Sweet Tooth Audiobook By Ian McEwan cover art

Sweet Tooth

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Sweet Tooth

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
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Winner of such prestigious honors as the Booker Prize and Whitbread Award, Ian McEwan is justifiably regarded as a modern master. Set in 1972, Sweet Tooth follows Cambridge student Serena Frome, whose intelligence and beauty land her a job with England's intelligence agency, MI5. In an attempt to monitor writers' politics, MI5 tasks Serena with infiltrating the literary circle of author Tom Healy. But soon matters of trust and identity subvert the operation.

©2012 Ian McEwan (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks Literary Fiction Espionage Fiction Spies & Politics Suspense Genre Fiction Romance Thriller & Suspense Mystery Historical
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Every moment of this book is an entirely pleasurable, satisfying and intelligent listen. It was such a quenching experience that it's hard to identify a comparison. From fascinating, complex characters to cold war spy intrigue to sexy swinging London, written in unrelenting gorgeous prose. This isn't a just good story, it's an AMAZING work of literature — and you, dear reader, are implicated in this tale!

Stunningly fantastic!

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. . . And keep me enthralled. Ms. Stevenson narration aside, Ian McEwen's writing is smooth, rich and evocative. The story is set in a time in history, 1970's London, that interests me as a baby boomer. Serena, our Sweet Tooth, is both smart and naive. I cheered her on from beginning to end. I was left wondering how a male author could capture a women's interior so well.

Juliet Stevenson could read the phone book

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As usual, McEwan makes great use of language, however, this book is short on plot. He has about enough material for a novella, a story about half as long. The protagonist and narrator, Serena, is not stupid nor intellectually shallow, but she continually defines herself by whatever man she happens to have latched on to. The story goes through a succession of her lovers but focuses primarily on an author and poet. It is hard to understand why he loves her. I'm not saying there are not people like Serena, but I don't find their story or plight interesting. The story drags with long asides and excursions. I cannot say more without spoiling the plot, but I found the way in which the ending is handled really lame--a real cop-out by McEwan.

An uninteresting story, told boringly.

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This audiobook was compelling, riveting, beautifully written, and expertly narrated. It is an intriguing tour-de-force. I highly recommend it.

Definitely in my top 5 all-time great audiobooks

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somehow Ian McEwan manages to make a spy thriller boring.
The prose is excellent and the descriptions of people and places are evocative. The characters are fully realises and complex.
the problem is the pacing overall arc. I was left bored and impatient for a climax that never fully arrives.
the reader was superb, the perfect voice to go with the narrator.

Boring

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