The Comfort of Strangers, (Paperback)

from LynleyS

Eech, what a nasty little book. I read it in a single sitting - as you'd have to do, probably - as you'd watch a movie. I was drawn in from the beginning by the masterful language and such accurately portrayed relationship between Mary and Colin. The final chapter was really quite hard to read. A...

from TigerLMS

Tourists on holiday meet a couple and spend some time with them; they are invited back and despite the akwardness of the offer, they somehow wind up back with them with disastrous consequences. A harrowing novel with a heavy dose of irony in the title, McEwan shows off his literary abilities in t...

from jhedlund

I really struggled with the rating on this book. On the one hand, I didn't like the story at all. On the other, the author didn't intend for readers to like the story and therefore was very effective. The writing is pure brilliance, without a doubt. However, I could have lived without the images ...

from SeriousGrace

Colin and Mary are unmarried, unhappy lovers on vacation. Bored with each other and frustrated with their foreign holiday destination (probably Venice or Rome), they are constantly having to remind each other and themselves they are on holiday and are supposed to be relaxing and enjoying themselv...

from Lman

I have seen The Comfort of Strangers, fittingly, described as a 'long short story'. Even so, such a minimalist amount of words evoked a plethora of confused, mixed emotions within me; upon finishing I was left with quite a hollow feeling, along with a strange sense of incredulity. The story begin...