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| Atonement | 
 enlarge | Author: Ian Mcewan
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £0.01
You Save: £7.98 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (45 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2372
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language)
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0099507382
EAN: 9780099507383
ASIN: 0099507382
Publication Date: August 9, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 Bit long winded September 24, 2008
I've never not finished a book once I've started it, but to be honest, I struggled with this one. At the start I didn't warm at all to any of the characters except for Robbie and what followed in the book enamoured me to them even less. But struggle I did and although I found the scenes in the lead up to Dunkirk very hard to read as they were so gruesome, I was glad I persevered. The last 100 pages more than made up for what came before. I'd read "On Chesil Beach" so was expecting the one pivotal moment in life aspect but it was so much more life altering in this book. It did stay with me long afterwards but I think the book could have been shortened a great deal without losing any of it's final impact.
 Disappointing and tedious September 21, 2008
I brought this as a holiday read purely on the basis of its hype and the fact that someone had clearly thought it worth investing money in to make a film. I was utterly disappointed; it was one of the most dull and overrated books I have ever read. It took until chapter nine for anything to actually occur, other than lethargic prose labouring the point that it was an awfully hot summer. So what? That was just rubbing the salt in. ;-)
The most annoying section of the book is the description of the evacuation from Dunkirk. It felt like McEwan was trying to raise the reader's consciousness by bringing in some gritty realism about the horrors of war, but this has been done so much more convincingly and sensitively by others (i.e. Sebastian Faulks, Pat Barker etc) that it just felt like a bid for the Booker. Call me a whiny old misery but I won't be reading anything else by McEwan again.
Read before watching film! August 25, 2008
Atonement is, overall, quite a good read.
However, it is very much an up-hill battle to really get into it, though once you are in, it engrosses you for around 60% of the time, so in this way is good.
There are several parts throughout the book that I personally had to skip, as they were very slow-moving and irrelevant to the story.
If you have seen the film, the book is even more hard work, as it takes so much time to get round to what actually happens in the story, so if you read it after having seen the film - good luck!
 Mastery of the written word certainly... August 21, 2008
I don't know where to begin with this review. I have just finished reading Atonement and the last chapter and epilogue were really gripping and unputdownable. But earlier in the novel - the section covering Robbie's time at war - didn't really do it for me. I am not that fond of stories about war, and whilst I appreciate the mastery in the writing and the descriptions, I wasn't as moved as some.
I really like the scene in the library - that was very sensual and I was totally caught up in the moment. The first section of the novel was I felt a little rambling. Lots of 'big' words and flowing sentences which occassionally drove me to distraction - again I appreciated the mastery of the writing but it wasn't an especially easy novel to read on a train, full of distractions and noise! I did enjoy it all the same but I think I think I should've immersed myself in a library to be able to truely concentrate!
The crime - well there were more than one - but Briony's over-imagination was the focus of the novel. Even at the end her imagination got the better of her but I am glad it was explained but as I read the epilogue and the characters attending the party I did wonder what had happened.
I have struggled to give a star rating and have plumped for 4 stars because of the middle section I wasn't so fond of.
I haven't read McEwan before but have bought a couple of others - Saturday, On Cheshil Beach - to see what I think of him as an author. I was bought Atonement as a Christmas present last year and thought I ought to give it a read and am glad I did, despite some of my reservations.
I was umming and ahhing about whether to watch the film but I think it would just spoil the pictures I have in my head of the characters. Sorry - in my interpretation Keira Knightley doesn't feature!
Brillant story, but rubbishly made August 6, 2008
I brought this book and it was brillant. The story is brillant and I liked the way that it had different sexctions focusing on certain events. Anyway, the book did not last long and started to fall to pieces when I had only read a third of it.
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