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What are readers saying about Atonement?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-29 04:46:13.
(Language: English)
 
I just finished reading "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. Although I enjoyed the book as being intellectually superior to much of the modern "literature" that I've read recently, I also found it a bit snobby. It was almost as if McEwan was attempting to show off his intellectual superiority and thorough knowledge of literature by thinly disguising it behind prose. Every other page, there are references to literary devices, novels and poetry that span the time from Greek mythology to Virginia Woolf. Although it appeased my vanity to be able to pick up on most of these references, I was left wondering- would someone without a degree in English Literature be able to understand this book and how these references enhance the story? I highly doubt it. I don't want to sound as if I don't give people enough credit, but most people, being busy, having lives and not having studied literature, will hardly understand how Shakespeare, Chaucer, Patrouch, Conrad, Austen or Dickens affect this tale. It's almost like an informational overload, and McEwan seems to delight in saying, "Look at all I know!". With that being said, I did find his stream of consciuosness technique (more controlled and relevant than his seemingly favorite reference, Woolf) very refreshing and not obtrusive to the story. As to the story itself, not much can be said. It's a good story, yes. Certainly eye-catching and provocative. The ending left me very unsatisfied, but I did enjoy getting there. However, I just don't see how they managed to make it into a movie- stream of consciuosness and thoughts in general, which take up roughly about 80% of the book, can hardly be translated to the screen. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-21 04:29:46.
(Language: English)
One of the reviews declared Atonement as "smoldering with slow-burning desire," which is not far off for the book, in my opinion. At times languid, for the most thoroughly beautifully descriptive and intense, McEwan weaved in themes that polarizing one another, presenting a book with situations that were really gripping.At times I didn't feel the need to pursue reading it, just because it felt taxing to the system. But once commenced, I was sucked into the world of the characters. It was refreshing to place the antagonist as the main role, and how she tried to make amends for the deed she had done when she was thirteen. Deviating from all proper endings for all love stories, Atonement made use of its premise to full effect, overall showcasing an intense literature piece. A refreshing read, but be forewarned- only pick this up when you are ready to deal with the demons of love.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-09 06:58:49.
(Language: English)
Decided I had to read the book after seeing the movie, which I thought was fantastic. The sad thing is that the book is far slower than the film (and I usually hate movie adaptations). The storyline is excellent, but McEwan's penchant for over-describing landscapes and over-analyzing his characters (something best left to his readers) leads to long, soporific passages that add little to the novel but additional pages. However, if you can push through (or skip)these passages, the book is well worth reading. Ultimately, a beautiful read with complex characters.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-25 08:05:56.
(Language: English)
I actually read the first 100 pages and then had to put it down because I couldn't stand the way that Briony described everything in vivid detail. Detail is great, but this was just over the top. I almost couldn't start the book up again. Then, I began to read... and read... and read... And I was totally hooked. This book was the only thing that I could think about. I was crying and bawling over the soldiers, over the lovers. It's comparable to the classic love story of The Notebook. I can't wait to see the movie. Hopefully, the movie will measure up to this absolute masterpiece. I am glad that I decided to read the book the entire way through, otherwise, I certainly would have been missing out. I understand now why McEwan made the first 100 pages slightly tedious. It was the way that Briony wrote. At the end, she finally perfected her style. Amazing story.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-28 10:10:39.
(Language: English)
The young writer who is the center of McEwan's tale reminds me very much of the most annoying character on the LWord. Jenny. Referring to the rejection letter written to Briony, the central character, McEwan writes:"She had come to see that, without intending to, it delivered a significant personal indictment. Might she come between them in some disastrous fashion? Yes, indeed. And having done so might she obscure the fact by concocting a slight, barely clever fiction and satisfy her vanity by sending it off to a magazine? The interminable pages about light and stone and water, a narrative split between three different points of view, the hovering stillness of nothing much seemed to happen--none of this could conceal her cowardice. Did she really think she could hide behind notions of modern writing, and drown her guilt in a stream--three streams!--of consciousness? The evasions of her little novel were exactly those of her life. Everything she did not wish to confront was also missing from her novella--and was necessary to it. What was she to do now? It was not the backbone of a story that she lacked. It was backbone." (New York: First Anchor Books Mass Market Edition, Random House, 2007 pp.412-413)I am not sure if this is self-loathing on the part of McEwan, or an attempt to distance himself from that kind of writer? While I very much like painting to push and pull the viewer's attention between the scene and the paint itself, the novel's attempts to do something similar are merely annoying. Why should that be?
