Atonement

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Buy!
Review: Ian McEwan's tale of a woman trying to atone for a horrible act she committed as a young girl is spellbinding. His language is poetic and sticks in your mind after you put the book down. Intricately plotted but not overdone 'Atonement' is remarkably human. The characters are all well drawn and possess real emotions. That is a good thing not just for McEwan's accomplishment as a writer but because it is their emotions that drive the story and make it so compelling. Had they been even slightly off the whole story would have seemed false and lacking in heart. This is a great book, and most certainly worth reading for anyone who loves quality literature. Also recommended: Life of Pi by Martel, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

Rating:
Summary: One of the best I've read in a while ....
Review: .. I read this book through in one (long!) sitting. I haven't done that since "The English Patient". Not as compact as "Amsterdam", this book is an epic.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous lush writing, plodding plot
Review: I just finished Atonement with my book club. Out of seven of us, I was the only one who was happy I read it.

McEwan's writing is so sensual and detailed that you can truly picture his scenes in your mind's eye. It is truly poetic and beautiful description. For me, this made the book worth reading.

On the other hand, the book is divided into three segments and the first segment is excrutiatingly slow. If you can manage to slog through this first section, you will be rewarded by the remaining two thirds of the book which are much faster paced and culminate in a "twist". I should warn you that the twist is subtle and requires careful reading of the final chapter. It was the type of twist that left me thinking, not the type that I sat up and said "oh my goodness, how clever!".

In terms of the subject matter, you will follow the life of a young girl who accuses a member of her household of a terrible crime and in fact ruins his life. The book follows the accuser and the accused through time and through a war. I didn't feel particularly close to any of the characters by the end of the book so on some level the ending really didn't move me.

I did give it three stars though simply for the fabulous use of the language. I am anxious to try another book by the author to see if the plots are more engaging, because the writing is so rhythmic and lush.

This may be a great book to listen to on tape. I found that reading it aloud was actually more enjoyable than reading it silently.

Rating:
Summary: On the fence...
Review: A few days after finishing "Atonement" I am still on the fence about it. On the one hand, it is a brilliantly depicted story of guilt and attempted redemption. On the other, it is one of the slowest, most over detailed books I've ever read. The first section, which is 180 pages long, could just as well have been 90. I'm reminded of those overstuffed, overdone Masterpiece Theater series that go on way too long. It also employs a twist ending -- I'm not giving anything away with this sentence --that isn't very original. I've seen similar twists in a half dozen movies.

Now for the spoilers... don't read this if you don't want to know... I think the perspective of the book is a rejection of the concept of atonement. Briony's attempts to right her wrongs fall flat because only God, or the existence of God, can forgive what she's done. She, as a writer, can only confess to her sins and give them a context and perspective. A greater authority needs to bestow forgiveness to her; she can't do it herself. That accounts for the feeling of disatisfaction the reader has at the end. Briony's attempt at atonement has failed.

I give the book points for taking on a complex theological theme and answering it intelligently. I took a class in college called "Theological Themes in Fiction" and I have no doubt this book is now leading the syllabus of classes like that. What I don't give it points for is making me care about what happens to these characters. Briony is a self-centered nitwit, and I'm not sure I ever again want to spend 300 pages with such a character.

I don't regret reading "Atonement" but I don't intend to read McEwan again.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully drawn characters and crystalline descriptions
Review: Atonement is a novel of finely drawn characters and compelling descriptions. The novel is divided into four sections, each quite different. In the first section, Briony, an imaginative and and self-righteous 13-year-old girl involves herself in he budding romance between her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the Cambridge educated son of the family charwoman. The individuals in the family, their roles and relationships are carefully and convincingly described. We truly believe in Briony, and her actions with their unjust and terrible outcome seem genuine to us.

The results of Briony's actions are followed through the desperate evacuation of the British army at Dunkirk and the arrival of the wounded at a hospital in London, where Briony is working as a nurse. Finally we meet Briony again as an old woman who has become a well-known writer. In telling Briony's story, McEwan reveals some secrets of the writer's experience: as a child with a calling to invent stories, as a young writer submitting her first attempts for publication, and finally as an experienced writer checking the accuracy of her prose.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: What an amazing novel. If you are a fan of well written thought-provoking books this is for you. This was my favorite book of the year.

Rating:
Summary: Briony's Story
Review: One of the best books I have lately read. Wonderful style, the author Mr. Mac Ewan is a magician of the pen.
The story spans from the 30s to the late 90s and can be divided into three parts.
The first part deals with the description of Briony's family: the Tallis, their house, their friends, their life which goes on quietly. Then the crime, Briony's crime against her sister's innocent lover. A kind of silly jealousy leads Briony to accuse the young man of child abuse.
I think this is the best part of the book, the characters are so well defined, the author is able to write about their feelings in a kind of "stream of consciousness" which lets the reader get deep inside their minds, especially Briony's mind, because, after all, this is Briony's story.
The second part is about the horrors of World War Two and about Briony as a young woman, a nurse in a London Hospital, she has to tend to the wounded soldiers, and here life is very hard and painful and this is, maybe, her atonement.
In the third part we find Briony again, an old woman who is going to fall into dementia, she outlived all the others still bearing the burden of her crime to the last.
Briony is not a hateful character, she was just a spoiled child who didn't even think,at the time, what her action would lead to.
This is a book I heartily recommend to all those who appreciate good literature.

Rating:
Summary: Must Read
Review: Bravo--if you want a book that will drop your chin at the end, I reccommend this book. Mr. McEwan's uses his pen like a magician's wand and leaves you mesmerized at the end.

Rating:
Summary: A well crafted melodrama, dont be put off by its 'literary'
Review: I had heard about this book for quite a while, and it was on my list of 'must read, someday' books. Having read it now, I consider it a well crafted melodrama
so don't be put of by its 'literary' reputation. The book is divided into four major episodes concerning a certain family and friends before, during and after World War II. There is an air of foreboding in each episode and each chapter seems to detail events which, while appearing normal, seem to be bringing doom closer. In this, I think, the crafting to the pace of the book draws the reader onwards to find out what happens. The descriptive passages had less power for me than the dialogue, however the story was compelling.
The main character is an aspiring novelist and this I found to be the aspect I liked least. I find writers writing about writing to be self referential, boring and bland, and this features more in the book than I think is necessary. It seemed to me to break, rather than enhance, the flow of the book and to provide very little by way of insight into the thought processes of the characters. This was the main flaw I thought in an
otherwise entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful, touching, thought-provoking
Review: I highly recommend this work. The Atonement is the novel itself.

I was expecting a lot and it turned out to be more complex and rewarding than I expected. McEwan is a masterful novelist and, although I thought the beginning was slow, the last 200 pages of the book were simply so good and often so riveting that the novel is beyond criticism. The ending is great. Very touching.