Used Books Blog

Atonement is the first Ian McEwan novel I’ve read. I’ll pick up another but with a bit of trepidation. Atonement has been linked - repeatedly - to Jane Austen’s work. The first act of this four act novel certainly has all the hallmarks. In fact, I found the first 40-50 pages to be difficult to get through. I kept looking at the praise on the back jacket and thinking that I had to read on because that many reviewers couldn’t all be so wrong.

I’m glad I got through those slow, overly descriptive first pages. (I just about closed the book when I read something about how the sun made parallelograms on the floor.) Midway through the first act a tension finally begins to build and I became drawn into the plot. The first act is set in 1935 where we meet the Tallis family, in particular young Briony and her older sister Cecilia. Briony witnesses events between Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant whom the Tallis family has supported in his educational pursuits. The interpretation of this event puts into motion the rest of the novel.

The first act is all very Austen, very English, prim and class based. It is the second act that details Robbie Turner’s time in France during World War II that transformed this novel. The bleak nature of war and the ability to survive (or not) are laid bare for the reader. Not in a overly sentimental way where you feel you’re being manipulated, but just a honest narrow account of what occurred. In many ways, Atonement is a bit like Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. The beginning in no way prepares you for what is to come. The contrast is stark and I found this device to work to McEwan’s advantage.

The third act is interesting and at this point the plot and love story drive the reader through the narrative as they wish to find out what happens. You know you’re on to something good when you really and truly are reading because you are seeking that resolution. McEwan does this superbly. However, there is a small fourth act which in some ways feels like an editor’s addition. Perhaps not, but I find myself frustrated with the fourth act for a number of reasons, the least of which is a too tidy bookend of the novel.

Atonement is extremely enjoyable, insidiously readable and frustrating.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Literary, English Literature, Fiction, Used Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.