Books : Atonement

Rating: - Couldn't wait till the end
It sounded like a good book when I bought it, but didn't enjoy it.

It seems that most people really love this book, but I hated it. I only give it two stars because various passages of the book were interesting. I enjoyed those few pieces but as a whole I wanted to toss it in the trash. The book seemed to drag on and on.

I was not able to care about any of the characters, I found them all self absorbed and immature. I could neither really love or hate them, they seemed too fake to me. Without the story invoking feeling I couldn't get into it.

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Rating: - Brilliant work of fiction intrigues and then rewrites itself
In Atonement, Ian McEwan has written a marvelous book. We peer deep into the workings of characters--their psychologies are rich and complex, their motivations too developed to fit neatly together. The book triumphs in its portrayal of the mind of a thirteen year old girl--an accomplished feat, considering the gender and age of the author! The girl's world is beautiful and immature, and this world--so very real to her--comes into startling collision with the realities of adults. The novel is woven of colliding realities: different perceptions of what *is* come into painful dispute.

My only objection to the novel is its very light treatment of a sexual assault. The event--though central to the story--seems to be more of a plot device than anything else. The horror of that event is dwarfed by the worries of other characters. This use of rape is cheap and unkind. It's not a fatal flaw for the novel, but it leaves the book short of something masterful.

And yet, the twists, at the end of the novel were indeed masterful. For me, the sudden revelations at the end of the book forced me to rethink the novel. Despite my one misgiving about the novel, its stellar characters and remarkable transformations at the conclusion left me awestruck and aglow. Upon putting down the book I did--and do now--feel that I finished something of a masterpiece.

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Rating: - beautiful
Stunning, simply stunning. I finished this book coming home on an airplane and I forgot where I was for a few hours while reading it -- which was nice because I absolutely hate flying any more. I won't rehash the plot here (it's widely discussed and there are many websites that also discuss the novel), but I will say that the writing was superb.

I loved the ending (I won't go into that either), and didn't even see it coming. I started flipping backwards, and as I realized what McEwan did there, I was even more impressed with what I'd just read. It was definitely one of those endings you don't forget easily, and one that sneaks up on you.

I'd recommend it to anyone who loves a good work of literature and who wants something a wee bit different. McEwan never fails to amaze me with every book I read, and this one was no different. No wonder the man has been nominated for so many literary awards.
The story itself is very well done, the characters are all exquisitely drawn and the ending sort of hits you like a ton of bricks. Very highly recommended; going on my list of personal favorites for 2008.
postscript: the movie was quite good and remarkably true to the novel.

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Rating: - Brilliant Evocation of Life-Changing Events
Atonement is not a quick read, nor should it be. The warps and wens of language into which Ian McEwan delves are to be savoured like a delicious meal. The premise is that Briony Tallis, an overly-imaginative 13-year-old thinks she sees something, and the tale she spins based on this changes several lives. The story is told from the viewpoint of Briony, her sister Cecilia and family friend Robbie Turner. The novel has the feel of "Rashomon" in that each perspective makes the book feel like a completely different story.

There are some segments that were difficult for me to read - mostly those dealing with Briony's work in a hospital following the evacuation of Dunkirk, but the realities of war should not be sugarcoated, much as we might like to hide our eyes from them.

More than anything, Atonement is a character study, examining the various ways we rationalize our actions, for good or bad, and how we, yes, "atone" for those actions, if we ever bother to try. This is the kind of writing that other authors should aspire to, and which few achieve. Very highly recommended.

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Rating: - Brilliant descriptive writing by a master novelist
This novel is an astonishing achievement from one of Britain's leading modern day novelists. It contains three very individual pieces of descriptive writing. The first is about family tensions in an upper-middle class English family in 1935 - in particular the tensions between two sisters and with a handsome young man who is suitor to the elder. There is an undercurrent if not of menace certainly of unease and when the climax comes it is no surprise. Here passions, mendacity, jealousy, snobbery and ultimately violence bubble inexorably to the surface. The second piece describes what happens when the grievously hard done by young man from the first part gets caught up in the retreat to Dunkirk in 1940. Again the description is brilliant - harrowingly complete and at times horrifically graphic in its gory detail. The third part is a description of how the now adult younger sister copes not just with the aftermath of the tragedy of 1935 but also with her determined effort to atone, partly by training as a nurse in a military hospital. The strengths of "Atonement" are the gripping plot, brilliant writing and the fine portrayal of both the principal and the supporting characters.