Atonement by Ian McEwan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Atonement
Book Review: Boring...
Summary: 2 Stars
Can't wait until my Netflix comes so I can stop reading. I'm hoping the movie is better. So far, just snoreville and seems to be going nowhere.Book Review: Bravo! Superb.
Summary: 5 Stars
Reading this is like experiencing the beauty of contemplating a giant landscape - the style embodies a unity, a symmetry, a homogeneity - a gently throbbing and satisfying rhythm of oneness as one's gaze roams and hovers over page after page.
Every one of life's moments encapsulates a myriad of philosophical, psychological and historical components - all having threaded their way though particular configurations of circumstance to culminate in that moment. McEwan is a master of splitting the atom of these moments - unpacking for our wonder and delight these bundles of reality, in a style that is delicate and precise - a hallmark of his craft.
In a human narrative each of these moments is seen differently from the perspective of the various players. It is another feature of McEwan's craft that he burrows in and explodes each of these, subsequently weaving the understanding gleaned back together into a more refined understanding of the greater picture.
Beyond these exquisite niceties, a novel should naturally also be a good yarn, and McEwan is a wonderful story teller, maintaining a fine balance between fancy and feasibility. As a reader I experience the tension between wanting uplifting, happy outcomes and being prepared for gritty reality checks. Without giving too much away, in this book McEwan gives us both, with the slightest of sleights of hand - and in the last two pages of the book at that! With similar dextrous economy, the portal to this denouement is presented in the cypher of a set of initials and a date at the end of part three (of four).
The book is something of a saga, spanning 64 years and several generations. McEwan gives us a good feel for each of the periods covered. The 80 or so pages treating of the war have been researched in a novel way and the representation of war is a relief from war of the movies - even the better ones. Here we get the true horror and terror. Also a terrific flavour of the societal context in which this war was experienced in Britain. Towards the end he also gives us an insightful portrayal of an elderly mind surveying its life from the closing end of its journey.
The love story at the heart of 'Atonement' echoes Lawrence's portrayal of the oppositions and physicalities at the heart of romantic involvement. Indeed the male of the story likely read the word at the centre of the storm here unleashed in a student reading of Lady Chatterley.
In the end atonement is made - and McEwan and we accept it.
A personal note: For certain reasons I have been unable to muster the mental wherewithal to take up a book and read for nearly 2 years. I finally felt up to giving it a try, and 'Atonement' was the book with which I tried. Not only did the book turn out to be a good one with which to return to reading, but I read it over just 3 days.
Book Review: Decent read...
Summary: 3 Stars
I have never read a book by this author but decided to try Atonement since the movie was out and getting such great reviews. Honestly, I thought the book was mediocre. Not one of the worst I've read, but not one of the best either. The beginning was hard for me to get into...however, it made more sense once I read the end. Some people seem to love it, some hate it. I say buy a used copy and find out for yourself.Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
I may be a minority, but I found the first couple of chapters tedious and almost unreadable, and dropped the book at that point. It's a principle in fiction that the author should show, not tell. All this author did was tell, tell, tell--he preferred the lazy path of Irving the Explainer. He just wouldn't convey his story through scenes or dialogue. Rather he wanted to tell the reader everything about Briony in long-winded narrative, instead of showing us these things by what she said, thought and did. Then he did the same thing with the older sister. Neither of these characters came alive. They could have come to life in other hands, but McEwan seems to prefer nattering on tiresomely. Why this was considered prize-winning writing is unfathomable. In my view, it was more a series of preliminary character sketches and a long outline of a book than a real novel. Nice that it was made into a movie, as advertising indicates there are the elements of a story here; but in a reversal of the usual situation, the film has to be much better than the book or people will walk out of it in droves.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.