Atonement -- Ian McEwan

This was my first Ian McEwan.  Now I need to go back and read all of his other books.  Soon. 

He's fantastic.  A lot of the critics seem to compare him to Jane Austen, which I thought was strange.  He reminded me much more of E. M. Forster.  At least, the first part did.  The second part made me think of Hemingway, a bit.  (Not that I've read a whole lot of him, but the style changed significantly and it was set during the war and that was who I thought of.  So there.)

I'm flipping through my copy now, and I marked page after page, passage after passage of bits that I might include here.  But I've decided not to.  The book should be read as a whole.

The story starts in 1935 England--Briony, the youngest of three, witnesses two interactions between her older sister and the son of a servant.  Her immaturity prevents her from fully understanding what has happened, and due to this, an innocent man is taken away in handcuffs.

As much as I want to blabber on and on about it, I'm not going to, because I'll end up giving away too much.  It'll very definitely be on my Best Books I've Read This Year list.

I highly highly highly recommend it.  So read it.  (But not if you're in the mood for something light.  I thought I was going to die by the time I finished it.  I sobbed.)

Comments

[Hissy Cat]

Thanks for the tip. I don't know why I've been putting off reading McEwan except that I sometimes develop irrational aversions to books and writers that seem very 'in' or trendy (I still haven't read Zadie Smith, though everyone tells me she's really good).

[James Morrison]

Hello again: This is indeed a fantastic book. From here, the ones to go for are probably 'Enduring Love', 'Saturday' and 'The Innocent' (in no particular order). Then 'Black Dogs', then 'The Cement Garden'. From there, his other (mostly earlier books) get less and less like 'Atonement' - more cold and clever rather than humane and insightful. Also, anyone who loves 'Atonement' and hasn't yet read 'The Go-Between' by LP Hartley must go out and read 'The Go-Between' by LP Hartley. So there!

[leila]

Hissy Cat, I do the same thing. It took me over a year to finally sit down and read The (Stupid) Da Vinci Code.

As for you, James Morrison... Due to your recommendations, my reading list is reaching an unprecedented size. Awesome. I think I might even own The Go-Between, but I'm sure that I haven't read it yet. I'll dig it out.

[iliana]

I never would have compared him to Jane Austen either. Hmmm.

[James Morrison]

Forgot to mention McEwan's 'The Daydreamer', a lovely children's novel-of-short-stories about a young boy, which may also be Leila's particular cup of tea.

[jess]

So, I kept putting off reading this (nothing puts me off worse than hype) and I just got it on tape and am only a couple chapters in and must come thank you for the recommendation. I'm having moment after moment where you think "I've had that feeling so many times and have never put it into words nearly as well." And, I'm also excited that you classified it as a tearjerker, always being on the lookout for good tearjerkers. And you have a whole category! Swoon!