Atonement by Ian Mcewan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Atonement
Book Review: A Thing of Beauty
Summary: 5 Stars
When it comes to Atonement, I'm arriving late to the party. I have been aware of the novel almost since it was first published and I know of the major motion picture produced from its story but, for various reasons, it has taken me several years to get around to reading it.
Ian McEwan has written a complicated, multi-layered book that is simply beautiful when considered as a whole. It is a coming-of-age novel, a crime novel, a love story, a war novel, a mystery and an author's reflections on the art of fiction writing, all rolled into one. The book is structured in three distinctive sections, each with a very different story to tell, and an epilogue that flashes forward more than 50 years.
Part One, set in 1935, introduces thirteen-year old Briony Tallis, an aspiring novelist even at that age, who has a vivid imagination but a limited understanding of the motivations and emotions of the adults around her. Her imagination takes over when from a distance she witnesses a scene between her older sister, Cecelia, and the charwoman's son, Robbie, at the fountain in front of the family home. Imagining that Robbie has forced her sister to strip to her underwear and immerse herself in the fountain, Briony is filled with conflicting emotions. As the day goes on, she becomes more and more certain that Robbie is a danger to her sister and is so convinced that he is evil that her imagination leads her to identify him as responsible for a sexual assault that occurs that night.
Part Two picks up the story some five years later in France where Robbie, who has been freed from prison to join the fight against Hitler, is part of a British army retreating to Dunkirk in hopes of being evacuated to England in time to fight another day. Painfully carrying a piece of shrapnel in his side, he realizes that he is responsible for his own survival and slowly works his way to the coast with two others. But by the time he gets there to experience the chaos and further slaughter of the Dunkirk beaches his wound is causing him serious complications.
Part Three focuses on the now eighteen-year old Briony who has moved to London to study nursing at exactly the point at which her training hospital is overrun by casualties from the Dunkirk slaughter. Her experiences mature her in more ways than one and she longs to somehow undo the wrong she committed against Robbie and Cecelia who has been estranged from the family ever since Robbie's imprisonment as a convicted rapist.
Finally, there is the epilogue set in 1999 in which Briony, now a respected elderly novelist joins family to celebrate her seventy-seventh birthday, a section of the book in which McEwan has stashed one final surprise for his readers. This is an ending that readers will likely react to differently, some in surprise, some in admiration, and others in frustration and even a little anger.
Atonement paints a vivid picture of pre-war England and the days immediately after the British army collapse in France caused most Londoners to expect German bombers and troops to appear at any time. It explores the emotions of both those seeking to atone for transgressions against others and those who suffered those transgressions and find it hard to forgive or forget them. It studies the "truths" of fiction and what writers and their readers should expect from each other.
I may have gotten there late but this is one party I'm happy I didn't miss.
Book Review: Dissapointed
Summary: 1 Stars
The reviews looked so promising, but I just could not get in to this book at all. I checked out the audio version from my library, and perhaps it is better on paper, but I doubt it. I have made it through the first hour of the book, and it is terrible and I will not continue. The story seems somewhat intersting, but it does NOT make Sense! It goes back and forth from Celias perspective, to Bryany (may have mispelled that). And I just cant figure out exactly what the crap is going on. The images I am able to conture in my mind of what might be going on are just so fuzzy, and dreamlike. I just cant relate to this story. I keep listening to it thinking why dont they just "SAY" what is happening, the way the author describes things is very poor.
Book Review: Literary Torture
Summary: 1 Stars
Absolutely hated this book. I didn't read it all the way through, but I figure 260 pages of literary torture was enough. How this book has been so well received and turned out a movie is beyond my comprehension. This book was entirely inaccessible and boring. I hated the long winded laments on architecture and gardens and I hated and didn't identify with any of the characters. This has been the worst book I've read in a decade at least.
After finding out the ending to this book after getting half way through it, I realized that the end could never justify the means. Many people disagree with this, but I just can't be bothered to read the rest of this book as it's more effective than ambien at putting me to sleep.
Book Review: Loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of my favorite novels ever, I read it before it was made into a movie. The story is so romantic and engaging, two lovers that have only a few minutes together to share in their whole lives because of a person's false accusation, three lives destroyed due to ignorance and childish egoism. I loved both the part in the Tallis' family house before the dramatic change of events and also Robbie's efforts to reach Dunkirk (that was almost lost in the film). I couldn't see the end coming... I think that final twist in the story is what made this great book brilliant. I absolutely love Mr Mac Ewan's way of writing, so fluent, so natural and efficient. He is one of the most talented authors today as far as I am concerned. I hated Briony and at the same time I could get into her mind and understand why she acted as she did. I have been urging many of my friends to read it ever since, and those who did, have all thanked me! I read On Chesil Beach lately, perfect writing as well. I like that Mac Ewan's novel get you into the process of thinking... all those "what if's"... you're not done with his books even when you're through them, they stay in your mind, in your heart. Don't skip it just because you saw the movie, this book's just perfect.Book Review: Sweeping, Epic, Sensational
Summary: 4 Stars
First let me say, I truly loved the story of this book - which as you've probably recognized, was recently made into a film. Given that most readers at this point will be picking up Atonement because of the movie, I think it's fair to do a fair bit of comparison between the two. Both the book & the film play out in similar ways in that they both possess some shining, outstanding moments of brilliance and clarity, but for every four of those there was one moment that needed some polishing, hence my grade of 4/5 stars.
The story starts in the mid 1930's when a thirteen year old girl named Briony, known for being a bit fantastical and in her head, witnesses a series of events one day and misinterprets them to the entirely wrong, adolescent conclusion, and tells a lie that sets off a rapid chain of events that forever change the lives around her - most notably of her older sister Cecilia and her newfound love interest, their longtime childhood friend Robbie. The story follows the path of the lie and its far-reaching consequences through World War 2 up until the end of the 20th century.
Part of me wishes I hadn't seen the movie - given the very unique ending - but a bigger part of me is glad I had, as it made the book a lot easier to read than I suspect it would be for someone who hasn't seen the film. I was amazed at how good the film really was in its adaptation of the book, in terms of keeping in the majority of major dialogue sequences and accurately portraying the scenery as it is described in the book. Most importantly, it really did a great job of capturing what the book was about, the general feeling and sensations you got from the book were translated beautifully on screen.
The one main thing the book did better than the movie was the delivery of the story itself through Briony, especially her thought process as she witnesses the various events early on in the story. The prose itself is quite well written, although (like in the film) it tends to lag a bit and get off track from the core themes during the section set in the fields of WW2. There are excellent themes surrounding redemption and coming of age and lots of complicated moral questions that made the book more enjoyable to read than I had anticipated.
My final note would be that the film did a much better job at revealing its final twist than the book - it was acted in such an outstanding way that you felt the weight of the final revelation that much more, although it was strongly based on the excellent writing of McEwan in these final pages. Recommended for fans of books such as The Kite Runner.