Amsterdam

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How did the novel’s darkly comic tone affect your reading experience? Did you find the novel’s cynicism to be more humorous or unsettling?

2. How does this novel compare to Ian McEwan’s other well-known works, such as Atonement or The Child in Time? If you’ve read him before, what elements of his style or themes felt familiar? What felt distinctive or surprising about this book?

3. The novel ends with a swift, almost farcical, demise for Clive and Vernon. Did this conclusion feel like a fitting and satisfying end to the story and its moral questions?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Clive chooses to protect his artistic inspiration rather than intervene to help a stranger in the Lake District. Have you ever faced a moment when your personal goals or ambitions conflicted with an ethical responsibility? How did you handle it, and what did you learn about yourself?

2. Vernon fears losing relevance when he’s not in his role as editor. How do you balance your sense of self with your career or familial role?

3. The friendship between Clive and Vernon, once a defining relationship in their lives, disintegrates over pride and miscommunication. Think about a friendship or relationship in your life that broke down in a similar way. Looking back, do you think it could have been saved, or was it destined to end?

4. Molly Lane’s legacy is twisted by others after her death. Think of how someone’s memory was distorted after their death—either in your family, community, or public life. How did that affect your view of them?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. What does the novel’s depiction of the codependent and cynical relationship between the press and politicians in post-Thatcherite Britain reveal about the nature of public life? How do you think these dynamics compare to the media landscape today?

2. Vernon’s decision to publish the Garmony photos is set against the backdrop of 1990s media “tabloidization.” How does this critique of journalistic ethics hold up today, in an age of social media and constant online exposure?

3. Amsterdam is a satire of the Baby Boomer generation, criticizing how their youthful ideals gave way to establishment complacency. What perspectives does it offer about this group? Does this generation still have the same reputation?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. McEwan tells the story using a shifting third-person point of view, giving readers access to the internal thoughts of Clive, Vernon, and (briefly) Rose Garmony. How does this narrative technique create dramatic irony and expose the hypocrisy of their public-facing principles?

2. What is the significance of the Millennial Symphony? How does its journey from a symbol of high artistic ambition to a derivative and failed piece of music mirror Clive’s own moral and personal collapse?

3. The pact gone wrong is a common literary device. How does Amsterdam’s use of the euthanasia pact compare to other stories where a deal between friends or rivals leads to disaster, such as in Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train?

4. Analyze the roles that Molly Lane and Rose Garmony play in the novel. What is their significance in a story so focused on the failings of its male protagonists?

5. The landscape of the Lake District is traditionally a place of Romantic inspiration in English literature. How does McEwan subvert this expectation, instead using the setting as a theater for Clive’s moral failure?

6. The novel ends with George Lane, a minor and disliked character, emerging as the sole victor who gets to control Molly’s legacy. What statement do you think the author is making by having the opportunistic publisher be the last man standing?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. The Judge handled the Garmony photographs with pure sensationalism. You’re the editor of a rival, more ethically-minded newspaper that has just received the same photos. What would your front-page headline and opening paragraph look like, and what angle would you pursue to report on the story responsibly?

2. Design the program notes for Clive’s Millennial Symphony, but for a version in which he did intervene to help the woman in the Lake District. How would you describe the symphony’s final movement, and what new themes or moods might it explore as a result of his different choice?

3. Compose a brief epitaph for either Clive’s tombstone or Vernon’s memorial plaque. What two or three sentences would you choose to summarize the complexity of their life, capturing both their public achievements and their private failings?