I always have a problem with Ian McEwan's novels. On the one hand, I am impressed by the expert writing, the elegant flow with never the least snag in the language to trip me up. On the other hand, I cringe from his stories, full as they are of treacherous snags to trip me up at every turn. I read them with a terrible anxiety hovering near my heart. Am I the only one who is so sensitive to their exaggerated aura of menace? Friends who like McEwan's writing don't feel this at all. Why have I read so many ? Partly because of the critical acclaim that welcomes each new novel, partly in the hope that this time the story will be as satisfying as the writing. I continue to live in hope...

Atonement opens in 1935 at an English country estate, continues in rural France during the retreat to Dunkirk during WWII, and moves to a hospital in London in 1940. It mostly takes place during WWII, though it is not about the war itself. It is a story of the lives of Briony Tallis, her sister, Cecilia, and her sister’s beau, Robbie. Briony makes a terrible mistake that devastates the lives of these young people and their families. At the time of her error, Briony is thirteen years old. She is an aspiring writer with a vivid imagination, which is, in part, the cause of her misjudgment. Her mind is filled with the stories in her head, and her ambition to be a writer influences her judgment, so she “sees” events that coincide with what she believes to be true. This is the story of Briony’s atonement for her grievous error, trying to overcome almost unbearable remorse and guilt.

It is a literary novel containing many levels of complexities, which the reader gradually discovers. Some of Briony’s lessons will be imparted to the reader through this multi-layered structure. It is difficult to describe this process without spoiling. The writing is elegant and insightful, containing beautiful descriptive passages as well as an in-depth portrayal of human nature while under duress. The final section contains an epilogue set in 1999, and as with many epilogues, it may have an adverse impact on the reader’s enjoyment. I felt the epilogue was critical to impart the full picture and reveal all the complexities referenced above. I found it exquisitely written and brilliantly crafted. Recommended to fans of modern classics and lyrical writing, providing the reader is able to handle a good deal of sorrowful content.

Wow, that ending!

This was the favourite novel of a friend of mine who died suddenly a few years ago. She loved it so much that she refused to see the film adaptation because, she said, it couldn't possibly be as good as the novel. I, on the other hand, saw the film without having read the book because when the film was released I was still in the won't-read-McEwan stage of my life that lasted from 1988 or 1989 until two or three years ago.

Anyway, I quite liked the film, or at least it made an impression on me at the time. Although I've only seen it once, I can still see images: Cecilia's green dress and the beach at Dunkirk particularly come to mind. I also remembered the plot, and therefore its twist. So when I read the novel, there were no suprises. Knowing what was going to happen, I paid attention to see if I could pick up the clues and yes, they were there in the text. Not that I think a reader who didn't know the plot could work it all out just on the basis of the clues, but at least McEwan wasn't cheating.

Anyway, while I don't think McEwan is ever going to be my favourite novelist. There's a brittleness to him (or something, I'm not quite sure what it is) that I find unappealing. However, in this novel he poses important questions about love, guilt, redemption, truth and the nature and purpose of fiction. McEwan writes excellent prose and he does the meta-fiction thing extremely well. I doubt I'll be reading this again, but I'm glad that I've read it once. Now I understand why my friend loved it so much. I just wish she was still here so we could talk about it.

I will first tell you what I liked about the book. Ian McEwan writes beautiful prose. Every word and line is written so you can place yourself right where he wants you to be. The description of the house, the surrounding yards and field. Everything is vivid and has meaning. He goes in to great length describing things. That's it.

We start out with the Tallis family's upper class English home. It's the hottest day of summer in 1934 and Briony sees something and lets her imagination run wild. This is how the book continues, seriously. How many lives can you change ?

As I was reading this book, other friends told me,"it takes awhile to get in to" so I kept reading. It was a struggle. I gave this book more of a chance than I have others. I am not afraid to put a book down after giving it a good chance. This family had no leadership, except for that of a very spoiled child. They were dysfunctional to say the least. It drove me crazy !! I can't say much more because I don't want to put spoilers in here.

