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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
2.5 stars
On a summer day in 1935, a young girl witnesses acts she does not understand between her sister and a man of lower class, and after an atrocious crime is committed, she alters the lives of many. An aspiring writer, she will spend the rest of her days working toward atonement.
I read this for my readathon, Friendathon, for the prompt to read a book that has similarities to their favorite movie or tv show. Katie's favorite movie is The Imitation Game - a fantastic choice - so I chose Atonement, as it also is a WWII story and the movie stars Kiera Knightley as well!
I don't have much to say about this one except that I think that I would enjoy the movie more. This was extremely slow-moving, much more than I was expecting. Half the book takes place over an entire day, so that the synopsis doesn't happen until halfway through. Then we get a flash forward into WWII and an epilogue. This most reminded me of To The Lighthouse, which when Virginia Woolf is mentioned near the end of the book, made me think that was intentional. This book was not bad in the slightest. The writing was pretty good and the metafiction of it was interesting. It just was not something that grabbed my attention in the slightest. The characters were not enough to sustain me when there was no plot to be had. Were it not for the readathon I likely would have DNF'ed it since I was bored.
Overall, I'm going to forget about this and watch the movie instead.
On a summer day in 1935, a young girl witnesses acts she does not understand between her sister and a man of lower class, and after an atrocious crime is committed, she alters the lives of many. An aspiring writer, she will spend the rest of her days working toward atonement.
I read this for my readathon, Friendathon, for the prompt to read a book that has similarities to their favorite movie or tv show. Katie's favorite movie is The Imitation Game - a fantastic choice - so I chose Atonement, as it also is a WWII story and the movie stars Kiera Knightley as well!
I don't have much to say about this one except that I think that I would enjoy the movie more. This was extremely slow-moving, much more than I was expecting. Half the book takes place over an entire day, so that the synopsis doesn't happen until halfway through. Then we get a flash forward into WWII and an epilogue. This most reminded me of To The Lighthouse, which when Virginia Woolf is mentioned near the end of the book, made me think that was intentional. This book was not bad in the slightest. The writing was pretty good and the metafiction of it was interesting. It just was not something that grabbed my attention in the slightest. The characters were not enough to sustain me when there was no plot to be had. Were it not for the readathon I likely would have DNF'ed it since I was bored.
Overall, I'm going to forget about this and watch the movie instead.
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took a while to settle into this one. The blend from contemplation to action at times made it more and less immersive an experience. Knowing the ending going in certainly heightened the feeling of impending doom that McEwan built.
Frankly I’m impressed with how faithful the movie adaptation is.
Frankly I’m impressed with how faithful the movie adaptation is.
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes