Rating: 
Summary: Intimate Portraits
Review: What amazed me most about this book was the level of intimacy within each narrator-particularly the voice of the adolescent Briony and her skewed perceptions of adult behavior. Once again Ian McEwan illustrates the human condition with great eloquence and precision.
Rating: 
Summary: A tremendous disappointment!
Review: I picked up this particular book, because one of my favorite novelist, Chris Bohjalian, recommended it at a book signing. I found the book difficult to get through and considered abandoning it altogether at times. I kept waiting for an unforgivable crime to take place, and when it did, it was hardly unforgivable, as it was committed by a 13 yr old girl. As such, the "atonement" failed to live up to the title. Although the book has literary value, I would not recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Formal and Elegant
Review: "Atonement" isn't the "type" of book I usually enjoy. I'm much more prone to choose a very interior, almost claustrophobic book that takes me deep into the heart and soul of the main character. I found "Atonement" so engrossing, however, that I read the entire book in one day, something I usually don't do.While most books can be described as either plot-driven or character-driven, I think "Atonement" achieves a wonderful balance between the two. While "Atonement" is definitely not a "page-turner," plot never takes a backseat to character in this book. And, conversely, character never takes a backseat to plot, although, in keeping with the book's cool and formal style, we are kept rather distanced from the characters. "Atonement" spans sixty-four years, from 1935 to 1999, yet the book is seamless and flows perfectly. McEwan chose to write "Atonement" in a very elegant and formal style and I think his choice was perfect. Subject matter such as that dealt with in "Atonement" could so easily slip into melodrama. McEwan, however, always keeps everything perfectly controlled and definitely understated. While I thought the understatement in "Atonement" to be a perfect choice, it did create a barrier that kept me from empathizing fully with Briony or any of the other characters. I didn't find them unlikeable, I just felt I couldn't get to know them. I never really became a part of their world, yet for me, that did nothing to detract from the book. I've heard several people complain about the ending of "Atonement." Some felt cheated or tricked. Personally, I loved the ending of this book and can't imagine McEwan writing it any other way. What I disagree with is the fact that the book is "multi-layered." If pressed, I don't think many people could explain what they mean by "multi-layered." This book definitely was not "multi-layered." We are given Briony's story and Briony's only. I have to applaud McEwan for not judging his characters; for not using his book as a forum from which to make moral judgments. This choice left the book a little more open-ended than some readers would have liked, but it added a poignant, fatalistic quality as well that I found lovely. "Atonement" is a beautiful book. It's elegant, formal and very highly polished. I think it's definitely McEwan's best and most ambitious work to date.
Rating:
Summary: Affecting and thought-provoking
Review: Wonderful! This is a book that must be read to its conclusion to be fully appreciated. I must admit that at several points McEwen had me wondering where he was going, but the ending tied everything together and even addressed some of the more frustrating aspects of the book, to my full satisfaction. I'm still pondering the book's central questions: is it ever possible to fully atone for one's ill-thought-out acts, even if one was too young at the time to fully understand the repercussions? Can story help us heal? Is fiction powerful enough to change the past, for those who remember it? There are no clear answers to these questions, but the author does a masterful job of exploring them.
Rating: 
Summary: Mistitled, but an interesting read.
Review: Briony was a very naughty and self-centered girl, and she remained that way into old age. At the end of the novel, I think her idea of atoning her "sin" was just an old woman's way to balm her never-to-be-cleared conscious for what she did to her sister and friend. Briony's just a quarter-inch shy of evil and if she hadn't been so "loved" in the last pages of the book - which I think was a device McEwan used in an attempt to tone down what she caused to happen - we'd all have been audibly cheering her descent into dementia. The book's first section was difficult to get through; Mr. McEwan got too wrapped up in his command of the English language to make it a good read. The second part was good but an unfair LIE to the reader. The third part made me wish I had never started reading it in the first place since I couldn't decide who I disliked more - Briony for ruining two people's lives and living to a ripe old age, or Mr. McEwan for writing "Atonement." And I do think the book was mistitled - perhaps "Atoning One's Sin by Rewriting History" would have been better, but I guess that title doesn't have the same "punch," does it?
Rating:
Summary: Atonement: Not Reading This Book Would Be A Sin
Review: With Atonement, Ian McEwan proves himself to be a master of prose and a premier storyteller. The book's unexpected ending left me with my mouth hanging open and tears streaming down my face. I recommend this book to anyone who harbors an appreciation for high quality literature.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Won Me Over
Review: At first I wasn't sure how I would react to this story, but what a story it is! The first section of the book that details the happenings of a summer night in 1935 is absolutely riveting. It manages to do it even thuogh it is very hard to find a true hero or heroine in the book. The night is a tragic one that leads to false accusations of rape against an innocent man. The rest of the book deals with the aftermath of the evening for many decades. As the story moves on to World War II and beyond, the story becomes grittier and it eventually challenges you to think about a number of basic values. Values regarding family, relationships and the ability to move on from injustice. It's a sad book but it will move you to think even though it takes a few pages to get hooked. Once you meet the main characters and get to the first part of the action, you will find it impossible to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written novel
Review: This book is greater than the sum of its parts. You will be extremely rewarded for the time spent with each of these characters. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Ouch
Review: There are some very odd things about this interesting book. We don't really have a protagonist that you can identify with. What we have is an immature young girl who unintentionally "bears false witness", incriminating an innocent man and sending him to jail. Because of this, it is a dark book. There are no heroes. Just a big OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Another oddity of the book is that we are given two completely different endings, which reminds me of Life Of Pi. First we get the ending that we are prepared to accept. Then in a sort of afterward, we are told that the ending we just read is not the real one, and that the real one is in fact much worse, much less satisfactory. As I said before, this is an interesting book. But it is also an exercise in banging your head against the wall.
Rating:
Summary: A writer's look at what has meaning and what is reality
Review: I am perhaps too close to having finished this book to be able to write with acuity about it. But before the first impressions fade, let me say flatly that McEwan is a great traditional novelist. His understanding of character, place and plot puts him among the best I've read. Many of the 358 other reviewers have described the action of the book, so I won't. My admonition to all potential readers is simply this: make no judgments until you've finished. The levels of truth, fiction, fantasy and conscious, convenient revisionism in the narration will give you a lot to think about. This is book to be reread. Don't miss it.
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