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Viero posted a review at 2007-06-15 03:18:10.
(Language: English)
Turning over the final page, I reflected on what I just read, and realized that I was glad that there are still writers with extraordinary writing style these days. It has been hard to come across great writers in our day, what with all the different styles that stubborn writers claim are revolutionary, but in reality they're just plain crap--with good marketing resources, so they end up selling nonetheless. But Atonement is no such crap, and Ian McEwan is no such crappy author. From his unbelievably detailed accounts of war, hospital life, and a classic love scene, McEwan's style of writing not only pulls you immediately into the novel, but gives you a clear description of what's going on. He paints for you a picture with words that you can see through the pages of a book. A classic story published in this millenium--practically unheard of before.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-17 03:51:17.
(Language: English)
I must be one of the few people who did NOT love this book from the beginning. The book itself is in four parts, and I found the first part to be awkwardly, lumpenly written - McEwan semed to be trying too hard to be poetic and beautiful, to evoke an age of Woolf and Waugh. There are too beautiful passages in the first part - Robbie remembering Cecilia jumping into the fountain, and Mrs Tallis lying on the bed waiting for her migraine to pass. The rest of the first part just seems, to me, to be obvious, and self-conscious. The second part is the retreat from Dunkirk, and the third, a nurse's life in wartime London, and these are far better. They seem to be more truthful, less concerned with clever language and more concerned with people's lives. These parts I really got into and enjoyed. I found the ending disappointing. What did happen to Robbie and Cecilia? Were Lola and Paul ever confronted with what they did? Was Robbie's name ever cleared? It felt like it was building up to an ending that we never got. So - pretty good if you, especially once you got past the first part, but notas good as I had been lead to belive.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-07 10:40:47.
(Language: English)
Did I love this book? I'm still debating that. But is this book a great book? yes it is. While the constant shifts between points of view did leave me reading some pages a few times. Ian McEwan gives his characters real honest to God humanity. He creates characters both with strengths and weakness and how perception is such a weird thing. how different people can interpret a simple event into something else is amazing.While he gives you what you want he also shows you that all things in the real world aren't perfect. The ending is one of the most real ones I have read in a long time, simply cause its sad, itss imperfect, its human. Life isnt perfect and the ending in Atonement proves that.Its an awesome book and its definitely a must read. Stay with it, a little slow at the start but picks up after a while.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-02 08:19:22.
(Language: English)
I was baffled by this book; it's been hailed as the latest piece of literary excellence and was shortlisted for the Pullitzer, but I just wondered why, in a 400 page book, the author spent 200 pages getting to the crime for which the protagonist is trying to attone. Not that we probably couldn't have seen it coming, but... really. Overall, I thought it was fairly well-crafted and his use of vocabulary and descrpitive prose in general are worthy of the Pullitzer, but the characters are fairly one-dimensional, I had no sympathy for any of them, and he has a tendency to labour his point somewhat which makes it dreary rather than dramatic. It's also more than a little pretentious and I did not feel that he really captured the mind of a 13 year old girl very well at all. I'd wait for the film; it's bound to be more enjoyable than the book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-24 06:23:25.
