Atonement

Rating:
Summary: Irritating
Review: The beginning of the book had me hoping that it would actually live up to the hype, but no. It was simply irritating to read such a silly story. I will certainly not trust the online reviews any more when choosing a book. Bad book. Do not read!

Rating:
Summary: A perfect book for writers and readers
Review: I have just finished Atonement and am still in its thrall.

This is a beautifully written book, in an age where it seems that the classic tests of good writing have gone by the wayside. McEwan chooses words wonderfully, with a lyricism I thought was lost; he constructs sentences, paragraphs and story into a cohesive whole that seems effortless.

The story is not a mere recitation of the effects of a child's lie. Like great literature, it allows the reader to learn, and not simply be instructed. So many books I've read are readable, interesting and some are tours de force. (Corrections comes to mind as brilliant but nearly a waste of time compared to Atonement.) The theme of sin and atonement is a conservative point of view. The very idea of having to take responsibility for one's actions (instead of dismissing them as a result of an offended childhood or being misunderstood) seems a little old fashioned. As presented by this thoughtful man,the very idea of redemption is explored. Whether it is achieved is up to the reader to decide. Responsibility in this book is not simply bearing up under the weight of retribution, but a true understanding of the debt created when harm is inflicted on another person. To read Atonement is to understand on more than one level the weight of one's actions.

There are details to quibble with, and individual readers may wish for more explanations of some characters and less of others. The weak and drifting mother, Emily, is presented from her own point of view and never explored by other characters. Robbie lacks faults: the sinned against is nearly without sin, so Isuppose religious parables can be drawn. In the self conscious new millenium, the book rarely shows much sympathy for the 'lower classes'. Lola's childhood self might have been more deeply drawn.

I don't think those quibbles matter. For readers who want to be fully engaged and absorbed, this is the book. For readers who want to be pushed into thinking about one's own life, others' lives, and how at least one theme of life matters, this is the book. For readers who love to see the language used as an instrument as well as for its own beauty, this is the book. For writers to need an exemplar of what good writing looks like, sounds like, and how it is built, this is the book.

Rating:
Summary: Coincidence
Review: I loved this novel until the coincidental event, on which it turns, occurs. That happens in part one. A major book should not rely on happenstance for its pivotal moment. I found sections two and three readable as well, and fortunatley not as predictable. The reader is left to trust that the word of a 13 year old Briony, is enough to alter the lives of so many. I also found it disappointing not to delve into Leon's and Marshall's role. Briony becoming a nurse did not seem a convincing choice for her, although the perhaps this training rooted her in reality and enabled her develop and mature enough to see what she had wrought. The reader's satisfaction is snatched away at the end, as atonement is implicated than never realized.

Rating:
Summary: Starts slow.. ends up great
Review: I'm not sure why it was a slow start for me. Luckily I kept on reading.. and it was well worth it. I love the characters, the story line, and how the writer sums it all up. I'm not one for cheesy love stories.. there is indeed a love story here, but not at all cheesy or overdone. Beautiful book.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I loved this book. I've read many of the reviews here on Amazon and feel that a lot of them are over-critical. This is a beautiful story seeping heartbreak on every page, all the result of the destructive imagination of a child. It is very easy to hate Briony for the way her actions have destroyed the happiness of her sister and Robbie, but I believe that's quite unfair. She acts with the innocence of a child at a particular age who wants to be accepted by the adult world. She is placed in a very difficult situation and the court's readiness to pass judgement on the strength of her evidence alone is, I believe, just as much a crime as her lies.

One criticism I would accept is that Ian McEwan could have shown us more of Briony's stubborn attachment to the lie she has convinced herself is true. At what point did she start having doubts? When we meet up with her again towards the end of the book she is five years older and fully aware that Robbie is innocent. It would have allowed the reader to have more sympathy towards her if we could have seen her reaction as the truth of what she had done slowly grew larger on her conscience.

The book is split into four sections. The first details life in the Tallis family home in the mid-1930s and gives us an introduction to the characters and description of the assault and Briony's lie. This section of the book slowly builds - some reviewers say they found this boring but I did not. I enjoyed hearing about life in the household. I could empathise with Briony's playwriting attempt and its sabotage at the hands of her slightly older cousin. McKewan vividly describes events and allows us upfront access into his characters' minds which makes his writing very enjoyable to read. I found this first section to be like the first scene in a whodunit mystery, before the detective comes to investigate and letting the skeletons out of the cupboard. Except there was no Poirot to come and uncover the truth but instead an injustice was allowed. Nevertheless, a whodunit was created that would later be explained at the end of the book. I counted three suspects, each with an opportunity to commit the crime.

