The Children Act

Very readable. A good story in the style of this author

Livro maravilhoso, em excelente estado como novo.

Je viens de lire "The Children Act" et je suis encore sous le choc. Je suis en admiration devant la structure des phrases, denses et merveilleusement bien rendues, et comme toujours avec McEwan des nuances subtiles dans l'analyse du personnage principale, ici, Fiona Maye, juge au Tribunal des Affaires Familiales à Londres. Ce roman est court, donc, on ne connait pas à fond les pensées et les émotions des autres protagonistes.En ce qui concerne les romans de cet auteur "The Children Act" arrive un peu derrière "Atonement", un des meilleurs livres que j'ai jamais lu. Par contre je ne recommande pas "Saturday" ou "Amsterdam", romans prétentieux et agaçants. Une suggestion pour l'auteur : essayez de sortir de votre zone de confort, le milieu "upper middle class " londonien d'universitaires, d'écrivains, d'éditeurs, de chirurgiens, de juristes ... amateurs de poésie et mélomanes."The Children Act": Roman poignant, une mélancolie douce-amère, que les amateurs de romans "littéraires" aimeront.

This was a book that was suggested by my book club, and I am so glad! This certainly isn't a book that will make you smile, but it will certainly make you think: that's a good thing. One of the first things that struck me, was the writing. After a few lines it was very evident that I was in England, and so with that came a certain sound in my head with regard to how the world of Fiona would sound. This may sound strange, but for me it became a live back drop. Fiona May, leads us by the hand through her life. She certainly does not sugarcoat things, even if sometimes she would like others in her life to do so. Even if you do not always agree with her decisions, you do understand perfectly well why she makes them, and that is a true tip of the hat to Ian McEwan. Your heart says no, but your head nods! I would recommend this book to book clubs, because the discussion after is very interesting indeed.

The main character of that book 58 years old successful judge named fiona. All of the story is circumferences of some cases which are determined by her. But in generally the story is focusing on one particular cases much more the other.First of all it is interesting for me to read novel which is tell our times. I mean all of story that I read generally told at least 100 years old or they did not refer any modern event in the story. So it is interesting for me to read “look the internet” or “text message to me” or “syrian war , isil “ etc in any story. It is like a real.Secondly the story is not long. I think it is enough for the story. It is very fluently and you really want to finish the story that is very important when you read something in second language.Thirdly up to now, I did not go and court and I have not got any friend who is working on court. It is very interesting for me to know how they take decision. Because the writer give much more detailed rather than any film.Finally The description ability of the writer is wonderful in my opinion. Some times he describe some small event or status. But he gave much more details. Sometimes he gave information which can be read in 10 minutes but in the reality it takes just 1 minute.On the other hand, the writer tried to describe multi event simultaneously. He changed situation when the other was not finished and after one paragraph he return the first situation. So sometimes it is hard to trace the story for especially non native speakers. And he used very very different and unusual words. So it is hard to read sometimes for me as a non-native english speakers.Last but the most important in my opinion, the writer does not believe in god and he encourage the reader to not believe in god too. And he is done this opinion very very old techniques. I mean I read many many books when I was child which are describe the main and high prioriy person in the story is religious. When you read that book especially if you young you think that yes, he or she is good and I have to be like him. That is subliminal message. To be honest the main character did not express her idea about belief clearly, but most of the good character express they do not believe in god and also main characters behavior seems to be same. But negative characters of this story are radical Christian family. The writer try to draw attention the negative effect of radicalism as well and I think it is absolutely right. Because in my opinion the main problem is not related to the religion. It is related to radicalism. But the writer made a lot of emphasis to not believe in god is the best way. And am not the same page with him.And for some extra comments, I should say I learnt more information about Londan weather especially in summer season. Because the writer used 27 times cold and 18 time rain. And also very interesting points is the writer used expression of “summer cold”. In one episode in that book, although it was June, the weather was very cold and heating systems automatically got on. What on earth cold in June and heating system is on.

A good book is one that entices the reader, while provoking thought. The Children Act does just that. This book originally seemed like it was going to be about a bunch of court cases about divorced parents fighting for custody, but it took a darker turn when it began to focus on cases that involved the mortality of sickened children. The idea was first introduced with the court case about siamese twins that had to be cut apart, inevitably killing one of the two, but the story is brought to its climax with the court case about a Jehovah’s Witness, merely months away from 18, named Adam Henry who refuses blood transfusion that will save him from his leukemia. Judge Fiona Maye is forced to make a decision for this case while being infatuated by this teenage boy.During 2014, when this book was published, another book about radical Jehovah’s Witnesses came out called High as the Horses’ Bridles by Scott Cheshire. In the same realistic fiction genre, both of these books take a deeper look into religious ideologies and how they can be life or death. This genre pulls the reader into a fictional story that the reader can also see as a part of his/her own reality. This allows the reader to empathize with the characters of these stories and feel something while reading the novel.Though McEwan sometimes confuses the reader with his introduction of multiple insignificant characters at once with seemingly infinite different names to remember, this novel is still an outstanding one to read. The greatest accomplishment of McEwan was his ability to make Adam Henry’s life and tragic death in the most poetic way possible. His “suicide letter/poem” incorporate metaphors of Fiona as the devil fish and Adam’s religious life as the cross that he sinks. The awful death of someone so young put in a way that was beautiful.Ron Charles wrote a review of The Children Act on September 2, 2014 for The Washington Post. He claims that McEwan perfectly incorporated a religious theme without making the religious characters look ignorant and also claims that McEwan allowed Fiona to view differences in class and education in a sensitive way. This is untrue. Though still thought-provoking and wonderfully written, Fiona consistently ruled against religion and did confine these characters to the stereotype of extremists. She also does not see why certain people would live in a poor neighborhood, which is an elitist thought and shows a lack of empathy from her for those of different socioeconomic levels. Even though these ideologies are insensitive and hurtful, and McEwan does reduce Adam’s parents to “ignorant Bible-thumpers,” it is perfectly incorporated into the novel in a way that only adds to the complexity of Fiona as a character. The reader does not have to agree with a certain ideology presented in a novel to enjoy the novel itself. Charles is correct, though, that “The Children Act doesn’t enact the happy triumph of humanism. Instead, it recognizes how fragile we all are and how cautious we should be about disrupting another’s well-ordered universe.” Adam died because after Fiona collapsed the only life he had ever known, she did not give him support to fill the void that religion once filled, and Charles perfectly explained this in his review.The Children Act is a wonderful novel that is most definitely worth any reader’s time and money. This novel is for any reader that likes a realistic tragedy. McEwan’s thoughtful and poetic writing should attract all readers to The Children Act.

The book has interesting moments but fails to leave a huge impression. The theme of the story, children's rights, is compelling and the main protagonists, a woman judge and a boy refusing treatment for medical treatment, are very interesting, the book fails to move. It is not a book that lingers in the mind.