This item doesn’t have any media yet
2019 | Fiction & Poetry | Science Fiction/Fantasy
Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like this one, two lovers will be tested beyond their understanding.
Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first batch of synthetic humans. With Miranda’s assistance, he co-designs Adam’s personality. This near-perfect human is beautiful, strong and clever – a love triangle soon forms. These three beings will confront a profound moral dilemma. Ian McEwan’s subversive and entertaining new novel poses fundamental questions: what makes us human? Our outward deeds or our inner lives? Could a machine understand the human heart? This provocative and thrilling tale warns of the power to invent things beyond our control.
‘This is new and exciting ground for McEwan, one of Britain's most consistently brilliant writers.’ Esquire
Ian McEwan
(Author)
| Published by | Jonathan Cape |
Alternate History
Main Image Courtesy: Goodreads.
Images And Data Courtesy Of: Jonathan Cape.
This content (including text, images, videos and other media) is published and used in accordance
with Fair Use.
| 9-10 |  |
|
0.0% (0) |
| 7-8 |  |
|
0.0% (0) |
| 5-6 |  |
|
100.0% (2) |
| 3-4 |  |
|
0.0% (0) |
| 1-2 |  |
|
0.0% (0) |
I thought the alternate 1980s Britain was quite interesting - how we would potentially have reacted to a defeat during the Falklands war and the repercussions. And what would Alan Turing have been like if he hadn’t committed suicide?
The thing is, I didn’t particularly like either Charlie or Miranda (the lead human protagonists). Neither were likeable and treated Adam with contempt and suspicion, which grated on me. I usually like a book where I don’t like the main character, but there was something about Charlie that made me put the book down on several occasions, swearing to myself that I wouldn’t pick it up,again. Bit I did, and I think Adam, and Miranda’s backstory is to blame.
And as for Miranda. Well. I wasn’t convinced about her suddenly needing to foster/ adopt Mark, a small boy who is abandoned on their doorstep. It was just so unlikely.
I don’t know. I’ve read other Ian McEwan books that I’ve loved, but this one really didn’t do it for me on the whole. You can’t love them all, I suppose.
Adam too is a fascinating character and any part of the book that featured him was a winner. The problem with this book is the two main characters Charlie and Miranda. They are completely unlikeable and self absorbed, and the way they treat Adam (and Mark in some respects) is absolutely awful. There's something Alan Turing says towards the end of the book that really sums up how much of a horrible person Charlie is. Whilst having unlikeable characters isn't necessarily a bad thing for some books, in this I just found them rather irritating and annoying. And Charlie's constant internal rambling monologuing got rather boring and really dragged on.
I really wanted to love this because the general idea is fantastic, and there are parts of this where I did love it. It's just a same it was let down by the characters.