Great

It's been a long time since I wasn't able to put a book down. I just feel it's one of the most beautifully written prose I've read. I'm sure part of it has been me being in a book drought for awhile. ( )

A Book With A Love Triangle

I'm not sure how Atonement got onto my list under this category, for it completely lacks said geometric shape. Instead, it is the tale of a consensual sexual encounter and a rape, told by the precocious, naive thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis who—rather unbelievably—witnesses both events within hours of each other and subsequently wrongfully accuses the man involved in the first act, Robbie Turner, as the perpetrator of the second. Turner winds up in prison on the strength of Briony's unwavering testimony that she "saw him" at the scene, a lie she spends the bulk of the novel determined to atone for her "mistake" by setting the record straight, both with the authorities and the reading public, by changing her original testimony and writing a novel exposing the truth.

Atonement is the collision of too many coincidences and unfortunate circumstances for my taste, exacerbated by their proximity in time. Briony not only stumbles upon both sexual encounters, but she also witnesses the initial interaction which changes Robbie and her sister Cecilia's relationship from childhood friendship to the rendezvous in the library. Robbie mistakenly sends a sexually explicit letter to Cecilia rather than the anodyne version he intended. Compounding this error is his choice of messenger, none other than the mistrustful, overly inquisitive and, most significantly, mistaken-in-her-convictions Briony.

Atonement is a well-written novel but its storyline feels a bit contrived. Briony isn't able to publish her book until after all the relevant parties die and, since she and the other guilty parties won't pay for their actions while they live, the atonement sought is never actually achieved. ( )

Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: "Good story of love, amid a child's misunderstanding of truth with far-reaching and long-lasting consequences, including eventually amid war-torn Europe. Glad to have read the book vs. seen the movie (descriptions of movie suggest plot line changed in some significant ways). Recall the vivid description of those hot summer days in the Tallis' home in the English countryside." ( )

I can't stop crying.It's just so sad!


Well,Ian McEwan..you just made me sad..why did you do that.Well,I guess life happens.The books is just beautiful.It touched my heart with all its sadness and beauty and was just wonderful.Cecilia and Robbie's love is just exemplary,a stuff of the myths.I don't know how to explain my feelings towards Briony.I hated for doing what she did but later I didn't know how I feel about her.But I have to say,she is a spineless creature and she admitted that too.

She tried repenting but that was not enough.Overall the book was great but there were some parts that I hated.I didn't even read the second part.It was about war and to me,it was pretty boring.I skipped most of those parts but I had to say I loved the third part and read it with all my concentration.Characters like Luc Cornet,even though small,leaves a mark.I loved all the characters but I hated one,Paul Marshall,that man! and Briony should've opposed the wedding.But,I'm not Briony and I can't control what happens in the story.I just went with it.I was happy with the ending of the third part but then I realized it was a lie!
A LIE!

But Briony gave them their happiness or that is what she said.



Overall,the book was awesome and this review is inadequate and filled with adjectives that mean the same thing!I would recommend this to all the crazy romantics out there and anybody who has the book with them,it is a must read.I don't think I'm going to rad it again but I will cherish it forever.

( )