Atonement - Ian McEwan

...dementia and the need for atonement is pressing . . . The reader learns that Briony actually wrote the novel Atonement. She reveals that some of the previous story has not been entirely true. An alternative (the real) ending to the story is now unfolded. So has atonement been achieved? ~~Chapter 2 - A mixing of genres~~ Atonement, is a work of Metafiction: a story about an authoress writing a story. Atonement is also a romantic historical novel ...
...in an attempt to seek atonement for her childhood misunderstanding- a stark contrast to her middle-class upbringing. We finally see has the successful novelist she always aspired to be - has her novel finally achieved the atonement she wanted? The other characters however are not portrayed in as much depth. The character, Robbie Turner, grows in depth with his reminiscences whilst in Dunkirk and his determination "to come back" to his rue love. ...

MAFARRIMOND 08.04.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

...to gut wrenching proportions. Atonement is a story about taking responsibility for your actions and making reparations even if that means that some come long after the event. A couple of my criticisms could be forgiven in the light of the books final section, which puts the proceedings in context. These criticisms might make you think that I disliked McEwan’s book, but I feel that is far from the truth. I’m purely being harsh in evaluating it because ...
...good one. McEwan does manage to create an atmosphere of dread that is truly palpable and an absorbing story with an interesting structure. I just would be a lot happier if he would let us see his intelligence through the quality of his prose and the depth of his research rather than his linguistic prowess. I’m sure the depth in ‘Atonement’ would stand up to an interesting second read, but unfortunately this style stops me from making that second ...

ickkate 30.08.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

...the more elusive theme of atonement and how it can ever be achieved. Robbie the soldier cannot understand Briony's motivation, cannot come to terms with what she did and how to forgive her, and yet he is surrounded by horrors and is daily put into situations where his action or inaction makes him guilty, all of which renders Briony's own guilt meaningless. Briony herself is motivated only by how to obtain forgiveness and make good her errors. The ...
...itself. At its heart, of course, the novel is a love story and quite an old fashioned one at that, with the separation of war and the absolute need to survive for the sake of that love. This totally appealed to the romantic in me. ~~~Conclusion~~~ I read the book because my friends and I had selected it for our next book club read. Stop laughing! Whilst a book club may be construed as an excuse for me and 3 friends to get together and gossip over ...

sonic0209 05.02.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

...such recommendation was Ian McEwan's Atonement - a novel that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, no less. See, I've just been reading other people's opinions on this book, and while they're all well-written, I can't help thinking we've been reading a different book by a different author which by some stroke of chance carry the same name. Am I too jaded to appreciate a love story set on the eve of the second world war? Have I immersed myself in ...
...of fiction vs. fact that are central to the plot of Atonement? I finally got round to reading the book just the other day, and finished it this evening. The back cover speaks of an event which will change the lives of three protganists - thirteen year old Briony Tallis, her elder sister Cecelia and their friend Robbie Turner - FOREVER (insert ominous music here). The premise revolves around Briony the budding author and her misreading of a situation ...

dujour 28.07.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

...suggests the book is about atonement for ones mistakes but the way a person can achieve this is at issue and whether one can ever be successful is also brought into question. This is a book that will appeal to many different tastes; it is a love story, a war story, a coming of age story and mystery. On another level it is a serious piece of literature and McEwan not only gives us an very enjoyable and challenging read but also test the accepted assumptions ...
...author and reader. ‘Atonement’ is certainly McEwan’s best novel and for me ranks as one of the best books I have read recently. I can certainly recommend this, go out and read it! ‘Atonement’ is available in paperback (384 pages) Published by Vintage ISBN: 0099429799 you can buy it from Amzon.co.uk for £6.39 (+p & p). Thanks for reading and rating this opinion! © Mauri 2003 ...

Mauri 08.04.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

‘Atonement' was the first Ian Mcewan novel I encountered and in the moments that followed turning the final page and the realisation of just how stylistically superb the language was, I can honestly say it is with great regret that it has taken me this long to become acquainted with his work. Subsequently, ‘Black Dogs’, ‘Amsterdam’ and ‘The Cement Garden’ have come into my possession and were despatched with the fervency of one whose love of language ...
...the tightly controlled prose and the sumptuous description McEwan delivers, even the most discerning of readers would have to concede that many, if not all of the plaudits attributed to this novel have been totally vindicated and are wholly deserved. Like Sebastian Faulks, Mcewan returns to the heart of quintessential, parochial middle-class england in 1935, where 13 year-old Briony Tallis and her family are holding a family gathering with their ...

MartynColebrook 12.06.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

...Set in England during 1934, Atonement creates the pre-war atmosphere during which Briony Tallis (the story is written from her perspective) age 13 becomes a witness to some very strange events as secrets and mysteries emerge and the story evolves to show events that change everyone life. As Briony tries to grow-up through this difficult time, what with the commencement of war and the impact that that makes on her life. He brings in to play the notions ...
...unfortunate enough to find herself in. There is also an element of fantasy, and obsession, with the effective way that Ian McEwan's portrays a young girls mind. The book is divided into three parts, quite simply titled one, two and three. PART ONE Part one tells of Brionys childhood and the events that unfold during the holidays and it takes you through a sequence of happenings as seen through a young teenage girls eyes and the unfortunate result ...

spiceyspice 17.07.2002 (03.09.2002) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