Briony never got atonement for what she did, but maybe she was asking the wrong person.

I know others loved this book and gave it 5 stars. I love that for them. I don't want you to read my review and not read the book if you are wanting to. It just didn't work for me, and I know I am not alone.

Now I'm going to go do something more pleasant than read this book, like a root canal maybe.... just kidding

4,5⭐

Mi segundo acercamiento a este autor. Anteriormente había leído de él "La ley del menor", que me gustó, pero también me dejó con la sensación de que faltaba algo. "Expiación" me ha convencido mucho más. No será el último suyo que lea.

Mis impresiones:

Estamos ante una novela que se mueve en torno a tres ejes, una historia de amor, la devastación de la guerra y una novela dentro de la novela, que uno de los personajes escribe a modo de expiación.
Muy bien escrito, es un libro que va a más a medida que avanza. Todos los pequeños detalles tienen su razón de ser y todo va a encajar en algún momento de la narración. El ritmo es pausado. Es un libro para deleitarse tanto en lo que cuenta como en la manera que lo cuenta.

Se divide en cuatro partes. En la primera, situada en la Inglaterra de 1935, McEwan nos presenta a los personajes. Por un lado, tenemos a la familia Tallis, los padres, las dos hijas, Cecily y Briony, Leon, el hijo y tres primos por parte materna, recién llegados, y que durante un tiempo residirán en la casa de sus tíos. Por otro a Robbie Turner, hijo de la criada de la familia y protegido de esta y Paul, un amigo rico de Leon. Además, nos cuenta una historia de amor condenada ya desde sus mismos comienzos. El desenlace de esta parte pone los pelos de punta.
En la segunda, el autor nos hace una de las narraciones más duras y descarnadas de la guerra que he podido leer. La fecha 1940, el escenario el desastre de Dunkerque y las condiciones en las que muchos soldados volvieron a casa para morir como consecuencia de sus heridas en terribles condiciones.
En la tercera, toma el protagonismo Briony, la hija menor de los Tallis, que ya con dieciocho años, toma conciencia de lo que realmente sucedió aquel día de 1935. La cuarta en 1999 a modo de epílogo, me dejó con la boca abierta. Encajan las piezas en un final que, al menos a mí, me dejó desolada. No cuento más. Es uno de esos libros a los que conviene acercarse sabiendo lo menos posible.

La construcción y la evolución de los personajes es brillante. Los más destacados, los tres protagonistas, Cecily, Robbie y Briony. La ambientación y recreación de la época, así como del clasismo imperante antes y después de la guerra igualmente buenas.

En conclusión. Una novela dura y bien escrita, que merece la pena leer. Recomendable, aunque no para todos ni para cualquier momento.

Atonement is one of my favourite films. I've seen it several times but never read the book. No great surprise then that I loved it. The film is very true to the book, unlike say the English Patient, another of my favourite films, where the author's important subtext about racial prejudice is left out. The film excludes nothing of importance of the novel. That MacEwan writes as a woman also makes him more lyrical than usual, an aspect I greatly enjoyed.

4,5. Estamos en 1935 y la casa de campo de la familia Tallis está llena de expectación, pues el hijo mayor del matrimonio regresa a casa desde la universidad junto a su buen amigo Marshall. Emily, su madre, con sus terribles achaques, la pequeña e imaginativa Brionny, y Cecilia, la hermana mediana, están deseosas de reencontrarse con Leon. Robbie, el hijo de la limpiadora o los deprimidos primos de los Tallis serán otros personajes que se sumarán a esta reunión. Lo que empieza como una inocente y dulce pasión, provocará un desastre que afectará a la vida de todos los presentes.

