called the book a "well-oiled machine, and McEwan's pleasure in time-shifting, presenting events out of their temporal order (flashing back in Clive's mind, say, to a conversation he had the day before) is everywhere evident. Vladimir Nabokov, asked whether sometimes his characters didn't break free of his control, replied that they were galley slaves, kept severely under his thumb at all times. McEwan follows this prescription in spades." However, recent appraisals (such as Sam Jordison's in The Guardian) have criticised the novel's plot and perceived sub-par execution. Awards Amsterdam received the 1998 Booker Prize. Announcing the award, Douglas Hurd, the former British Foreign Secretary who served as the chairman of the five-judge panel, called McEwan's novel "a sardonic and wise examination of the morals and culture of our time." References External links New York Times on Booker Prize The New York Times Review on Amsterdam The Guardian on Amsterdam Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times on Amsterdam Resources McEwan, Ian. Amsterdam. New York: Anchor Books, 1999. (). Roy, Pinaki. "Rereading Ian McEwan's Amsterdam". The Atlantic Literary Review Quarterly13(3), July–September 2012: 27–38. (ISSN 0972-3269; ). 1998 British novels Booker Prize-winning works English novels Jonathan Cape books Novels about composers Novels about journalists Novels by Ian McEwan