TheComfort of Strangers

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

If the book has been written by some other author, probably I would have put it away after 10 pages. Because it was Ian McEwan, I put it away less than 30 pages before the end, when I realized it will become unbearable.
In the first pages I gave some credit to the author as his detailed observation of each detail in behaviour of two main characters built some tension and awoke hopes that there will be some conclusion.
But when it reached a terribly long, detailed story from the childhood of Robert, a person met accidentally in the street, I lost any hope.

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The Kites

The Kites by Romain Gary
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The book start was quite promising - a boy from slightly extravagant family, a girl with an aristocratic air, lots of charm and a very capricious love.
And this was the end of the story. I am not joking, the story ended.
So what is going on for next almost 300 pages?
I have a problem to define it, basically there are some considerations about grandeur of France, which revolve around one object - a 3 star Michelin restaurant in Northern Normandy, the rest are just frills.
There are dozens mentions about French Resistance, many casualties listed, but there is no supporting story, just a name of a person executed by Germans.
Quite substantial part of the book relates to attitude of old Prussian aristocracy to Hitler, for me this was the a quite painful joke. I can hardly believe, that the author, with his Jewish-Polish background, could seriously discuss such an issue.
So, most than half of the book was upsetting for me.
So why I gave it any star at all?
Just appreciation of authors style and consistency.

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