As previously noted, my reading plan for 2010 consists of a steady diet of classic Americana. Nevertheless, I could not resist the temptation presented by a new novel from Ian McEwan. While I don’t read a great deal of contemporary fiction, McEwan is one of the few living authors that I really get excited about. Atonement is my favorite. On Chesil Beach (2007) failed to thrill me, but I was nevertheless eager to sample his latest offering.
Solar tells the story of Michael Beard, who must surely be one of the least likable protagonists in recent fiction. He is a narcissistic, self-deluding womanizer, basically devoid of any redeeming qualities. By trade, he is a physicists interested in climate change, at least in so far as there is funding for it. A writer sets himself an interesting challenge when he devotes a book to such a repulsive character, but McEwan carries it off brilliantly. Beard is not especially malicious, and we are reminded that evil may result from stupidity as well as hatred.
McEwan leavens the ugly fact of Beard’s moral vacuum with considerable humor. Early in the novel, Beard embarks on an arctic cruise with a group of distinguished academics concerned with global warming. This allows McEwan an opportunity for some very incisive humor at the expense of the naive and painfully earnest environmentalists. Especially humorous are the eco-artists who believe that they are somehow contributing to global salvation by dancing on glaciers and carving penguins out of arctic ice.
Part of the novel’s dark fun is trying to guess Beard’s ultimate fate. Will he be murdered by the man whom he allowed to go to prison in order to protect himself from being implicated in a colleagues death? Will be be driven to financial ruin by lawsuits related to ideas that he appropriated from a deceased post-doc? Will one or more of the numerous women toward whom he is unfaithful exact some terrible revenge? Or will he somehow dodge all of these bullets and go on to join the pantheon of scientific greats for his research in artificial photosynthesis?
Solar is rich in irony. A man completely ruled by his appetites becomes an accidental expert on saving the world from global gluttony. Following his eco-tourism trip to the arctic, Beard is nearly undone by a poorly-secured polar bear rug. The fruition of his work on solar energy is celebrated with huge quantities of Texas-style barbecue.
All in all, Solar is a wonderful read. McEwan’s impeccable style and psychological insight are evident throughout, combined with a sense of humor that is rarer in his works. I’m very glad that I took a short break from Americana for this wonderful novel.