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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
I don't write of a lot of book reviews and I certainly don't often rate books 1 star that I actually end up finishing (that 1 star is typically meant for books that I DNF) however I feel like this book certainly warrants both. In fact, I'm still not too sure if I even actually read a story, rather I just read words. This felt like an Ian McEwan diatribe about women (he definitely hits a lot of stereotypes) and that even when women think they are being smart, a man will always be smarter, and he wanted to let us know that, in excruciating detail in some parts.
In fact I will quote from the book itself about how I felt after reading it. "Buried deep in the concept was a flaw, and even that word sounded too good for what it was I was trying to name. It simply wasn't interesting."
The book was ultimately flawed and uninteresting from the start in that it was directionless. I quote again to highlight how I felt: "You and your colleagues must have known the project was rotten, and doomed from the start, but your motives were bureaucratic, you kept going because the order came down from on high." It's amazing that he was able to impart exactly how the reader would feel if they were unlucky to have actually slogged through the previous 98% of the book. It was his first true sentence.
This book feels like a book that had to be delivered because you and your 'colleagues' (editor, publisher etc..) felt like it was time for a 'new McEwan' (the order from one high) and yet you all know that you wrote a terrible story (your motives were bureaucractic) so put it out anyway as you were never in control in the first place and therefore this book was doomed from the start.
This book confirmed for me that some authors do only genuinely have one good book in them and Atonement was his, and I shall not be returning to the McEwan bibliography even at my lowest points.
In fact I will quote from the book itself about how I felt after reading it. "Buried deep in the concept was a flaw, and even that word sounded too good for what it was I was trying to name. It simply wasn't interesting."
The book was ultimately flawed and uninteresting from the start in that it was directionless. I quote again to highlight how I felt: "You and your colleagues must have known the project was rotten, and doomed from the start, but your motives were bureaucratic, you kept going because the order came down from on high." It's amazing that he was able to impart exactly how the reader would feel if they were unlucky to have actually slogged through the previous 98% of the book. It was his first true sentence.
This book feels like a book that had to be delivered because you and your 'colleagues' (editor, publisher etc..) felt like it was time for a 'new McEwan' (the order from one high) and yet you all know that you wrote a terrible story (your motives were bureaucractic) so put it out anyway as you were never in control in the first place and therefore this book was doomed from the start.
This book confirmed for me that some authors do only genuinely have one good book in them and Atonement was his, and I shall not be returning to the McEwan bibliography even at my lowest points.
This was a pretty decent read. It's about a well educated young lady who is approach by her Oxford Don tutor to work for the British spy service. Once there, she's relegated to doing file work (the book is set in the early 1970s), before being approached by her bosses to act as a "honey trap" in a plan they've hatched.
This wasn't a bad read, but I felt it dragged a little in places. It could have done with a bit of pace in places before the honey trap started. That said, I've read somewhere that McEwan wanted to write about the 1970s in this book, which he has, but he hasn't written much about it (which is probably a good thing, having just said it dragged) and what he's talked has been written from the point of view of an unreliable narrator who would be jokingly described as somewhat to the right of Genghis Khan these days.
That said, it was still an enjoyable enough read.
This wasn't a bad read, but I felt it dragged a little in places. It could have done with a bit of pace in places before the honey trap started. That said, I've read somewhere that McEwan wanted to write about the 1970s in this book, which he has, but he hasn't written much about it (which is probably a good thing, having just said it dragged) and what he's talked has been written from the point of view of an unreliable narrator who would be jokingly described as somewhat to the right of Genghis Khan these days.
That said, it was still an enjoyable enough read.
Loved the end. Wish more thought had been given to making her seem redeemable...more childhood. I guess Tony was in there for that. I feel very similar to her in some ways--maybe why she didn't read very clearly to me. For some reason, McEwan's scene-setting never sticks with me. Hard to get a picture of his characters in my mind.
Где-то мне эту книгу посоветовали как “топ плот-твистов”. Скажу сразу, до твиста я догадался где-то на трети, но удовольствия от этого получил не меньше. Сюжет довольно простой: обычная девушка, которая любит читать, завербована MI-5 для финансирования “правильной” идеологии в виде молодого писателя (а все это во время Холодной войны происходит). Девушка влюбляется писателя, и заверте… В книге много вставок в виде выдуманных сюжетов, книг, которые девушка читает, стихов и т.п., и для меня в этом было самое большое удовольствие: по сути, книга про любовь к чтению. Хотя сюжет держит в напряжении, герои все выпуклые и интересные, для меня самым приятным оказались именно эти вставки разных сюжетов и как они вписались в общую канву повествования. В общем, не маст рид, но приятная книжка.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I felt very different about this book after I finished it. Enjoyed the writing and story very much.
There were times when reading this felt like trying to move through treacle - so dull it was impossible to read more than a page. Then there were times where my heart raced and I felt very invested. It didn't seem like a McEwan novel to me until the end, which has his twisty hallmarks and I was glad I persevered.
If I could give 3.5 stars I would. I liked it better than 3, but not quite as much as 4. Took me some time to get into, and even then I always felt like the book was at arms length. But McEwan writes flawed characters really well, and the ambiguity of the choices made by them are intriguing. But, I don't think it will be on my 'to reread' shelf.
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have never been so excited to hear "The End" at the close of an audiobook. I should have stopped a few chapters in, but it was such a train wreck of a book that I felt compelled to keep listening to see how much worse it would get. It did not get better.