Customer Reviews

Atonement

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After seeing the movie I had to read this book. Usually I don't like reading the book after I've seen the movie if I haven't already read the book previously. However, this was an exception. This book is so heart (and gut) wrenching. The movie that is based on this book is likewise. It is so well acted and directed it has become one of my all time favorites. A beautiful, emotional, movie. The book filled in all of the extra details. Make sure to have a hanky handy. The story stays with you long after you've finished it. The story is able to wring emotions from the reader with little effort. Will you be forgiving or angry at the end? I totally sided with Robbie and Cecilia. Like them, I couldn't forgive the girl for what she did. (yes, they are characters in a book--but you will find yourself drawn into the story before you know what hit you). The book is not a fluff piece of writing. Some will find it slow, but there is much depth to the characters and the story is thought provoking. The story tells of the consequences of a lie and how it destroys lives and relationships. Readers who like to "analyze" characters will have a field day with this one.

I decided to read Atonement because I knew there was a movie, and I like reading books and watching the movie versions of them. Unfortunately, I could not get into the book for a good part of it. I thought many parts were slow and boring. It took me a while just to finish the book. I just did not feel drawn to the characters. I will say that Atonement is beautifully written. Ian McEwan no doubt knows how to write, but unfortunately the writing could not save this story for me. For most of the book, I could not stand Briony. I thought she was annoying, and I hated how she ruined her sister Cecilia and Robbie's lives.

What saved this book for me was the ending, and it is not a happy one. Briony knows what she did is wrong, but sometimes you cannot take back what you said. Sometimes there is nothing you can do but live with the consequences.

Briony is determined that her cousins will be a part of her play, that they will like performing, and that she will decide who plays which part. The cousins, unfortunately, are arriving not for a holiday but to be away while their parents fight out a divorce and are in no mood to perform plays. It is 1935 and England is close to entering the war.

At thirteen, Briony is sure her writing skills are top notch, that she is surely unique in all the deep thoughts she has about life. And then one day when she leaves her play rehearsal for a walk in the garden she sees a strange encounter between her sister, Cecilia, and the cleaning lady's son, Robbie. It will shape all their lives forevermore.

That very evening when the twin cousins "run away," an event occurs in the dark around the house grounds that appears to be a sexual offense. Briony convinces herself that she has seen the incident. And it changes everyone's life forevermore. She becomes so entrenched in retelling the event with surety that even when she doubts what she saw she feels trapped and unable to retract her charge.

The reader follows Briony all through her life, even as she becomes a well regarded author, she can never fully enjoy her success because of what she did so long ago.

Ian McEwan writes with so many levels of story and so much depth of character that it was enchanting to read.