The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

As an author, Ian McEwan has been known to ruffle people’s feathers with
his controversial views on religion and politics. However, one thing that he excels in is science; which happens to be the common background of some of his nineteen
novels. Nevertheless, his latest science-based novel, Solar has been met with mixed reactions.             

The novel’s
story is told from the sole perspective of Beard, an English physicist and a Nobel
Prize winner in his young glory days. Now as he grows older, overweight and bald, with
no self-discipline or moral limits, he considers his best days to be behind him, until
an opportunity gives him access to research that can save the world and create
renewable energy.

Though this
is the central theme of Solar, the
novel doesn’t start off with anything remotely related to the subject. Instead,
it begins with a glimpse of Beard’s wretched marriage, and karma’s punishment
of having the only woman that he loved, his wife, cheat on him, though he
was the one who usually cheated in his relationships.        

The novel starts
off full of suspense and interest, but as the plot takes several turns, it soon
starts to get tedious. Maybe it’s because the author tries too hard to create
sympathy for the protagonist despite his deceiving character. The narrow window
from which the reader can see into other characters doesn’t help either; the
narration is one-sided from start to finish and based on a character that isn’t that
appealing or empathetic at all.

Beard does give the book a certain charisma, but it’s still not a
particularly well-rounded story; it’s a tale of one man’s life over the course
of a decade. The novel picks up pace with some unexpected turns, yet leaves the
reader waiting for an ending that never comes.

Solar may be interesting as a literature
product; it differs greatly from other typical novels with a traditional
start, dilemma and ending. However, Solar’s
plot might not appeal to readers looking for an entertaining, straightforward storyline
with attractive characters.