I tried, having read 'The Children Act' and enjoyed it but I just couldn't get into this one! I hope the next reader loves it more...

Tag!

Thank you so much for sending 'Atonement' to me. I've been hearing good things about it for ages so I'm looking forward to reading it.

Read in September 2015. 1001 List book.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

My rating on Goodreads: 5 of 5 stars


Overblown reviews of both the book and the film made me rather wary of reading Atonement; would I be disappointed? I needn't have worried. I absolutely loved it, though I have to admit that a month later, I needed to read other people's reviews to remind me what it was about, and the twist at the end doesn't seem to have made as much impact on me as on many other reviewers.

The thing I loved most about the novel was the sheer amount of vivid descriptions of surroundings, such as the temple, so that I could see it in my head. Too much description often has the opposite effect on me, but Ian McEwan just does it perfectly. His descriptions are as vivid as the imagination of Briony.

"I love these little things, this pointillist approach to verisimilitude, the correction of detail that cumulatively gives such satisfaction." (p.359)

I also loved the way we get inside the characters' heads, first Briony, then Cecilia.

Briony has wonderful flights of fancy. Whilst slashing at nettles with a hazel switch, she at first uses her frustration to power images of revenge on her cousins, then imagines herself as a world-famous nettle-slashing champion, headed for the Olympics. I think most children have this ability to imagine themselves as something else, a champion in some obscure sport, the best in the world at some art. Briony's imagination is made much of as she is apparently 13 at the start of the book and the fateful incident, but I thought of her as younger because of being told about her inner world.

Once again, the descriptions of Robbie traversing the landscape of Northern France near Dunkirk and Calais vividly brought the area to life, especially as this is an area we frequently drive through on our way to and from the ferry and Channel Tunnel during trips to England.

Equally, I could perfectly picture Celia's bedsit in London.

Now, if only I could remember the plot! I needed other people's reviews to remind me of the story, but once I was given a nudge, I could remember much more as a result of the brilliant descriptions. I may need to keep this book to reread in the future. I will certainly be watching the film if I get the chance.

Reminder to self:
- Cousins sabotage Briony's play
- Briony sees older sister Cecilia at the fountain with Robbie and a vase
- Fraught dinner, runaway cousins, Briony takes Robbie's note to Cecilia, Lola is attacked
- Everybody's life is changed
- Robbie goes to fight in Dunkirk, Cecilia becomes a nurse, Briony follows in her footsteps
- Briony tries to ask Cecilia for forgiveness at her flat in London
- Many years later, Briony's grandchildren perform the play she wrote as a teenager
- The mysterious sting in the tail





View all my Goodreads reviews

Taken to the Dutch book week meeting in Oss.
This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of 2015. My reading goal is 36 books.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. 2016 goal: 15.

Good book!
Now for the OBCZ-boscotondo in Helmond, The Netherlands in the bookcase of the Cinema!

in the basket of books !

At the bookshelf!

Het boek heeft zojuist een tussenstop gevonden. Ben erg benieuwd naar de inhoud!!