Saturday contains the following main characters:
Henry Perowne- Resides in London, neurosurgeon, married to Rosalind and father of Daisy and Theo.
Rosalind Perowne-Lawyer, married to Henry and mother to Daisy and Theo. Her mother, Marianne Grammaticus, died in a car accident when Rosalind was 16 years old.
John Grammaticus- Lives in France with a 40 year old librarian, Teresa. Former poet with drinking problem, father to Rosalind, father-in-law to Henry, and Grandfather to Daisy and Theo. He is in London because a TV company wants to make a program about him. It is also an opportunity for him and Daisy to patch things up after he accused her of plagiarizing someone else's work a few years ago.
Theo Perowne- An 18 year old guitarist who plays the Blues. Inspired by his grandfather.
Daisy-A 23 year old post graduate from Oxford who is an aspiring poet. Also inspired by her grandfather. In addition, pregnant after meeting Guilio in college.
Lilian Perowne-Mother of Henry, won silver medal for swimming competition, suffers from dementia, and calls Henry Aunty. Lives in a home for the elderly.
Baxter-A thug who is suffering from Hungtington's disease, bullies Henry, threatens to harm his family, and is usually seen with his cohorts (Nigel and Nark).
Jay Straus-Originally from America, Anaesthetist at the hospital and Henry's squash partner/opponent.
Henry is not as safe as he would like to feel after 9/11 due to the incidents that occur in Saturday. He wakes up several hours before dawn and witnesses a plane flying from left to right with visible flames. He fears that it is another attack by Al-Qaeda. Later, the news media confirms that it was a cargo plane with an engine on fire carrying child pornography. The pilots are both Russian Christians and they claim to have no knowledge of the child pornography.
Later in the morning, Henry makes his way to the squash club for a game with Jay Straus. As he turns to University street, he passes a line of parked cars. One of those cars is a BMW driven by Baxter along with passengers, Nigel and Nark. The BMW suddenly pulls out and Henry's Mercedes strikes the BMW's wing mirror which flies off into the ground. Baxter and his cohorts get out of the car and tell Henry that he is at fault and that he owes him seven fifty.
Henry denies any fault and lays the blame on Baxter for not signaling. Baxter gets enraged and strikes Henry in the sternum. In addition, he orders Nigel and Nark to beat him up. Henry notices Baxter's sudden temperament and constant fidgeting and suspects he suffers from Hungtington's disease (neurological). He tells Baxter that he may be able to help him through a new study that is being tested.
Baxter calls off his men and they retreat to the car. Eventually, Baxter doesn't believe Henry and calls back his thugs but it is too late, Nigel and Nark have abandoned him. Henry escapes without further incident and does not alert the police.
Later in the afternoon, Baxter returns with Nigel with a knife pointed to Rosalind. Rosalind had been at work that Saturday and was headed home. Henry, Daisy, Theo, and John were already there. As Baxter held the knife to Rosalind, he orders Daisy to get undressed and read him one of her poems. Baxter loses his train of thought and becomes enlightened with her poem. Afterwards, he orders Henry to show him the data of testing for his condition. Henry takes him upstairs, Nigel exits the house, and Theo runs upstairs to help his dad. They tussle with Baxter and fling him down the stairs.
Baxter is badly hurt but ironically, Henry decides to assist him and calls an ambulance. Baxter is taken to the hospital but there is no one with enough experience to perform surgery on him. Jay decides to call Henry and strangely enough Henry decides to perform surgery. Baxter is well but will be arrested and charged for his criminal offenses. Henry is now at peace.
Henry Perowne- Resides in London, neurosurgeon, married to Rosalind and father of Daisy and Theo.
Rosalind Perowne-Lawyer, married to Henry and mother to Daisy and Theo. Her mother, Marianne Grammaticus, died in a car accident when Rosalind was 16 years old.
John Grammaticus- Lives in France with a 40 year old librarian, Teresa. Former poet with drinking problem, father to Rosalind, father-in-law to Henry, and Grandfather to Daisy and Theo. He is in London because a TV company wants to make a program about him. It is also an opportunity for him and Daisy to patch things up after he accused her of plagiarizing someone else's work a few years ago.
Theo Perowne- An 18 year old guitarist who plays the Blues. Inspired by his grandfather.
Daisy-A 23 year old post graduate from Oxford who is an aspiring poet. Also inspired by her grandfather. In addition, pregnant after meeting Guilio in college.
Lilian Perowne-Mother of Henry, won silver medal for swimming competition, suffers from dementia, and calls Henry Aunty. Lives in a home for the elderly.
Baxter-A thug who is suffering from Hungtington's disease, bullies Henry, threatens to harm his family, and is usually seen with his cohorts (Nigel and Nark).
Jay Straus-Originally from America, Anaesthetist at the hospital and Henry's squash partner/opponent.
Henry is not as safe as he would like to feel after 9/11 due to the incidents that occur in Saturday. He wakes up several hours before dawn and witnesses a plane flying from left to right with visible flames. He fears that it is another attack by Al-Qaeda. Later, the news media confirms that it was a cargo plane with an engine on fire carrying child pornography. The pilots are both Russian Christians and they claim to have no knowledge of the child pornography.
Later in the morning, Henry makes his way to the squash club for a game with Jay Straus. As he turns to University street, he passes a line of parked cars. One of those cars is a BMW driven by Baxter along with passengers, Nigel and Nark. The BMW suddenly pulls out and Henry's Mercedes strikes the BMW's wing mirror which flies off into the ground. Baxter and his cohorts get out of the car and tell Henry that he is at fault and that he owes him seven fifty.
Henry denies any fault and lays the blame on Baxter for not signaling. Baxter gets enraged and strikes Henry in the sternum. In addition, he orders Nigel and Nark to beat him up. Henry notices Baxter's sudden temperament and constant fidgeting and suspects he suffers from Hungtington's disease (neurological). He tells Baxter that he may be able to help him through a new study that is being tested.
Baxter calls off his men and they retreat to the car. Eventually, Baxter doesn't believe Henry and calls back his thugs but it is too late, Nigel and Nark have abandoned him. Henry escapes without further incident and does not alert the police.
Later in the afternoon, Baxter returns with Nigel with a knife pointed to Rosalind. Rosalind had been at work that Saturday and was headed home. Henry, Daisy, Theo, and John were already there. As Baxter held the knife to Rosalind, he orders Daisy to get undressed and read him one of her poems. Baxter loses his train of thought and becomes enlightened with her poem. Afterwards, he orders Henry to show him the data of testing for his condition. Henry takes him upstairs, Nigel exits the house, and Theo runs upstairs to help his dad. They tussle with Baxter and fling him down the stairs.
Baxter is badly hurt but ironically, Henry decides to assist him and calls an ambulance. Baxter is taken to the hospital but there is no one with enough experience to perform surgery on him. Jay decides to call Henry and strangely enough Henry decides to perform surgery. Baxter is well but will be arrested and charged for his criminal offenses. Henry is now at peace.
1 comment:
While you cover many of the incidents in the book, you need to see how each moment of insecurity creates the next one until Henry is trapped in a world over which he has no control. Also, think about the way the author uses Baxter as a metaphor foe the events of the period, violent,irrational and deadly, the man is more than just a character, he is a metaphor for the times.
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