(Language: English)
Hmmmm Atonement.... It's received a hell of a lot of great press, so i went in with some reasonably high expectations, unfortunately they were never fulfilled. Anyone with a reasonably wide reading range will have picked up on the transparent similarities to Lady Chatterley. Rendells A Fatal Inversion and countless other 'upper class lounging around in the summer' novels from Gatsby on down...Atonement positively steals from Hartley's The Go Between and Graham Green's The Basement Room, both featuring small children used as emissarys between lovers with a vital turn in the plot falling around a note. The narrative twist that falls towards the end of the book has been much praised but again McEwan has had magpie tendencies and dipped into another author's work, here Guy Burt's debut novel After the Hole, which used the same narrative technique, the same twist, to very macabre effect. McEwan has always 'borrowed' (to put it kindly) from film and literature (check out the brazen theft of location, atmosphere and ending in Comfort of Strangers which is, of course, Maurier's Don't Look Now). Maybe McEwan calls these similarities a homage, I call it handling stolen goods.......
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-25 05:26:05.
(Language: English)
Atonement m'a été recommandé récemment, lui aussi, par un ami bibliophile et écossais. Je l'en remercie ici à nouveau, tant la lecture de ce livre m'a passionné et m'a tenu en haleine ces derniers jours. Quand j'habitais en Grande-Bretagne il y a quelques années, Atonement venait de sortir en paperback et était lu par absolument tout le monde dans le bus. Apparemment 500 000 copies ont été vendues dans le pays, ce qui est énorme. Alors moi, je me suis dit : encore un de ce bouquins à la mode que tout le monde lit, bla bla bla, effet marketing, bla bla bla, comme je suis plus intelligent que tout le monde, je ne vais pas le lire, histoire de faire mon intéressant. Et ben j'ai été bien con, car le livre est fantastique. En fait, tout simplement, cet attitude est super bête. J'en suis coupable, donc, parfois, et je connais - on connaît tous - plein de gens dont c'est le credo. Bon, eh bien à tous ceux qui se croient plus intelligents que la masse parce qu'ils ne lisent pas les livres à grand tirage, ou ne voient pas les films qui marchent, juste pour pouvoir dire qu'ils ne sont pas intéressés par ce qui intéresse plein de gens, je dit ceci : 1/ vous êtes des boulets 2/ une fois sur deux vous avez tort 3/ vous devriez quand même bien lire Atonement, en plus le buzz est passé, personne ne vous fera l'affront de croire que vous lisez ce que les autres lisent et vous en tiendra rigueur, rassurez-vous. Atonement est donc fantastique, de ces livres qui vous font savoir pourquoi vous avez appris à lire. Trois personnages sont liés par un secret. Robbie, étudiant tout juste diplômé, qui cherche à repartir à la fac faire médecine, fils de femme de ménage qui rêve d'un vrai destin, d'une vie heureuse et fière. Cecilia, jeune fille de bonne famille secrète, intelligente, amoureuse; et Briony, peut-être l'un des plus beaux jeunes personnages de roman de ces dernières années, complexe, entière, mais entière dans son monde inventé, auto-persuadée par les créations son esprit hyperactif. Je ne balancerai pas le twist, mais quelque chose enfle dans les 100 premières pages, qui sont le récit d'une journée ordinaire qui se terminera, bien entendu, par un événement qui va tout faire exploser. Les trois autres parties du livre, se situant des années plus tard, expliqueront la chaîne de conséquences que ce premier twist a entraîné, le malheur des uns, le remords des autres. Un peu à la manière de A Widow for One Year de John Irving, Atonement nous parle de la douleur de vouloir ce qui n'a pas été, de passer à côté de la vie qu'on aurait pu avoir, à cause d'un élément, d'un détail, d'une décision que l'on a, soi, jamais prise, mais dont on doit tout de même assumer les conséquences. Et c'est d'une immense tristesse. Ah oui, au fait, ça se déroule en 1935 et 1940, et la deuxième partie est un récit d'un moment de la Seconde guerre mondiale que l'on connaît mal, l'opération Dynamo, le retrait des troupes anglaises du Nord de la France après sa capitulation (de la France, pas de l'Angleterre). La tristesse du soldat dont les ordres sont de repartir et de laisser à eux-mêmes des villageois promis à l'occupation et aux exactions des Allemands ; le repli sur Dunkerque, sans gloire, tout ça est formidablement présenté. Atonement vous fera mal à la lecture, car ce livre est simplement le récit de l'impuissance. More on : http://laminutelitterairedelouisbernard.blogspot.com/
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-06-14 04:33:14.
