Ian McEwan tutored his son about his own novel for a high school essay and it got a C

Famous authors don't always make good tutors. At least not in the case of Ian McEwan, who tried to tutor his son, Greg, who was writing his high school A-level essay about a novel he had read. After talking to his son about about the story and things he should think about, the son ended up with a measly C+. The irony is that the essay was about one of McEwan's own novels Enduring Love (1997).

"I didn't read his essay but it turned out his teacher disagreed fundamentally with what he said," McEwan said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "I think he ended up with a C+."

The experience left McEwan "a little dubious" about his books being assigned in schools, he said. But it hasn't dampened his enthusiasm for education in general.

"What I want to do is take a history degree," he said. "I feel that as I'm about to turn 70, I ought to know about more stuff. I feel mental death comes when your curiosity evaporates."

Perhaps McEwan, known for his highly successful novels such as Amsterdam and Atonement, should stick to writing and leave the tutoring to, well, tutors.

Image: Thesupermat - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link