Rating: 
Summary: Torture, pure torture.
Review: Atonement is full of lovely phrases, but lacks the ability to carry you through the story. So many words, so little tiime.
After struggling through the first one third of the book I finally just gave up and put it down. This novel is not for the reader who wants to be entertained, caught up in a good story, or likes an emotional presence in their reading. Thinking I had been too harsh in my analysis, I picked it up again a few weeks later. Same result. No heart.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book
Review: It's a good book. Nothing more. Not a great book. A book to read when you have the time, a summer book, perhaps, or a winter book. It's well-written, poignant, sad, profound, and ultimately falls short of being truly memorable.
Rating: 
Summary: Yeah
Review: This was a pretty good book. The way it was written was a tad slow going at times but the story line made you read on. I like how it had the transitions between time periods. They were very smooth. This is a book you could easily take your time with.
Rating:
Summary: If you can get thru the first 100 pages....
Review: The author has divided this book into 3 Parts and an Epilog. The book is written in chronological order. I had a hard time figuring out the time period of Part 1. There is a quote from a Jane Austen novel at the beginning of the book which helped put me in the mindset of the mid to late 1800's. I was happy with that until the telephone rang. Anyway, the first part is long on prose and short on plot until page 90 (or the start of Chapter 9, Part 1). In fact the author himself in Part 3 chooses to describe the writing in Part 1 as "Simply put, you [it] need the backbone of a story. ... the prose [is] 'too full, too cloying' but with 'redeeming shades of Dusty Answer'.". (You'll have to read the book to learn why the author chooses to comment on his own writing.) At this point in Part 1 I wasn't really involved with the characters so I didn't care too much about the plot. But it got better, much better. And well worth the read. HOWEVER, I would like to recommend to a person who has not read this book, NOT to read it from front to back. Instead I think this story would be much better told jumping into Part 2 (don't worry that the first 5 pages keep referring to the main character as "he" and you don't know his name for a while. Reading it sequentially wouldn't have helped!). In the middle of Part 2 the character reflects in his distant past. It is at this point you should stop reading Part 2 (at page 220 in the Hardcover edition. For those of you with paperback, start reading Part 1 just before the major paragraph break where the paragraph starts with "There was more confusion ahead...".). At this point go back and read all of Part 1 to give you some additional background information that will probably be more relavent and meaningful than someone who read Part 1 first. Once you finish with Part 1, continue where you left off in Part 2 (page 220) and read to the end of the book. So basically we are just inserting a major flashback at an appropriate time in the story. If you do decide to read it using the recommendation above, please post your thoughts as to whether you think it read well this way.
Rating:
Summary: (AUDIO VERSION) You can drown in all the imagery.
Review: Let me start by apologizing right up front for giving this novel 3 stars. I already know that some of you are going to be upset that I gave this critically acclaimed, award nominated book such a low score. WAIT before you get mad and let me explain. I listened to the book on tape. The audio version. Some 36 hours. But it's not the length of the book that's a problem - longer is usually better actually. It's the intense imagery that was problem. McEwan spent so many words describing the intimate details of everything in this novel. I literally drowned in the descriptions sometimes. If I had been reading the novel, I am sure I would have "skimmed" places (yes, we all do it, but only some of us can admit it) and hence felt the full impact of the wonderful plot. The three points of narration are masterful. The characters are incredible. If I had read this book. I'd probably have scored it a five. But I didn't. And on audio, even though it is very well read by Jill Tanner, it was too much of a good thing. Like eating a very, very rich dessert... after awhile you have push the plate away because it's too much.
Rating:
Summary: A Memorable Novel
Review: This novel's impact is in its ending, which is a thought-provoking spin on the idea of 'Atonement'. Briony, the imaginative youngest child of the family, is an avid writer of childish plays and melodramatic stories. She witnesses an ordinary event - an exchange between her sister Cecilia and a family friend, Robbie, by the fountain. From this, Briony cultivates the seed of her imagination that will culminate in a tragedy that changes the lives of everyone she loves (Do I sound like the book jacket? That's because that was a fantastic summary anyway. You don't need any more than that). The beauty of this book is the irony of Briony's 'atonement', which the reader will see is an act directed at relieving her conscience rather than to make up for what she has done. She uses the very tool (her imagination) that caused all this heartache to atone for her sins but by this very act, diminishes and denies the true impact of her transgression. McEwan separates this book into primarily four sections, making leaps of several years in between to show that sorrow can persist and ferment with great tragedy, consequences linger for a lifetime, and sometimes, foolishness lasts beyond childhood and into old age. Several people will have different opinions of Briony, I'm sure, which is why this book is a great read because it sparks divided views about how McEwan wanted to portray this complex and hopelessly flawed character. The ending will generate a maze of thoughts about what it is to 'atone', whether Briony accomplishes this, and how do people live with their mistakes and tragedies? On the other hand, the book is slow in some sections, encompassing depressing passages on war. It is however, a rewarding journey for the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: What has made this novel so appealing to many readers is clearly lost on me. Alot of it is quite slow, especially the middle section, and I felt no empathy for the characters. Although a great deal of the book is internal monologue (a technique which I usually enjoy and when used well, as with Woolf, can be invaluable), I still ended up feeling that the characters were 2 dimensional. The only exception being possibly Cecila. I didn't hate the character of Briony (I wish I had!), I just didn't care about her or her problems. The end of the novel does contain the punch. The only problem is, for the punch to have any effect, you have to have something invested in the characters. Unfortunately I didn't. Worth a read, but not on the top of my list.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful read that left me hungry...
Review: I loved the beginning of the novel, but after a while it seems to slow down so much it becomes a drag. It should have been reduced to a third of its length to be enjoyable. Not that I didn't appreciate the descriptions, but too many details can drown the plot and the story seems to lose its power. The writing is pleasing and stylish. Not enough dialogue though. The characters don't seem to sort out their problems and there is no real resolution, which is why it left me frustrated. By the way, is this a book about WW2 or atonement? The story seems to focus on too many things at the same time. It explores the atrocities of war, which have nothing to do with Briony's personal "crime". Maybe the war added to Robbie's anger. However what doesn't make sense is that first he seems to be willing to forgive, then he reacts totally differently, like another character altogether. It is a bit confusing. I would recommend this book, as it is interesting, but I wouldn't say it's one of the best books I've read.
Rating: 
Summary: Technically Spell Binding
Review: ...I bought the book on the strength of other books I have read and enjoyed by Ian McEwan. However, having read it, I was curious to know how others had reacted to it due to a niggling question mark that arose in my mind at a certain point in the reading and stayed until the end. I personally rate this book as one of the most readable novels I have ever read, even with this rather unfair reservation on my part. As the addiction to page turning increased, so did my admiration for the author's technique. I was aware that I was being manipulated in the hands of a masterful technician who was double guessing my reactions, laying traps, playing with my emotions and eventually surprising me. Yes, even that slow, delicately understated opening that some reviewers complain of is purposefully low keyed, making the reader make the effort to get into gear and on into the story of prewar England, its countryside and social fabric. I always have the feel of music in Ian McEwan's writing and this was a slow opening movement that eventually crescendos into sustained raw feeling that kept this reader turning pages into the early hours. This is a wonderful tale of love, hate and humanity with characters that jump off the page with life and I was sorry when I reached the end. I would recommend this book to all and Ian McEwan is welcomed to use his enormous literary skills to spellbind this reader again in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Not just another bestseller!
Review: Atonement is a complex, at times difficult, read and is not for everyone. McEwan has an immense vocabulary and does not present the story the way the typical bestselling author does. The reader must be very patient, but Atonement is well worth the read.
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