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A review by zoe_abbott
Atonement by Ian McEwan
5.0
McEwan’s Atonement is full of duplicity.
The pace is slow and yet fast, private and yet public, psychological and physical. All these combinations create a compelling and gut reaching story.
Briony is complex from beginning to end, I struggled to relate and understand how her imagination can be so destructive. This makes the moment of realisation and literal atonement even more powerful. Cécilia, too is complex and yet a forgettable character.
I felt it was a competition of who’s story it really was, Robbie or Briony. I had so much patience and empathy for Robbie and wanted more from him in the end of the book. I also would’ve loved more detail into the domestic lives of Lola & Paul Marshall to unpack how as a couple they move past, or perhaps don’t move past the event that changed everyone’s lives.
Overall I really loved this, and thought it was adapted pretty well into a movie, it was a sad afternoon when I came to the end and had to put it down.
The pace is slow and yet fast, private and yet public, psychological and physical. All these combinations create a compelling and gut reaching story.
Briony is complex from beginning to end, I struggled to relate and understand how her imagination can be so destructive. This makes the moment of realisation and literal atonement even more powerful. Cécilia, too is complex and yet a forgettable character.
I felt it was a competition of who’s story it really was, Robbie or Briony. I had so much patience and empathy for Robbie and wanted more from him in the end of the book. I also would’ve loved more detail into the domestic lives of Lola & Paul Marshall to unpack how as a couple they move past, or perhaps don’t move past the event that changed everyone’s lives.
Overall I really loved this, and thought it was adapted pretty well into a movie, it was a sad afternoon when I came to the end and had to put it down.