An Entire System

McEwan has not always been prone to such mellow generational contemplation. Many of his earlier works are constructed around daring central gimmicks. From the shocking set piece that opens Enduring Love (probably the most harrowing hot-air-balloon accident in literary history), to the metafictional twists of Atonement and Sweet Tooth (in which late revelations about authorship make readers reevaluate the whole novel), to outlandish conceits like the fetus narrator of Nutshell, McEwan has always been drawn to the use of flashy narrative devices to pose big questions about life, the universe, and everything in between.