Rating: 
Summary: It Will Bring Out Your Humanity
Review: McEwan has crafted an epic around the unfortunate events that befall the main characters Briony Tallis, her sister Cecilia, Robbie Turner and Lola. A horrible set of events begin to spiral further out of control as a result of Briony's adolescent interpretation of those events and her subsequent personal judgments and decisions relating to them. Once committed this sequence of acts cannot be undone and thus begins a lifetime in which the "original sin" becomes the common thread that weaves through the remainder of each character's life. On one level it is a story about the loss of innocence and the life long implications of that loss. On another level it chronicle the realities of human frailty. And finally, the story shows the impact of a crime on the innocent. From the gripping scene at the family home on a hot day in the summer of 1934 to the graphic description of war torn northern France in 1939 and 1940, this book is compelling. McEwan's plot and descriptive skills are intricate and powerful. The oily smoke rising from Dunkirk as France fell and the military hospital scenes are memorable examples. The descriptions of pre-Blitz London are uncanny. The reader can feel the approaching doom. While I did not expect it, this book was hard to put down. The reader is swept into a sensation of wanting to see how a particular scene or exchange will end or how a relationship will develop. And, of course, throughout there is a sense that the "other shoe" will drop at any moment. At a human level this book is an illustration of life's many ironies. I have read many reviews that found the complexity and drama of the relationships here to be unreal. On the contrary, I found them highly plausible. McEwan is simply able to capture these sentiments and, perhaps, because it is so infrequently done in modern literature, some find it "unreal". In "Atonement" the wronged are not vindicated and those who have wronged either seek a life of "atonement" or appear not to pay any price for their transgressions or crimes. Perhaps the original crimes have motivated a life of "good". But then again can "good" be a viable outcome from a crime? Isn't there always collateral damage to real people however unintended? That is for the reader to decide. These are the irony's of life and thus, I choose to see this wonderful novel as a vivid lesson. Be honest in your understanding of relationships and intentions. Be mindful of how others may interpret events. Be willing to admit mistakes. Know right from wrong. Do not bow to pressure from others when you know your heart tells you otherwise. Don't underestimate the power of love. Be human. Finally, the book is simply very well written. I often found myself saying of the author; "How does he do it? This total command of the details; this almost biologic weaving of the plot; this otherworldly wisdom. How does he do it?" Ian McEwen has done it without question and it is worth reading because it will cause the reader to become more human. And that is an extraordinary contribution.
Rating: 
Summary: Atonement
Review: Ian McEwan's novel "Atonement" (2001) has received deserved praise. The writing style is varied and superb, the pace of the novel carefully controlled, and the characters live from the inside. The book explores many large themes, the nature of guilt and atonement, tne nature of love, the nature of the writing of fiction, war, social change and social classes, and many others. The variety and breadth of these themes could easliy produce a sprawling, confused work. But in "Atonement" the themes are carefully controlled and integrated. The book begins on an English upper-middle class estate in 1935. The protagonist is a 13 year-old precocious girl, Briony Tallis, who already has the ambition to be a writer. She witnesses an erotic flirtation between her older sister Cecilia Tallis, and Robbie Turner, a brilliant young man from an underprivileged backround (and of uncertain paternity) whose education has been sponsored by Briony's father. The plot unfolds slowly and inexorably with great descriptive detail and attention to character. At the conclusion of the first section Briony makes a false accusation against Robbie which results in Robbie's imprisonment. The rest of the book is the working-out of this carefully-laid opening chapter. The outstanding features of this novel include the change of voicing and of pacing in each of the four sections. Each of the first three parts of the book are written in the third person but the voicing in each section is significanly and purposefully different. The first and longest section, which I have discussed above, is written in the tone of the omniscent narrator -- one assumes it is the voice of the novelist unfolding his story. The second section of the book is set early in WW II with the British evacuation of France at Dunkirk just prior to the German air attack on Brittain. The story continues in the third person, but the pace and drive of the story increases rapidly. We are witnessing the British troups on their retreat to Dunkirk with the horrors of battle. The story is written, we soon learn, in the voice of Robbie Turner, who has been released from prison on condition that he enlist in the war effort. The third chapter is set in London just before the air raids. We meet Briony Tallis again who is full of remorse for her false testimony years before against Robbie. Briony is becoming a nurse, (her sister Cecelia is also a nurse) and there are gripping scenes of wounded and dying men in the hospital returning from combat. There are some wonderful secondary characters in this section, including Sister Drummond, the supervisor of the young probationer nurses, and Mrs.Jarvis, a crusty British landlord in the best Victorian tradition. In this section of the book, we learn that Briony is continuing her efforts to write and she is also seeking forgiveness for the guilty deed of her girlhood. As the chapter progresses, we see that it is written from the perspective of Briony herself even though it continues in the third person. The final section of the book is set in 1999 and is very short. The voicing shifts again, this time to the first person, and the story and the novel achieve a difficult closure. This novel is ultimately a careful, well-crafted and reflective work which speaks eloquently of the power of writing to transform reality and of the still more important power of human love.
