SOURCE: Craig, Amanda. “Out of the Balloon.” New Statesman 126, no. 4350 (5 September 1997): 43.

In the following review of Enduring Love, Craig criticizes the novel's schematic opposition of science and religion.

Is love the subject or object? Is it love that endures or love that must be endured which preoccupies the protagonist of Ian McEwan's latest novel [Enduring Love]?

It gets off to a splendid start. Joe and Clarissa are having a picnic in the Chilterns. Suddenly they notice a balloon with a child in it floating off despite the desperate attempts of the child's grandfather to hang on. The child seems certain to be electrocuted on the nearby pylons. The narrator, and several others, race towards the balloon and try to anchor it. Only one, however, has the courage to keep trying; as the balloon soars upwards, he falls to his death.

The child is safe, but the narrator finds...