"Expiación" tiene un algo que engancha desde las primeras hojas, esa sensación de que algo va a ocurrir, de que algo está a punto de desatarse, crea la adicción propia de un una novela de suspense. La ambientación es uno de sus puntos fuertes, esa casa de campo que se describe como poco atractiva, pero que constantemente es protagonista de la historia, ayuda a crear ese aura tensa, donde estás constantemente esperando que ocurra el "incidente" que la narración promete. Me flipan esos libros donde parece que no pasa mucho, pero pasa de todo.

Una cosa que me ha pasado con esta novela es que los personajes van evolucionando continuamente en cuanto a lo que me inspiraban. Los ejemplos más claros son Robbie y Cecilia, que pasan de resultarme interesantes pero sin más, a hacerme empatizar de una forma increíble hasta el punto de emocionarme, o Brionny, personaje al que amé mucho en la primera parte y que acabé no soportando. Hablaría mucho más del personaje de Brionny, porque es digno de analizar en profundidad porque sus acciones son dignas de ello, pero entraría en el spoiler con facilidad, y mejor no destripar nada y que todo el mundo se acerque a ciegas a la historia.

Quizás lo que más pesado se me ha hecho es esa segunda parte que rompe totalmente con la primera, y pasa a trasladarnos a un campo de batalla bélico, que no me esperaba en absoluto y se me hizo algo cansino y repetitivo. Por lo demás es una obra impecable, narrada de una manera absorbente y con muchas reflexiones sobre la condición humana que me han cautivado por completo. El final es simplemente magistral. Ian McEwan, ha sido un placer conocerte. La pregunta ahora es ¿con qué obra del autor continúo?

There's a persistent myth that when women aren't actively lying about rape, we are constantly misinterpreting male sexuality instead.

I made a joke, and now she's accused me of sexual harassment and HR is on my back, but it was an innocent wisecrack and she's just confused! Confused, I tell you!

Men are forever praising women for apparently possessing a magical power called "female intuition", but it seems this magical power always gets it wrong when it comes to sex. Funny, that.

Atonement is about a little girl who gets it wrong, and consequentially Ruins Lives.

And if Ian McEwan wants to tell this particular story, why shouldn't he? Because isn't it true that nothing is off limits in literature? Oh, yes. But it is equally true that no literature can be divorced from its social context either. The context we're working with here is one where we can ask any social services worker, and they will tell us that one of the biggest problems in cases of child sexual abuse is that other adults frequently didn't believe the child. The context is one where every day the real, flesh-and-blood lives of women, children and occasionally men are ruined by the doubt and dismissal of their claims.

Given this context, if you want to tell a story about a girl who misinterprets adult male sexuality and ruins a poor chap's life, you'd better have an excellent reason for doing so (and you'd better proceed with care too). McEwan has no reason beyond a thinly veiled defensiveness that permeates the book, and from that, I can only surmise that he is an intellectually dishonest creep.

This book is just more of the same insidious cultural propaganda that, when someone says Rape, encourages us to reply: Nuh uh. Misinterpretation or lie. Propaganda is always unforgivable. I wouldn't go so far as to say that authors have a social responsibility, but when authors are self-servingly irresponsible, I will give them no quarter.

The prose and pacing in Atonement is fairly good. In terms of craft, this book deserves more stars, but I won't be handing them out. McEwan doesn't play fair, so I won't either. I'm keeping my copy of this for the zombie apocalypse, when kindling will no doubt be in short supply.

To summarise, this is a terrible, terrible book.

(Yes, two terribles. Thank you, Skyler White).


For a better and more detailed review raising similar issues, see here.

5/5

I have mixed feelings about this book. I struggled with boredom while reading the initial chapters. I literally forced myself to continue reading. The story starts moving only when about 100 pages into the book.

When I completed the first 3 parts, I was kind of disappointed with this book and thought I will give 3 stars and was wondering what all the hype was about! That was until I read the last section. It was heartbreaking. Those few pages made me re-think about the 3 stars. They compelled me to reward this novel with 4 stars. It deserved it.

