1 How do you respond to the novel's conceit: a brilliant, verbally gifted foetus talking to us from

within his mother's womb? Does McEwan succeed in making this 'work'? Are you able to suspend
your disbelief and be drawn into this 'nutshell' world? Explain your response.

This idea was very unusual and mysterious to me as, I have never read a book which was
narrated through an unborn baby. The level of intelligence that this baby has made the story
even more interesting. However, the amount of knowledge that the foetus had in the novel
sometimes seemed questionable as, too how could he gain so much from just listening.
Especially the use of specific terminology.

2 What, in your opinion, are the advantages and disadvantages of employing such a precocious baby
as the narrator? Does the novel win or lose from this conceit?

There are definitely lots of advantages to narrating a story through a perspective of an unborn
child, as it gives the novel a bit of a alien feeling. Also, the description of the connection
between the mother and the child gives us an unusual perspective of the mother. The
connection between mother and the child makes this plot more emotional, which gets us to feel
more for each character. Which makes the story very fast pace. However, there is a
disadvantage. As you read the novel sometimes you wonder if an unborn baby could drew all
the conclusions that McEwan described in the novel. Also, an unborn baby would naturally love
both parents unconditionally which might make the story a little one sided.

3 Given his 'front row' vantage point on his mother's life, how reliable / trustworthy / objective /
judgmental do you find the narrator? What possibilities / problems does this create for the reader?

I feel like the baby is quite reliable in a relation of giving us the description on the "mother" as he
sees her from inside out, and feels every chemical reaction in her body. Which means he knows
her better then anyone as he knows all the reactions that take place in her body even when she
is unaware of it.

4 How would you describe the genre of the novel - and what makes you 'categorise' it as such?
Consider, for example, plot, theme, style.

I would describe this novel as a detective and thriller as, the story line follows a story were a
murder unwraps and readers have to come to conclusions about what really happens in the
story by themselves. Also, the narrative really feels like a thriller as it’s a bit spooky to imagine
yourself in the place of this baby