Rating:
Summary: Penance for Penning
Review: Is it possible to make up for a seemingly harmless action that affects the life of your loved ones; sending them spiraling irrevocably into nightmarish misery? Is it possible to forgive someone who destroys your chances for love and happiness just as you're in their throes? If the culprit is a naive young girl, is she any less culpable? If this was the sum of McEwan's aim in writing this book, it would still be enough to shortlist him for the Booker Prize. But, no, McEwan is interested (perhaps primarily) in portraying a young author who writes a story-within-a-story. As Briony observes her sister Cecilia with their neighbor Robbie, a shocking scene shakes her world, hurdling her from the safe and simple plays of her innocence to the dangerous and exciting edges of adulthood, sexuality, and sober reality. Engaging his heroine (if she may be dubbed one) with the story from her writer's point of view, McEwan engages the reader in following this interaction. Atonement, although similar in concept to previously published works, eschews covered ground by shifting perspectives and narrative voices-not only between individual characters but between the same characters over time-thus keeping us on our feet. We are never quite sure whose point of view is more accurate, and whether we can even trust them. Scattered clues throughout the text only lead literary explorers to a mystifying culmination where the truth offers little value and satisfaction, and a melancholy resolution moves us with its forlorn reticence. An exquisite read.
Rating:
Summary: "If I give up my lies will I die?"
Review: The first half of Ian McEwen's stately "Atonement" takes place in 1935 (it's merely entitled Part 1 and it takes up 174 of the book's 351 pages). It's a conventional English novel of manners that will lure in fans of Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, and Henry Green. In its numbered chapters, McEwan describes, using multiple points of view, how the 13-year-old Briony, a borderline sociopath possessed of a writer's imagination, sees her older sister Cecilia (called Cee) and her friend Robbie (he's a gardener who's been to Cambridge and wants to be a doctor) in what might be considered a compromising position, misinterprets what she sees (almost certainly deliberately), and finds that her actions have consequences, her lies believed. Then, just as Beethoven suddenly, daringly tosses singers into what has been up to then a conventional classical symphony, the rest of the book goes off in unexpected directions, as we learn in parts 2 and 3 (each about half as long as part 1) what happens to Cee, Briony, and Robbie in the epochal year of 1940, during the British army's evacuation of Dunkirk and the German bombing of London. These sections, we learn, are written by the imaginative Briony perhaps in an attempt to atone for her misinterpretation of events, or perhaps merely to prove to herself that she's an author worthy of being published. Or perhaps both. (Briony's grande geste, giving up her own chance to go to Cambridge to work as a nurse in a hospital is perhaps an over-dramatically way to atone.) One thing is certain: after the classical nature of the first part, the events here, not divided by chapters, tumble along almost out of control as they describe the horrors of war and then the horrors of the wounded as they are taken to hospitals. Finally, in an eleagic (and more than somewhat self-serving) coda, dated 1999 and told in the first person by Briony, now 77 and near the end of her life, we get still another interpretation of events. The prose is elegant; the emotions are raw. And in the end you'll wonder whether there's been any atonement at all. You may even wonder if it matters. The book has an ice-cold crystalline clarity that resonates. It's not to be adored; it's to be admired. If you can.