(Language: English)
I approached this book with caution, since Ian McEwan is so highly regarded in the literary world. Having seen the movie a few times and loved it, I soon realized that the movie did what McEwan could not do: add considerable tension. I'm not saying this is a bad book, or even an average one; instead, it's one of those rare cases in which the book is not as good as the movie. This is a very British book, and if you scan a paragraph, you will find colloqualisms that are penetrable only by those who live in that culture. Although the prose is excellent, McEwan is terribly stingy with his dialogue, creating his world primarily through visual and psychological description rather than letting his characters chat away. That said, the book fleshes out considerably all of the movie's characters' motivations. If found much interest in the father's world, for example, as well as Ce's conflicted motivations and the exact circumstances around Robbie's mishandled letter. Later in the narrative, we see considerable development of Robbie's march to the sea in France, which was fascinating. That said, this novelist has either a deficiency with or a disregard of the elements of plot, and at certain points, the reader tends to tire of the style. In all, though, it is riveting. It is basically the story of a man falsely accused of rape, and the sequeliae thereof.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-14 02:14:18.
(Language: English)
Listening to the hype, I went out and read this as fast as I could and planned to see the film adaptation immediately after. I succeeded in doing this. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this is probably the must beautifully written book I have had the fortune to read. He plays with language venturing into emotions, philosophies and imagination. His descriptions are vivid with his unique set of similes and metaphors, along with adjectives you would not expect to be teamed up with certain objects and landscapes. His exploration into a thirteen year old child's mind is extraordinary - he creates an atmospheric strangeness about her, contrasting her imaginary world and wild thoughts against the straightforward minds of the adults. Equally, I never felt the hardship that soldiers went through in the wars until I read this book. McEwan effortlessly depicted the pain and struggle that Robbie goes through in northern France in the most heartbreaking manner. The true horrors of the period are brought to life by McEwan's brilliantly crafted arrangement of vocabulary. Despite the outstanding writing, I did not enjoy this book much. It had its moments of excitement and suspense, but all in all, I found it difficult to turn the pages. Sometimes, I felt it was, perhaps, too arty as ninety per cent of a page could be a description or taking the reader into philosophy. I appreciated it, but personally, I wanted a story, and if all of the diversions were taken out of this book I believe it could have been a sixty paged novella. As it is, McEwan's style is relied heavily upon to pull this story through. I do see the fuss, but if you are after a plain good story, this is not the book to satisfy you. It's simply about a thirteen year old girl that witnesses things she does not understand, and fabricates an idea of what she thinks it means, and ends up destroying the lives of her sister and her lover. It's a fine exploration of guilt and forgiveness, of making mistakes and learning from them. So, if you are after a very well written book, and want to marvel at the pure genius of a writer, this is the book for you. I personally found a lot of it a struggle despite appreciating the talent on display.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-08 04:37:22.
(Language: English)
What a stunning book. I first read McEwan in college; his short story collection, First Love Last Rites, was an assignment in a course on 20th century British literature. I HATED it! I vowed to never read that "creepy British weirdo" ever again. Well, fast-forward five years later. They've made a film of McEwan's Atonement, and it looks pretty good, and I grudgingly decide I should read the book before I see the movie. So I return to McEwan, giving him a second chance to move and impress me. And I am HUMBLED by this book. Atonement is the story of a young girl, 13-year-old Briony Tallis, whose secret pain, hidden ambitions, and youthful pride bubble up one dangerous day into a brew that could ruin two people's lives. Without knowing the full import of her actions, Briony tells not so much a lie as a story, since she sees herself as a writer. What she doesn't know is that her story is much, much more than that when its real consequences are played out to its full extent across the backdrop of the looming Second World War.Each character in McEwan's book is complex and so lifelike that you could almost touch them. No one is evil or saintly. At their worst, they are motivated by anger, vengeance, and pride; at their best, they are motivated by guilt, sorrow, and love. All this is wrapped up in the most beautiful, exact (and exacting) prose that is never flowery or fluffy. Read this book, even if you don't think you care to see the movie.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-21 09:59:21.
