By comparison with Ian McEwan's other novels (Atonement and On Chesil Beach spring to mind), Sweet Tooth fails to reach the same lofty heights, making it something of a disappointment. However, regarding the novel outside of the expectations that come with McEwan's authorship, it lies comfortably within the band of good contemporary fiction. Sweet Tooth follows Serena Frome from her time at Oxford as a failing maths undergraduate in the late 1960s to her dismissal from the MI5 following a scandalous exposé in the national press. The mission which results in such public furore is rather low key, as she covertly sponsors a young writer with an anti-Communist stance so as to fight against the propaganda of the Cold War. The scandal is however intensified by the fact that Serena, following on with her horrendous track record with men (she was the mistress of a don at Oxford, then went out with her boss, who ended their relationship by her by proposing to someone else), ends up in a relationship with Thomas Haley, the author who she is sponsoring.
McEwan's use of the first person throughout the novel, combined with an element of hindsight, as Serena is clearly writing in the present day, allows plenty of scope for McEwan to reflect upon the pace with which society has changed from the late 1960s in everything from politics to gender roles. Furthermore, this style gives the novel an autobiographical feel, which is especially pertinent as Thomas is a loosely autobiographical version of McEwan himself. This is one of the ways in which Sweet Tooth toys with fiction itself, as McEwan also includes some of Haley's short stories, several of which are closely based on McEwan's previous novels, combining meta-fiction and autobiography within the novel, which also incorporates elements of both spy and romance novels. It would therefore seem that McEwan does not want Sweet Tooth to be put down lightly, as it presents a merge in genres and types of literature.
Despite, or even because of, this, the novel does not flow well in places and fails to create the same level of drama and suspense as have been present in McEwan's other novels. Nor do you put the novel down feeling that your perspective on the world around you has been somewhat altered, and the ending seems to contradict everything the novel has been building on, creating a plot twist that seems to belong to a different novel rather than delivering a final, devastating blow. A disappointing follow up to some of my favourite novels - hopefully the end will not be so disparate next time.
McEwan's use of the first person throughout the novel, combined with an element of hindsight, as Serena is clearly writing in the present day, allows plenty of scope for McEwan to reflect upon the pace with which society has changed from the late 1960s in everything from politics to gender roles. Furthermore, this style gives the novel an autobiographical feel, which is especially pertinent as Thomas is a loosely autobiographical version of McEwan himself. This is one of the ways in which Sweet Tooth toys with fiction itself, as McEwan also includes some of Haley's short stories, several of which are closely based on McEwan's previous novels, combining meta-fiction and autobiography within the novel, which also incorporates elements of both spy and romance novels. It would therefore seem that McEwan does not want Sweet Tooth to be put down lightly, as it presents a merge in genres and types of literature.
Despite, or even because of, this, the novel does not flow well in places and fails to create the same level of drama and suspense as have been present in McEwan's other novels. Nor do you put the novel down feeling that your perspective on the world around you has been somewhat altered, and the ending seems to contradict everything the novel has been building on, creating a plot twist that seems to belong to a different novel rather than delivering a final, devastating blow. A disappointing follow up to some of my favourite novels - hopefully the end will not be so disparate next time.
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