserts himself into the lives of the main character and his girlfriend.

#BookMail May‘s IRL bookclub choice 🎉McEwan generally leads to good discussions so I‘m looking forward to his newest novel 🤓

I couldn‘t do it. I‘m suspecting that Ian McEwan and I no longer get along. I absolutely loved a couple of his earlier books but the more recent ones feel cold and pretentious and lack the depth that I expect and want. This has such an interesting premise but gets bogged down by one character‘s secret past and is just boring on top of everything. Moving on.

This is exactly what you expect when Ian McEwan writes about a robot: A British guy buys an A.I. Robot and muses about love and moral dilemmas. Not my favorite by him but still interesting.

I haven‘t forgotten my hunter-gatherer skills! Three days off work and three new books to read. #dauntbooks #books #bookish #booknerd #booklove #bookscommunity #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #bookphotography #ianmcewan #anthonyhorowitz #daisyjohnson #everythingunder #donttellcatherine

It‘s always exciting when #newbookday includes a shiny new one from one of your favorite authors! 💕

Ooops I did it again....#ImpulseBuy The tagged book is for bookclub and the other two were #BlameItOnLitsy 🤭

Just finished an ARC of Ian McEwan‘s new book, coming out in April. Set in an alternate 1980s London, Alan Turing is still alive and his work has enabled great leaps in science. The newest arrival in AI is the creation of the first synthetic humans available to the public. A man and his girlfriend buy one and we see how it comes to have control over their lives. Fascinating in the questions it poses and the potential for complications. 3 stars