Atonement by Ian McEwan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Atonement
Book Review: A book to be savored
Summary: 4 Stars
For those who want few words, simple grammar, and quick pages, this is not your book. Ian McEwan employs the power of language to thoroughly develop of complex cast of characters and places them in a deep, soul-searching drama. But the conclusion to this well-written story is unsettling.Book Review: A delight!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first book I read by this author. After reading this, I bought "Saturday". This guy can write! His descriptions, characterizations, lovely! I'm not a writer nor do I have any sort of formal education in literature, but I do love a good book and this is one!Book Review: A truly admirable novel
Summary: 4 Stars
So many people have written a review of this book already that I think it would be a little redundant of me to do another plot summary (yawn). Suffice it to say that the plot really revolves around three characters: Briony Tallis, who's thirteen in the summer of 1935, her sister Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the charlady's son, who conducts an illicit romance with her. The novel is written in four parts, taking place in 1935, the Battle of Dunkirk during WWII, at a hospital in London, and then in 1999 when Briony is an old woman.
I have to say that I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I'd heard that the book was slow to begin with, but for me that wasn't the case at all. Rather, it was when the novel got to WWII where my interest began to flag a bit (I'm sorry, but endless descriptions of warfare are uninteresting to me). The novel is all about perspective: that of thirteen-year-old Briony as she truly doesn't understand what was going on at the fountain that day; that of Robbie on the warfront; that of Briony, age 18 as a nurse and trying to make amends for what she has done; and that of 77-year old Briony at her birthday party. It's a pretty amazing story, and McEwan is a pretty fantastic writer. Even though I really didn't like Briony, I could more or less understand why she does what she does. It's a book with a complicated plot and not much action--but don't allow that to put you off from reading this truly admirable novel.
Book Review: An atonement?
Summary: 4 Stars
This was my first Ian McEwan read, and it was a good one. This was an interesting story though not really a whole lot happened in it, and somehow it went for a few hundred pages. The reason for that was McEwan's precise and extensive descriptions of characters' thoughts and the story's various settings. McEwan is rather amazing at imagining the possible details of a one's thoughts, details that most people might not ordinarily be conscious of, but upon reading them ring true. The limited plot is lengthened also by the story being told from several viewpoints, particularly in Part 1. It was all very intelligently done.
But was there really any atonement in this story? At least atonement when it counted? I don't know if the title really applied considering how things turned out.
I hadn't ever planned to see the movie. Seemed to be a chic flick, but after this reading, I plan to rent/on demand it. I guess by being from the England and reading it while on my recent trip there, I appreciated an English story.
Book Review: Atonement
Summary: 5 Stars
I am grateful to discover McEwan's writings thru this book It is beautiufully written and a joy to read!
We plan to see the movie tonight, hoping that it will follow the book exactly.
Before I purchased the book, I counted on Amazon's reviews,as I always do.
Joyann Gallagher