Atonement by Ian McEwan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Atonement
Book Review: Aptly titled at least, as reading it felt like doing penance
Summary: 1 Stars
Let me begin by saying that I highly recommend Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam" and "Enduring Love." They are good works of literary fiction, well-written, and they make you think about a variety of issues. It was easy for me to understand why "Amsterdam" won the Booker.
When "Atonement" was released, I immediately ordered it, looking forward to another good book from McEwan. I was sadly disappointed. How "Atonement," in the words of Publishers Weekly, quoted above, "just failed to win the Booker this year" is a mystery to me -- not that it didn't win, but that it was even short-listed for the Booker. Maybe it was a year of mediocre books. Or it made the short list because McEwan wrote "Amsterdam."
It was difficult to believe that the same person who wrote those books wrote this one. Perhaps if he had taken all the disparate elements and different stories in "Atonement" and used them to write three or four separate books, or even two separate books, those books would have had the cohesiveness and interest I found lacking in "Atonement." I just checked and "Amsterdam" was just over two hundred pages, "Enduring Love" under three hundred, while "Atonement" is close to four hundred pages (208, 272, and 368 pages, to be precise.)
I enjoy reading good fiction. I don't care whether it comes in the form of long novels with complicated plots and numerous characters or short ones with few characters, like "Amsterdam." I liked the 2009 Booker Prize winner "Wolf Hall" very much, which is 640 pages and has many characters. I did not like "Atonement" The story and characters were just not engaging enough, not real enough, to care about, and there were gaps in the plot that made no sense.
Perhaps McEwan is at his best writing shorter novels.
Book Review: Art trumps life
Summary: 1 Stars
Atonement is a tedious novel. The author was told as a youngster that he had a penchant for detail. Is it ever given in an excruciating manner with no purpose in sight. Most importantly, the author should have read Kundera's book "The Joke" and would have learned that one must stand up for inequity at the moment, not years past, otherwise your life is meaningless. Consequently, the novel is morally corrupt. McEwan has the character Briony choosing to write a story over speaking out for her wrongdoings. Two people die as a consequence of her actions. Furthermore, McEwan presents a novel as fiction, then disguised as Briony, declares that these are merely words and they shouldn't be taken seriously and if so, the writer is like God so atonement is not neccessary. It's a poor blending of fiction and reality. So if McEwan is your friend in real life, he'll choose a good story out of it and leave you hanging out to dry.Book Review: Atonement
Summary: 5 Stars
I usually make a point of not seeing a movie before I get a chance to read the book, but the opposite is true for my experience with McEwan's Atonement. I rented the movie last summer from Netflix and as soon as the movie ended, I stared at the blank screen for a moment, blinked a couple of times in wonderment, and then hit play and watched it in its entirety a second time. Needless to say, I was completely entranced with the storyline and the cinematography. All of this is to say that after having such a wonderful experience with the movie adaptation, I began to worry that I'd ruined the possibility of having a good reading experience with the novel. I find it difficult to read a book after I've seen the movie since I have so many preconceived notions of the characters' appearance and eccentricities locked into my head visually.
Never fear. I loved the book just as much as the movie. I actually listened to this book, mostly while driving, and I'm quite lucky I didn't wind up in a ditch somewhere due to my complete inattention to my surroundings. I became so wrapped up in the characters, the story, and the heart wrenching consequences of one thirteen-year-old's misinterpretation of a number of events and a rash decision. This was my first foray into Ian McEwan's writing and it definitely won't be the last. I was mesmerized with his writing style. The characters, especially that of the young Briony, were so well-drawn. She is so frustratingly self-absorbed and narcissistic in the beginning of the novel, and her imaginative whims that so many young girls possess lead to such a catastrophic turn of events. I'll say no more. You must read it for yourself.
I don't often reread books anymore due to the sheer quantity of amazing novels out there that I must get my hands on, but I can definitely say this is a book I will revisit, perhaps a few times, in the future.
Book Review: Atonement
Summary: 3 Stars
Our book club of six discussed ATONEMENT after 5 of us read it and one saw the movie. 3 of us agreed that it was a little difficult to follow because of there being so many words; and it was a novel within a novel. I should have read more detailed reviews of the novel before reading it. We were trying to describe this type of literature among today's writings. "Wordy descriptions and loose connections" is what I concluded after our discussion. Even Part II, which moves better that Part I presumes connections that one misses unless one is wide awake! This is not a book to read when one is sleepy!Book Review: Atonement
Summary: 5 Stars
This was in good condition and arrived in a timely manner. Also the book was amazing and very sad. I plan to read it again.