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The Cement Garden

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
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Summary

In the relentless summer heat, four abruptly orphaned children retreat into a shadowy, isolated world, and find their own strange and unsettling ways of fending for themselves…

©1978 Ian McEwan (P)2014 (p) AudioGo Ltd. Published by Random House Audiobooks
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What listeners say about The Cement Garden

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great if far fetched but McEwen is a great writer

Loved it, the characters of the children were each unique, raw, endearing and also at times horrible. But they loved each other and were totally loyal to the end.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

dark, twisted, brilliant

wonderfully dark and twisted tale, beautifully written and performed. leaves an uncanny taste in your mouth.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

disturbing but I felt there was more to be said

disturbing but I felt there was more to be said about the brother-sister relationship and how they got to that point

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Unflinching but grim

This is an unflinching brave book which is well written and worth a listen but it’s a very grim subject matter. It kept reminding me of the film Naked by Mike Leigh. How long can we stay in this character’s head? Mercifully the novel is short.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Weird and disturbing incest story.

I'm no prude but this wasn't my cup of tea. a story of 4 strange unlikable children who are orphaned and decide to fend for themselves. Not particularly interesting but very cringey. Refund please!

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2 people found this helpful