Ian McEwan's writing career began in the mid-seventies. And today he is considered one of the most influential prose writers in England. In McEwan's books, readers are invited to play fascinating postmodern games, the author cleverly experiments with narrative strategies and plot lines, leaves a huge number of references to history and other works of art.
Childhood, education and first books
Ian McEwan was born in the English town of Aldershot in 1948. His father was an officer and he was transferred from one military base to another several times. Therefore, the McEwens lived in Germany, then on the African continent, then in Asia … And only when Ian was twelve years old, the family finally settled in Great Britain.
During his school years, Ian enjoyed reading English-language prose, he especially liked science fiction. And the future writer received his higher education at the University of Sussex - here he became the owner of a bachelor's degree in literature (this happened in 1970). And a year later he became a master in the same field.
Ian McEwan made a big name for himself in 1975 with a collection of dark, distinctive stories, First Love, The Last Anointing. Many criticized this collection for its descriptions of violence and sex, but this did not stop McEwan from winning the Somerset Maugham Award in 1976.
1978 was also important for McEwan. This year, two books by the talented author appeared at once - the collection "Between the knocked down sheets", where mystical motives are intricately intertwined with the realistic tradition, and the novel "The Cement Garden". McEwan touched on several very sensitive topics in it (for example, the topic of incest). The novel, of course, caused then a controversial reaction in British society, but in the end it still became a cult.
Further literary career of McEwan
In the eighties, two significant novels by McEwan were published - "Consolation of the Wanderers" (published in 1981) and "Child in Time" (1987). For Consolation of Wanderers, the writer was even nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize, but ultimately it was awarded to another. During the same period, McEwan began to actively create scripts for TV, film and radio.
The next, fourth novel by Ian McEwan "Innocent" was published in 1990. This work is interesting because several different genres are mixed in it. Here you can find signs of a detective, spy, and historical novel.
Then the writer created three more major works, highly appreciated by professionals and ordinary readers - "Black Dogs" (1992), "Unbearable Love" (1997) and "Amsterdam" (1998). By the way, the novel with the capacious title "Amsterdam", which tells a cautionary tale about the loss of human values by the characters, brought Ian McEwan the Booker Prize.
In the new millennium, McEwan continued to delight lovers of good literature. In 2001, his novel The Atonement was published. This was followed by the books "Saturday" (2005), "On the Shore (2007) and" Solnechnaya "(2010). For "Sunny" the writer was even awarded the Woodhouse Prize. In 2012, McEwan's book "Sweetheart" appeared on sale, dedicated to the memory of his friend, journalist Chris Hitchens. In 2014, the book "The Law on Children" appeared (2014), and finally, in 2016, the novel "In the Shell". This novel is interesting, in particular, because here the unborn child of two key characters acts as the narrator. It turns out that so far McEwan has written 14 novels.
Personal life of the writer
The writer has been married twice. In the seventies, while studying at university, McEwan fell in love with a girl named Penny Allen. They got married in 1982. The marriage lasted thirteen years, the couple had two wonderful boys during this long enough time. In 1995, Penny Allen filed for divorce. At the same time, the woman explained that she was very tired of living with a famous man. Then the former spouses were suing for a long time for custody of their sons. As a result, this right was assigned to Ian.
The second great love and wife of the writer was a woman named Annalena McAfee. Their acquaintance happened under unusual circumstances - Annalena came to interview McEwan on behalf of the editors of the Financial Times. The man and the girl tied the knot in 1997 and still live together.
In 2002, McEwan unexpectedly found out that he had a half-brother named Dave from his mother's first husband. It turns out that Dave was given to foster parents as a baby in the early forties. The brothers met and since then have periodically contact and communicate with each other.
