Enduring Love by Ian McEwan has the most memorable opening of any modern novel. This might be thought to be a virtue but it is more of a problem. It is intensely visual, which again might seem to be helpful but again is not. Every reader, and there were many, carries a vivid version of how it should look and will be irritated by any variation.
It is a perfect summer day in the country. Birds twitter, the sun shines on the fields and woods, sheep graze. As the man is opening champagne, the woman actually says, ‘This is bliss.’ Then a hot-air balloon suddenly bumps to the ground, drags, is clearly in trouble. The man runs to help, as do others we have not seen before. By hanging on together they can hold it down and all seems well, a boy inside has only to get out; but he is too slow. A gust of wind sweeps them all into the air, they lose their nerve, all let go and fall to safety, except one who, like Icarus, rises too high and then plunges to his death.
The scene meets expectations, it is breathless but coherent. Then we are at a dinner in London. Joe (Daniel Craig) is understandably upset, but fortunately his friend Robin (Bill Nighy) is there to defuse the situation. Bill Nighy has become like Richard Wattis or Irene Handl in British films of long ago — he is always popping up and is always a pleasure to meet. He might seem, with his snorting laugh and distinctive voice, to be a type but actually he can fit in anywhere — Trollope, popstar, you name it. Then we flash back to a key scene just after the accident: Joe goes to find the body and is accompanied by Jed (Rhys Ifans, best known as Hugh Grant’s disgusting housemate in Notting Hill).
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