I’ve loved everything I’ve ever read which is written by Ian McEwan. When I heard about the premise of “Nutshell” – a story told from the perspective of a fetus – I was skeptical. However, once again McEwan didn’t disappoint.
The eponymous nutshell narrates the story of his already dysfunctional family life. His parents have split up although his father appears to be in denial. His mother is having an affair with his paternal uncle and spends her time listening to podcasts full of doom and gloom about the future of the planet.
I know anyone with a basic understanding of childhood development would dismiss out of hand the idea that an unborn child could process the information he hears in utero with such eloquence. However, if they do so, they miss the point.
The narrator’s perspective on the world he has not yet seen reminded me of one of the philosophers we studied in Jurisprudence at Uni. I cannot remember which one. He said that when determining which human rights should be inalienable, we need to imagine what our views would be about human rights if we could project ourselves to before our births. If we knew nothing about ourselves – our gender, race, socio-economic situation, sexual orientation or family environment – what would we say were the rules by which our society should be governed. Would we support the rights of the majority in the hope that we would fall within that majority or would we hedge our bets.
Once again McEwan’s writing is superb and the story is compelling. It was a page turning thriller as well as an intellectual foray.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