Rating:
Summary: A self-contained gem
Review: Ian McEwan writes beautiful sentences. I read a portion of Atonement out loud and it delighted my tongue. In many ways the book reminds me of Henry James, from his ironies and shifting points of view to his rich appreciation of class and transgression. The book continually surprises the reader, whether by taking a dark turn into the horrors of war or presenting literary criticism in the midst of a hospital scene. I enjoyed the way atonement continually beckoned but was never achieved, even in the creation of such a perfect book. From beginning to end I was delighted and intrigued, and yet I put the novel away with the sense that it was over and done. Even though some strands were left amusingly unraveled, they didn't tug at my conscience or feelings. I prefer books that embed themselves in the skin and leave you changed. Some of McEwan's earlier novels did just that, but this one was too self-contained. Many books need a reader to bring it to life, but this one seems just fine on its own. Maybe that accounts for some of its popularity.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Novel, one of best of the year
Review: Ian McEwan's novel, Atonement covers 3 generations of British history. It starts from 1935 and the childhood of a person, Briony, progresses through adulthood to old age of one person and her family. It is enchanting in the way it depicts each phase of the person. It shows the childhood and all of its intricacies of the dreamer, the youth and changes in Britain such as the war and how one person's life is ruined by the lie of a child living in her own world. The relationship between Robbie and Cecilia is brought out beautifully as it is the only thing that keeps him going. As a novel, the second part is completely different from the first and is heartwrenching. The war parts are very realistic and scenes in France are brought out in such detail that one can almost picture them. Briony's change is also depicted well. Cecilia withdraws from everyone in her family due to their cruel treatment of Robbie, who was the son of their housekeeper. When the war ends and Briony withdraws her testimony and is confronted by Robbie about it, she gives one of the best replies, simple and elegant, "Growing Up." It also shows the changes in Britain such as the class structure ebbing away and gradual transition of people. It is very realistic in its portrayal of people without boring you with mundane details. It is sad that this book did not make the Booker, I think that it created a deeper impression among the readers than "The True History of the Kelly Gang". The writing style is wonderful and is eclectic. A lot of people felt that the book was too long and not realistic. However, the fantasy in this book matches that of "Room with a View". So is the style of writing. To date, it is probably the best book of Ian McEwan. I read his other books such as Amsterdam and they do not compare in style or story to this one. In summary, this is a brilliant book.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Acclaimed Mediocrity
Review: ATONEMENT demonstrates again that, when she filled her pockets with stones and walked into the river, Virginia Woolf took the English novel with her. ATONEMENT is a mediocre book, unqualifiedly in love with its own prose, which is workmanlike. Both the narrator and the characters signal their punches throughout, so when we discover, at the end, that one of the characters, a highly acclaimed writer, IS the author of the book, that the book is her atonement, then we feel that those she punished have been punished doubly so. ATONEMENT presumes its readers are rather dense, won't see right away that Paul is the one who raped Briony's cousin nor that she will marry him. Are English readers dense? are they terribly distracted? they cannot be as dense as McEwen presumes. Anyway, if you seek a contemporary British novel, highly acclaimed but actually run-of-the-mill, then try ATONEMENT.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly contrived; real people do not act this way