I come to know this novel from the award winning movie with the same title-this I believe is also the way many of us come to know this novel. The story is split into 3 parts. Part 1 tells us what happened on the hottest day of the summer of 1935. The second part is about the damages of the war. And the final part is about the present day and what the main characters turned out to be. The author spent a lot of time describing the running of the household ...
...the climax of what a thirteen year old could do which would have a huge impact on the rest of the lives for the star crossed lovers. I didnot know what was going on in the initial few chapters of the first part and I do have to say I got a bit bored. However, as I read along, I slowly discovered what the author was leading onto and this becomes fasinating. The second part is the part that I do not like the most in the whole book. It's all about the ...

medgenie 21.07.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

Can you add to the overwhelming praise of this book? Is it justified? Well, maybe, and yes (in that order). Booker Prize shortlisted, but unlike some, not up its own arse to be so. Hugely popular with all critics, and sadly, I have to agree with them (against better nature) Not quite the classic I was expecting, but possibly not my style of book, but the characters and story stayed with me, and I looked forward to picking it up again at each ...
...little of the Thomas Hardy books we did at school - maybe thats just the attention to period detail though. Set just prior to the War, the story revolves entirely around a key moment of misunderstanding. Almost like a Noel Coward play, or great British Farce, but with the comedy replaced by tragedy of epic Greek proportions. I don't want to give away the plot here as my job is to review rather than retell. Suffice to say, poor boy loves rich girl ...

Jonny_Narcissus 22.07.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

Having seen this book in Waterstones year upon year, and then with the release of the film, I thought it was time I gave this book a chance. It centres on the vivid imagination of a young girl who does something that will see her spending the rest of her life trying to atone for it. The concept of the book cannot be faulted, neither can McEwan's writing which takes you through the thoughts and feelings of different characters regarding the same incident. ...
...low, is because it felt that the book never quite reached the climax that I felt it could achieve. The plot is essentially excellent but you can't help but feel disappointed as it draws to a close because it leaves you with a feeling of "is that it?". Essentially with such a great concept, I feel that the last 3rd of the book could have been more compelling, and instead I felt like McEwan had wasted a good plot. ...

pintodm 21.08.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

...the novel. Ian McEwan's Atonement truely is a masterpiece. Set throughout different stages of the War this novel gives a detailed insight into the astronomical effect the War had on people. The story line is expertly crafted and compelling to read. McEwan has the reader wanting Briony's forgiveness and makes the reader feel a sense of loss through the split in the Tallis family, and the break away from the beautifully described British summer and ...
...the life that Briony (now 18) is living, and her effort to try to atone for what she did. Stage three now 1999 simply ties up all the loose ends and answers the previously unanswered questions. Atonement is the best novel I have ever come across. 5 Stars. ...

lostintranslation 01.08.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

...Ronan, or read the book. Atonement is set throughout the life of Briony Tallis, but focuses mainly on three parts of her life. The first part is when Briony is a child in 1935, and she sees a series of events which lead her to believe Robbie Turner - the housekeeper's son, is hurting her sister Cecilia, both mentally and phsically. What Briony actually sees, which McEwan cleverly retells through the eyes of Cecilia and Robbie, is the beginning of ...
...triggered by the Tallis's cousins, Lola, Jackson and Pierrot, come to stay, along with Cecilia and Briony's brother Leon and Leon's fried Paul Marshall. That night, Briony sees Robbie and Cecilia in the library together in what looks to her to be a struggle, and then later, Lola is attacked, ad Briony is almost positive she saw who the culprit was.... The second part of the story is when Briony is working as a nurse, racked with guilt by the fact ...

rosieemma91 01.08.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

This book is written in three distinct sections. The first section focuses on 13 year old Briony and how her interpretation of events caused significant negative impact on the lives of others around her. The back of the book describes Ian McEwan as a master of suspense. Knowing that she was going to do something dreadful meant that I read the first section "waiting for the axe to fall" so I did not appreciate the full extent of the author's descriptions, for example the workings of a country house in the pre-war period. The second section described the reality of war and was superb - it really brought home to me what war must have been like. The third section brought us up to the present day and without giving too much away was an anti climax for me. ...

Dexter55 16.07.2008
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

I read this book after watching the film adaptation of it, and plodded through it mainly to see what happened at the end - as I heard it was different. I loved the development of the characters created by McEwan, the depth he goes into when describing different aspects of each characters personality is fascinating, and by the end of the book I really felt like I could relate to the characters. I found that his description of the settings and the ...
...something to marvel at. What did disappoint me, however was just how exhausting it is to read. Probably because of the immense depth of description, the story moved along very slowly indeed. Frankly, the ending disappointed me, it had none of the emotiveness of the film adaptation's ending, where I was expecting it to be more powerful. I cannot quite bring myself to rate this book any lower than three stars due to the literary talent of McEwan, ...

chloe-goes-bang 25.02.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan

Atonement - the act of atoning; expiation; reparations; reconciliation"* 'Atonement' is Ian McEwan's critically acclaimed eighth novel which was short-listed for the Booker Prize in 2001. Many critics have said that it is far superior to his Booker winning "Amsterdam". I disagree. I didn't enjoy "Amsterdam" and was nervous about reading another McEwan novel. How wrong I was ... this is very different: different pace, different time-scale, different ...
...drawn into the family and the thought of the upcoming World War II. One never quite knows whether it really is the war effort that keeps Mr Tallis from his home, or whether it's the dreadful, weak Mrs Tallis who holds no interest to him. The eldest daughter Cecilee is what you might expect from someone who has had the opportunity to study at Cambridge (not the thing for an eldest daughter to do in that era). Robbie, the charlady's son, has also been ...

KathMal 16.08.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Atonement - Ian McEwan