The Cement Garden - A Comparison Between the 1978 Book by Ian McEwan and the 1993 Film by Andrew Birkin

Pre-University Paper from the year 2010 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 10, Matthias-Grünewald-Gymnasium, Würzburg, language: English, abstract: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." (Francis Bacon) The story of "The Cement Garden" is clearly one of the third kinds. Every time I read the book or watched the film, I stumbled upon more and more subtleties that have been built in. "The Cement Garden" is not an ordinary story. It is a story about a bizarre relationship which you would normally not only frown upon, but Ian McEwan's and Andrew Birkin's work makes you understand the characters or even makes you sympathise with them. Although the plot is quite the same in both the film and the book, both authors have an individual way of telling the story. It can be stated that the novel and the film are not too different from each other, concerning the plot. It is the devices that both authors use which differ widely. While McEwan favours classical rhetorical devices, Birkin makes great use of subtle audio-visual devices. However, both managed to create the atmosphere that makes this story so special.For this reason I summed up the plot of the book and the film and then went on to compare them, working out the differences and similarities between them.