Between the Sheets

Name: Between the Sheets
ISBN: 9787532751822

Ian McEwan / 周丽华Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaMay 2015

4.0

Word count: 83K words
Chapters: 9
ISBN: 9787532751822

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Summary

"Between the Sheets" is McEwan's second collection of short stories, following "First Love, Last Rites", and an important work in his rise to fame. It contains seven stories, continuing in the vein of "First Love, Last Rites", yet more mature, bolder, sharper, gloomier and more despairing, more realistic and more magical, pressing ever closer to the truths you refuse to watch and excavating the desires and fantasies hidden deepest in your subconscious. A veritable masterpiece from "Terrible Ian".

Editor's review

*Between the Sheets* is an early short-story collection by the British writer Ian McEwan, comprising three works: "Pornography," "Between the Sheets," and "The City of Mind." The collection continues the cool, precise, and dark style that marks McEwan's early fiction, probing the alienated and warped inner worlds of modern urban people, especially the power, desire, and loneliness of intimate relationships. With scalpel-like precision, McEwan dissects the abnormal and absurd within everyday life; beneath the seemingly calm surface of the narrative runs a startling psychological tension. These stories do not offer simple moral judgments but invite readers to gaze at the ambiguous, complex, and even unsettling corners of human nature. For understanding the full scope of McEwan's work, this book is indispensable: it shows the writer's exploration and edge during the period when he established his distinctive voice. Reading these stories is more like an adventure deep into the darkroom of the subconscious, challenging our fixed notions of normal and abnormal, intimacy and distance.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Ian McEwan's literary world who wish to understand his early style and creative development
Literary lovers who prefer psychological realism and savor textual detail and atmosphere
Readers with a deep interest in modern relationships, especially the complex psychological dynamics of intimate relationships
Mature readers who appreciate the short-story form and can accept narrative gaps and open endings

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking light entertainment or clear moral instruction
Readers sensitive to or uncomfortable with depictions of the psychological dark side and sexual themes

Reading tips

Read in a relatively quiet, undisturbed setting so as to immerse yourself in the distinctive psychological atmosphere the text creates
Try reading this book alongside McEwan's later, more expansive novels (such as *Atonement*) to appreciate the evolution and continuity of his style
After finishing each story, pause for a moment to consider the psychological motives behind the characters' actions and the subtext left unspoken in the narrative

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
色情
一头宠猿的遐思
两碎片：三月，199－
既仙即死
床笫之间
一来一去
心理之城
床笫之间是荒原

FAQ

Is this book very different in style from McEwan's more famous works (such as *Atonement*)?

The difference is marked. *Between the Sheets* belongs to McEwan's early work: the style is cooler and more spare, focused on the psychological dark side and urban alienation, with his trademark "Ian Macabre" coloring. Later works such as *Atonement* have a broader narrative scope and a stronger sense of history; although the psychological portrayal remains profound, the overall tone differs from the early work.

Are the stories in the book too dark or unsettling?

That depends on the reader's tolerance. In this work McEwan does explore rather bleak themes—loneliness, desire, and power struggles in relationships—and the narrative style is calm, even cruel. But the literary value lies precisely in this honest exploration of human nature. Readers who are prepared for this are encouraged to try it.

Is this McEwan's debut work?

No. Ian McEwan's debut was the 1975 short-story collection *First Love, Last Rites*. *Between the Sheets* was published in 1978 as his second work and further consolidated his distinctive literary style and reputation.

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About the author

Ian McEwan Author · United Kingdom · 1948

Ian McEwan, born in Aldershot, England, in 1948, is a British novelist, short-story writer and screenwriter. He rose to fame in 1975 with the story collection First Love, Last Rites and won the Booker Prize in 1998 for Amsterdam. His notable works include Atonement, Saturday and On Chesil Beach. His fiction often explores violence, desire, good and evil, with a delicate yet cool style that reveals the complexities of human nature and moral dilemmas within everyday life; several of his works have been adapted into films. The collection holds 47 of his works, including new and bilingual editions of Atonement and The Innocent, a collected set of his works, and a selected collection of anti-fascist war literature, commonly categorized under foreign literature, inspirational growth and classic works.

周丽华 Author

Zhou Lihua is an author about whom very little public information is available. The library currently holds two of her works, The Styles of Radical Will and Between the Sheets, both classified as classic works. Judging from their titles and categorization, her writing touches on themes of will, desire, and intimate relations, and appears to carry both intellectual and literary concerns, with a style that may lean toward introspection and conceptual expression. The Styles of Radical Will seems to focus on people's spiritual orientations and choices of conduct, while Between the Sheets may use intimate relationships as a way to observe human nature. Because reliable records of her life, nationality, and education are unavailable, it is not possible to confirm the full course of her writing career or the phases of her creative work, nor to determine the specific genres and publication dates of these works. This introduction is based only on the library's holdings and common classifications; readers who wish to learn more should consult the original books and additional public sources.