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Atonement: A Novel
Ian McEwan's Booker Prize-nominated Atonement is his first novel since Amsterdam took home the prize in 1998. But while Amsterdam was a slim, sleek piece, Atonement is a more sturdy, more ambitious work, allowing McEwan more room to play, think, and experiment.
We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama "The Trials of Arabella" to welcome home her older, idolized brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting prospects of preoccupation come onto the scene. The charlady's son, Robbie Turner, appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Ammo" chocolate bar; and upstairs, Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present....
The interwar, upper-middle-class setting of the book's long, masterfully sustained opening section might recall Virginia Woolf or Henry Green, but as we move forward--eventually to the turn of the 21st century--the novel's central concerns emerge, and McEwan's voice becomes clear, even personal. For at heart, Atonement is about the pleasures, pains, and dangers of writing, and perhaps even more, about the challenge of controlling what readers make of your writing. McEwan shouldn't have any doubts about readers of Atonement: this is a thoughtful, provocative, and at times moving book that will have readers applauding. --Alan Stewart, Amazon.co.uk
Ian McEwan’s symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.
On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia’s childhood friend. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives–together with her precocious literary gifts–brings about a crime that will change all their lives. As it follows that crime’s repercussions through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century, Atonement engages the reader on every conceivable level, with an ease and authority that mark it as a genuine masterpiece.
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- ISBN: 9780385721790
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| From: Amazon Posted: Dec 04, 2007 Type: User Review |
It's the Book.
This book has been on my shelf for some time, but when it was filmed, and a part of it was filmed in the town I live (a rarity in these parts) , I decided it was about time, before the film came out, to read it. Seeing the film first would, as...
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 4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Dec 03, 2007 Type: User Review |
A Must Read before you see the Movie
A must read before you see the movie. McEwan narrates his most unforgettable and moving story in Atonement.
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 5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Nov 08, 2007 Type: User Review |
Style over substance (3.5 stars)
The most compelling reason to read Atonement by Ian McEwan is for the authors writing style that evokes permanent dream like trances that are entertaining and engaging, while also creating three-dimensional characters of varying literary...
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 3.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Nov 07, 2007 Type: User Review |
Very intriguing, though it does drag a bit in places
"Atonement" is set in England back in 1935. The novel is divided into four separate parts. The first part details a domestic crisis in the Tallis household. Thirteen-year-old Briony witnesses an encounter between her older sister, Cecilia, and...
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4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Nov 04, 2007 Type: User Review |
Mesmerizing...
Atonement is a story about a wealthy family in England in the 1930's. It's mostly a stream of consciousness book, in the first 175 pages only 24 hours passes. The writing is quite captivating and beautiful, the scenes were simple, yet...
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Apr 18, 2007 Type: User Review |
A Writing Style Rarely Found in Modern Times
Turning over the final page, I reflected on what I just read, and realized that I was glad that there are still writers with extraordinary writing style these days. It has been hard to come across great writers in our day, what with all the...
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Apr 17, 2007 Type: User Review |
Not McEwan's best
I've read the majority of Ian McEwan's work and have come to expect a certain level of sophistication in both his plots and his beautiful writing style. I tried to kid myself that Saturday was a worthy successor to McEwan's monumental Atonement...
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3.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Apr 16, 2007 Type: User Review |
Good enough
This is my second McEwan read in the last few weeks and I'm starting to think that all his books will be good, but not great.I found this book well worth the effort of sticking in there. It was slow going for much of the time with, for me, too...
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4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Apr 09, 2007 Type: User Review |
Of Sins, Stories & Stukas
Atonement is the first Ian McEwan book I've read, obtained at an end-of-year sale for ten bucks. But now I'm more than willing to pay 30-plus for his others (I heard Amsterdam and Saturday were world-class).
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4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Mar 16, 2007 Type: User Review |
Really good
There are books which you can't get out of your mind for days after you finish reading. "Atonement" was like this for me.
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5.00/5 |
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