(Language: English)
This is classic McEwan. The first few chapters border on dull as he creates the setting for a gentle melodrama but it's not long before a sense of tension develops, subtly mirroring the build up to the war. When the tension finally breaks, in the worst possible way, the story falls head long into one of the most convincing descriptions of world war one I have ever read. It's difficult to summarise the story without giving too much away but suffice to say it is a love story gone wrong which makes full use of the back drop of war. As the title suggests, in the end the story is about making things right. As ever, McEwan sidesteps easy answers by making forgiveness a virtual impossibility for many of the characters and instead tries to teach us what we must do to live with the consequences of our actions.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-03 07:05:23.
(Language: English)
Atonement is a masterpiece, my favorite book of all time, and consequently extremely difficult to review. The most stunning thing about this book- and about McEwan's work in general, I think- is how incredibly real his characters are. They think things I have thought! This sounds possibly mundane, but it's not. It is so, so refreshing and also kind of scary to see yourself in people and situations you're extremely thankful not to be in. McEwan has this phenomenal gift of identifying the common thread of humanity and feeding it through all of his creations. His writing is also very concise and strong- he can punch you harder with one sentence than most writers can in entire paragraphs. This book details the search for something- as for what, you can probably guess by the title. By the end, you feel as if you have been each of these characters, lived whole, sensory lives, alternately desiring atonement and deliberating bestowing it. it's suprising, heartbreaking, beautiful, and stunningly written by one of the best living writers in the world. I have always been an avid reader, but this book was a catalyst for me- it changed the way I read, what I read, how I think, and how I write myself. I love it. Love. Read it. Then read it again.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-21 12:02:06.
(Language: English)
I did something I don't normally like to do: I saw the film before I read the book. I was disappointed and impressed when I eventually got to the book. The book, as always happens, added another dimension to what I had already read, but the disappointment was that I already had a fixed idea of what the characters looked like. I had to actively work to reconjure them in my mind to fit in with Mr McEwan's descriptions, rather than seeing Keira Knightley and James MacAvoy. However, the book is beautiful. Mr McEwan's facility with words, his ability to create an emotional and psychological landscape is amazing. The fact that he describes the same events from several angles did not diminish the interest I had, but actually enhanced it. Each facet of the story gave a greater insight and continued the narrative, drawing me in. I did feel that he struggled with the second part of the book. His descriptions of war-time France and the retreat of the English did not have the same power as the first half of the book but it was no less compelling, especially as I already knew what was going to happen. I still had to read it all, to experience the characters' stories and to find out from each one what he or she had been through. His resolution of the story made any hardship (although there wasn't any) worthwhile. It may be said that it's not how well something is started but how it is finished that shows true mastery and it is in his ending that Mr McEwan demonstrates why he should have been nominated for the Booker Prize. He pulled the threads of the story together in a way which made sense, which satisfied the reader (or certainly this reader) and which still left a certain amount of mystery and wonder. I'm looking forward to exploring more works by this author. I can only hope that this isn't his best work and that the best is yet to come. (Posted to Visual Bookshelf Dec 2007)
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-23 04:23:35.
(Language: English)
If for no other reason, read this book for insight into a writer’s mind. Some write for the simple joy found in words and rhythm. Others, to teach basic truths and be in control. Some may want to reveal the inner self, secret thoughts, or the power of the mind. For others it's all about just plain fame. Briony covers it all, as her career progresses from its embryonic start with Arabella to her final novel, this one, Atonement. The story shows how writers get an idea and expand upon it, how real life warps into fiction, and what techniques writers use to achieve specific effects. It’s all here. And at the same time, enjoy a mesmerizing story - about the power a young girl once had to alter the destinies of those she loved, with nothing but her imagination. Long after you’ve turned the last page, you’ll wonder which of the two endings offered was in fact the truth. Or maybe it was something else entirely... A great read!