The second section of the book jumps forwards to the Second World War and the British army's retreat from France. The jump is a little jarring and it takes a while to adjust to the new surroundings. But I think it successfully creates the feeling that regardless of an injustice in the past, life carries on and doesn't stop to allow justice to be done. Events move on and people get on with their lives and the injustice is largely forgotten. Robbie, a mere private in the army, despite his education, is retreating to Dunkirk in an attempt to get back to England. His only motivation to survive comes from the knowledge that Cecilia is waiting for him to return - he had only just come out of prison before having to leave for the war. Here is where McKewan description is exemplary. The chaotic retreat comes to life and Robbie's aching desire to see his lover again is easy to feel.

The third part of the book catches up with Briony. She now knows her crime and seeks atonement for it. Partly to try to compensate for the pain she has caused, she forgoes university and becomes a nurse, just in time for the casualties from France to start arriving. Briony attempts reconciliation with her sister. The key twists in the plot are at this point so I won't go further except to say that McKewan plays with your expectations perfectly so that the revelations are dramatic.

Finally we jump forwards to the present day. Briony is an old lady and a famous writer but she is dying. She tells us her story and we are rewarded with another twist to the book which puts everything we have read into a new light.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for rewarding modern literature. Clearly from the reviews this book is not to everyone's tastes but I must admit I find this puzzling as I adored it and will now be searching out other Ian McKewan books to read.

Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Progression of Narration
Review: Atonement begins as a sublime, exquisite piece of fiction depicting a time long gone, then transitions into a quite a different story altogether, making the reader wonder if the same author wrote both parts. The third section then brings a resolution of sorts which, if not as powerfully affecting as I would have liked, shows us much about the power of stories, and of why writers write. To go into any specific detail would be to ruin the effect of this original and poignant novel. Not the perfect book it is touted as being, but not one to be passed by.

Rating:
Summary: A lifetime of atonement
Review: Ian McEwan is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. With the exception of Philip Roth, who is so good he could probably get short-listed for the Pulitzer every time he writes his grocery list on the back of an envelope, McEwan is the only author I know who has produced such consistently excellent fiction. Amsterdam, his Booker-winning novel just a few years ago, was a tough act to follow, but Atonement, which just nabbed the National Book Critics Circle Award, is a worthy successor. This is what great writing is all about.

The plot of Atonement is richly layered and textured. In part one of the novel, McEwan builds powerful sense of tension through his re-telling of the story from the perspectives of various different characters. We are presented with a set of events, allowed to absorb, analyze, and judge them, and then we are presented with the same set of events molded from a different point of view, forcing us to re-examine them in this new context. McEwan fills the narrative with mystery, passion, intrigue, and a whole range of complex personal emotions. Part one could easily stand on its own as a novella. The character of Briony is superbly developed. She goes from being a precocious yet sympathetic focus of the reader's affection to a manipulative, conniving, stubborn brat whose moral lapse has disastrous, long-term consequences for several other characters. But wait, that's just the first 100 pages! McEwan then layers two more stories on top of this one - a powerful tale of the personal struggle of a WWII soldier retreating from the battle of Dunkirk, and stoic suffering of a young nurse in a military hospital, witnessing some of the worst injuries imaginable. Both plots are gripping.

And what a graceful ending, bringing the novel full circle, 64 years later, back to where it began. Few novels bring me to the verge of tears, but this one did.

I especially liked the critical analysis he offered on the creative process that a writer goes through. Briony's reflections early on about her own efforts at fiction, and later on the thoughtful letter from the literary journal to which she submits her work, really added a lot to this novel. It's great to get an honest, detailed assessment from a writer about his craft, and this one comes from the one of the best in the business.

Rating:
Summary: What was all the fuss about?
Review: I must agree with the previous reviewer...it was pure torture. I stayed with it only because of so many glowing reviews, saying to myself, "The good part is just around the corner." It never came.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: Atonement was in the top 10 of novels I've ever read - beautiful and moving and very entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Something different and sumptuous from McEwan
Review: ATONEMENT isn't much like Ian McEwan's other works: less Gothic and panicked, the love tells in plush detailed prose of an incident in the mid-1930s at a British country house that forever changes the lives of young Briony, a daughter of the house, who witnesses the flirtings of her elder sister with a young schoolmate from a poor family. Briony misconstrues the flirting and lies about the young man's acftion--in doing so she effectively transforms the lives of herself, her sister and the young man forever.

This might be the best book of McEwan's I've read: it seems in theme and atmosphere very similar to L. P. Hartley's THE GO-BETWEEN, but is actually much more effective than Hartley's famous study of hypocrisy and manipulation among the upper classes. It suffers a bit only in that we don't get to see the process of Briony sticking to her lie when the law becomes involved (we are rather simply told she does so). As a result, her crime doesn't seem quite as bad as it should. But this is a marvellously well-told, tight little narrative.