All Briony Tallis wanted was for her elder brother Leon to enjoy the play she had written and was planning to enact it with her cousins, when he returned home after college. All her plans were ruined by her rude cousins who fought with her. Sad, she begins to wander around her house, with her thoughts. She spots her elder sister Cecilia and their cleaning lady's son Robbie in a situation she cant comprehend. Her vivid, wild imagination prompts her to immediately write a story. She thinks that Robbie has set his mind to do something evil and she needs to protect her sister.

When a family tragedy occurs, Briony decides to take charge and accuse Robbie of a crime he has not committed. This turns the life of a lot of people upside down. As Briony grows up, she realises that she has made a mistake. The rest of the novel is about how she tries to atone her mistake and whether she succeeds or not.

What I loved about this book:

Character development: Even though the initial chapters were boring, McEwan has done a great job in writing the thoughts and perspectives of each character. The thoughts of Briony who wants to be a writer, the anguish of an ill mother when she thinks about her daughters, the thoughts and actions of Robbie and Cecilia.. All these were written with perfection.

Conclusion: As heartbreaking as it was, this is the point in which the novel turned from an average book to a spectacular one.

Originality of Plot: The story idea was original and realistic.

Things that disappointed me:

Beginning: It was dragging. I guess it needs editing. Those initial chapters were required to build the story, but they needn't be so lengthy.

Part 2: After the story started moving, the book was really interesting. But when I reached part 2, I just didnt understand why it needed to be so long and it felt so disconnected from part 1.

Portrayal of Briony: I believe that Briony was almost innocent, considering her age and what she witnessed. But all through the book, I felt McEwan was trying to portray her as someone evil and mischievous. The young villain of the story. But her motives were honest and just. I dont know why the police and investigators didnt do a good job. They could have asked where each of the characters where during the search.

*Spoiler Alert*
( An afterthought on this point. Maybe Briony was portrayed as a lying, unreliable witness and a cruel girl by the author because she is the writer of the story and it's all that she can do under the given circumstances: make herself look like the bad guy, as a small penance for ruining the lives of her sister and Robbie.)

Missing pieces: I wish McEwan had written a bit more about the interrogation and what was going through the minds of each of the family members after the "tragedy". Also how Cecilia acted after the arrest of Robbie.

That's all I can think about now! I'm eager to hear the thoughts and opinions of other readers about this book

**WARNING: Don't read this if you don't want the ending spoiled!**

This book...I hate it! It's beautiful, every word of it is gorgeous, but it's as if the author spends all this time painstakingly crafting a really detailed, intricate vessel for you (I'm thinking of a boat :))and then just before your journey's over he snatches it out from under you & you sink. Why go to such lengths describing the lovers, and the war, and Briony & the nursing when in the end none of it even matters? The problem with Atonement is that there is no atonement, which, of course, is the point. This book was described to me as 'haunting' and it definitely is- haunting & depressing. A story doesn't have to have a happy ending to be good, I mean, this is a great book, really, but I felt really empty & hollow when it was over. The part at the end when the author says that the story is the only part that matters b/c no one will ever remember the real people or the actual events anyway was crushing! It's true, I know, and I don't really have a problem w/ realism...but I have a big problem with death. It freaks me out. I have a really unhealthy fear of it. Especially unjust death. It just pisses me off more than I can explain. Maybe I've just been feeling too poetic lately, listening to too much sensitive-artist music, but I can't stand that Briony kills 2 people and then just conjures them back up from the dead as if it never happened and no one else even mentions it. It makes me think too much about actual events, politics, & things. I don't want to run out of time, I have things I want to do here, and I don't want to be reminded that the truth is it doesn't matter whether I run out of time or not because eventually there isn't going to be anyone left who ever knew me, or my family, or anyone we ever knew. Ugh. I'm making myself sick w/ this. I'm told the movie is really good b/c it's beautiful w/out being quite as harsh at the end. I think I need to see it so I can stop thinking about the book. It's waking me up at night, or rather it's waking me up in the morning realizing that I've been thinking about it all night. I hate it, but it really is good.