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-16 02:15:16.
(Language: English)
A quick flash of lightning can often lead to a downpour of events characterized with deception and also to the destruction of several lives. Sometimes it even robs one out of their clear insight to an extent leaving them blinded by their first impressions forever. Such blemished thoughts lead to the imprisonment of their souls by a painful past in turn enticing the present and future of those affected by their marred thinking. The literary piece of ‘Atonement’ by Ian McEvan is the story of one such instance which takes the readers into the lives of an upper class English family and their journey into a quest which remained unfulfilled. The book delves deep into the complexity of human nature which depicts an uncanny resemblance to that of a spiders’ web. It also portrays the strikingly contrast emotions of individuals in certain parts. Reasoning of certain instances is exhibited in a way that draws astounded reactions from its readers.Blindly following our distorted perceptions is similar to falling into a quicksand that we are forever struggling to get out off. If only they let their thinking exhibit the lucidity of the spring season instead of being blurred by a mist of that of a cloudy day will such ruefulness be avoided? Very few get a golden chance for this opportunity of redemption while there are those unfortunate ones who spend their lives in perennial atonement.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-20 09:58:31.
(Language: English)
For my own memory: (SPOILERS) Lot of narration, lot less dialogue--would have preferred more. Was trudging along until the epilogue taking place in London 99 when I finally realized that Briony was the one writing the whole account...and it started to make sense. Why it was signed BT 1999 right before the next chapter begun, why there was so much narration(Briony loved narrating) and why there were different perspectives shown(her style of writing was getting inside the stream of consciousness of many different characters) and how using all her writing elements, she finally put the backbone of a narrative to her writing (As suggested by the editor who turned down her article). The shock of what had happened instead to the two lovers un-did me and tears flowed freely. Loved the images--especially those evoked by Robbie during his time in France. Love the symbolism of the fountain-vase and how they reflect the lovers' relationship. Very true to life. Evil Marshalls lived happily ever after and in a way, so did Briony.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-20 11:16:23.
(Language: English)
A bit ponderous, even boring. This is Britain's new greatest author of all time... ? Really? I guess I miss when it was Orwell... The movie was a faithful adaptation, for what it's worth. This is one of those books you're supposed to read as opposed to one that's actually edifying and entertaining. Please, professors of the present and future, don't make your students read this one--it just might turn them off to "literature" forever. OK, I know all that sounds harsh but I just think this author and novel are overrated. (I'm waiting for a clap of thunder). Definitely needed to clean the palette with lighter fare after this one...
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-02-13 06:45:46.
(Language: English)
I decided to read the book before having a go at the movie. Good choice, I think, because that approach lets you appreciate the book even more. The opposite order would surely have been less satisfying. McEwan's book opens astonishingly. The first part of three is easily the best in the book. Thanks to the author's remarkable talent to create atmospheric tensions the reader almost experiences that hot summer day in that enormous country mansion. The second part intrudes on the feel of the first part as abruptly as the second world war entered the everyday lives of the European population. One of the many markers of McEwan's outstanding sense of style. The third and final part is not an empty postmodern twist but rather a beautifully powerful statement on the possibilities of fiction. In short, "Atonement" provides a nice balance between metafiction and traditional, straightforward storytelling.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-08 01:56:21.