Review: McEwan wastes his abundant talent in deciding to play tricks with the reader in a plot so obvious that you know what will happen 20-30 pages before it does. On a hot summer's day in 1935, at an upper middle-class English country house, the neglected thirteen year-old daughter, Briony, lodges false rape charges against the charwoman's son, a brilliant Cambridge graduate who has been raised with the family and financially supported by the patriarch. The accused, Robbie, who has become the lover of the family's eldest daughter, Cecelia, is charged with raping (maybe) the vampish teenaged niece who is visiting. The first section ends with Robbie being taken away in handcuffs, and the book immediately and inexplicably jumps ahead five years, to the disastrous evacuation of the British army at Dunkirk, where Robbie is serving. Excuse me, but too many questions are left open. Did the "victim" ever speak on her own behalf? What actually happened (we are never told)? Was the "victim" ever questioned by the police? Was Robbie's accuser, Briony, ever questioned? Any fool could have questioned them separately and torn the charges apart. Did Robbie have a barrister? Even the most incompetent attorney could have ripped holes in the ludicrous charges. Was there a trial? What was the testimony? Did Cecelia, the eldest daughter and Robbie's lover, have ANYTHING to say in his defense? Did she ever confront Briony with her suspicions? Or did she mutely stand by and allow this travesty? If so, why? Are we supposed to believe that British class bigotry is the driving force? Come on, this was 1935, not 1835, and a World War had been fought. And what was the significance of the Dunkirk portion? That was totally out of left field, and extraneous to the story. The matriarch of the manor, perpetually sequestered in her bedchamber with migraines, is nothing more than a caricature from the Victorian era, a two-dimensional, milk-and-water prop. This novel fails precisely because real people just do not behave in this way. McEwan is too cute by half, and the ending is a total fraud, just too big a rabbit jumping out of the hat at the reader. I do not recommend this book, even though the writing is superb.
Rating:
Summary: A definitive example of the modern novel
Review: An incredible book, which I cannot recommend highly enough with any qualification. With Atonement, McEwan has set a new standard for the modern novel. All the elements are superb: story, structure, characterisations, obersevations, and an absolutely engrossing writing style. His story leads the reader in, and every page builds on the many false climaxes and leads. But the clues are all there. Just when one thinks one has worked out the story, the next page holds a surprise - and not a single gimmicky twist in the book. Such is his mastery of the medium that a simple, seemingly afterthought of initials and date turns the entire story around. Absolutely wonderful, readable, emotional, and brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: Demanding, Detached, Maybe Too Clever
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this novel, after hearing so much about it & liking the title (and presumed subject matter). I'd read McEwan's 'Amsterdam' earlier and while it had also had a surprise ending, I found it just way too clever. 'Atonement' has much more substance to it than 'Amsterdam,' but I was left with the feeling that McEwan may be too clever for his own good. I WAS really surprised at the end, and it made me think, and I haven't forgotten the book, but the huge twist in the last few pages seemed just a little too contrived. I also feel that I probably should have read the book much more slowly. It's complex, and demands a lot of the reader. But one of the reasons I was reading it fast, in the first part particularly, was that I disliked the young 13 year old narrator, Briony, in the extreme--I found her so self-indulgent and histrionic. If only she had been more likeable! I didn't mind the details in Part One or the slow moments there, but I did get a little bogged down in Part Two, war stories at Dunkirk where nothing much happens, though I did understand (I think!) why McEwan was including this section. I think probably McEwan isn't my type of author--he's too academic (though I do love good literary fiction!), too clever and dry, and just way too detached, for me. I felt as if I was being held at arm's length during this whole book, that it didn't draw me in emotionally (and I long to be emotionally involved with a book's characters, like to be pulled into a story, another world). I felt more like I was on the outside all the time with 'Atonement', looking in, face pressed against the glass, and thus distanced. I'm not sorry I read this novel, though--it's well-crafted, and I can see from the reader's guide that I obviously missed some of the symbolism in it or text that I didn't get sorted out. I've thought of rereading it, but don't think I will--I don't think I could stand the young Briony again, for one thing! I do see how some people could give this novel 5 stars and why others gave it 3 (but not less than that! This is a serious and ambitious book...). McEwan's style isn't for everyone, and not everyone should be reading this book either; I myself wonder if I want to try some of his earlier novels, and think, to be fair, that I ought to try one more before I give up on him entirely.
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