(Language: English)
Jeg oppdaget akkurat at filmen basert på Atonement hadde premiere i september og kommer på norske lerreter med tittelen "Om Forlatelse" i januar. Med Keira Knightley som Cecilia. Et udelt sjarmtriks å ta med kone på denne filmen. Å hevde at handlingen i denne 360-sideren er fortettet vil være å overdrive. Vi snakker én skjebnesvanger scene, én nøkkelhandling og mye dveling i første del, voldsom action i andre og deler av tredje del, og en klassisk oppsamling av noen høyst få løse tråder mot slutten. Men beskrivelse, scener, dialog og oppbygging av handlingen er helt genial og en nytelse å lese. Og for den hardbarkede - kos deg med fjerningen av åtte splinter fra jagerpilotens bein i tredje del... En perfekt ferie-ved-bassenget- bok du faktisk kan legge fra deg innimellom - men som du vil komme tilbake og nyte i middels porsjoner til den er utlest - og ønske at det var 400 sider igjen.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-18 04:12:05.
(Language: English)
"Atonement" was my first Ian McEwan book but it certainly won't be my last. Set in 3 different eras (1930's, 1940's, 1990's) the novel tells the story of 13 year old Briony who witnesses a series of events one hot summer day in 1935 that change the course of her life along with her sister Cecilia's life and that of the housekeeper's son, Robbie. Beautifully written, even if at times overly descriptive, the novel is an exploration of guilt, love, and forgiveness and shows how one single action can change the course of the future. I found the beginning of the book very slow going, perhaps because I was waiting to come across the inevitable action and therefore found the descriptions slowing me down, but once I got into the story it was an intense read - sad, romantic, and even surprising. This book is very character driven, which creates a bond between the characters and the reader that makes the ending that much more impactful. The descriptions are quite vivid - especially during the second part of the book against the backdrop of WWII - and I felt it added richly to the story as a whole. It might be helpful to other readers to note that this is one of those books in which the ending really is the final puzzle piece so do read it through to the end, which I found rewarding. In fact, I was still contemplating the story days after I had finished reading it... The twists are not just applied to the characters' stories, but also in the way the novel is written. Given that this novel is very character driven I am looking forward to watching the movie to see how it has been adapted for the screen. I really enjoyed reading this book and I'm looking forward to picking up another one of McEwan's novels.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-14 07:56:49.
(Language: English)
Atonement of an old woman for sins she committed as a young girl is the underlying purpose of this novel. The story begins in the 1930s in rural England, moves on through WW2 and moves through the war and concludes with the memoirs of the book's narrator. The first section recounts in minute detail and from several points of view the events of a 24 hour period. A young girl, Briony has dabbled with writing a play for her cousins coming to stay with her family. Her sister and Robbie, the former gardener's son are present, they have just completed their degrees at Oxford. Briony's eldest brother and a friend are also present. Briony's eldest brother and a friend are also present. Briony's mother is convalescing and her father has remained at work. Briony observes an altercation between her sister and Robbie and it sets her imagination to work. She later walks in on them necking in the library and again misreads the situation. Meanwhile, the play involving the younger cousins does not happen and they become upset and ran away. In the ensuing search Briony happens upon her older cousin with a man and assumes it to be Robbie. Robbie, although he finds the cousins is accused and goes to jail for rape. The action then moves ahead to the beginning of the war. To get out of prison early, Robbie enlists and is sent over to France. This is before the Germans take France and the section describes the English retreat to the channel. The war description s are some of the best I've read, up there with "The Wars." You feel you are marching with the soldiers and the civilians, getting bombed by the Germans. Both Briony and her sister have become nurses and are dealing with the wounded come home from this massacre. Briony has matured and now is unsure whether it really was Robbie with her cousin. She attends the wedding of her cousin to her brother's friend uninvited. She attempts to contact and make amends with her estranged sister and Robbie. She promises to set things straight with her parents. The final section - the epilogue - recounts the story of how Briony, now an old woman, finally completes this story. We are left with the idea that her sister and Robbie don't really get back together that Robbie actually dies during the retreat. It is a powerful idea that fiction a rewrite and possibly make up for things that have happened badly. It all comes back to the idea that fiction is really made up of truths. Sometimes these lies are really better and more comforting. Reading nothing but true stories wouldn't be much fun. This reminds me of John Irving trying to save Piggy Snead.
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