Ian McEwan - Atonement

Pros: exceptional writing; fully-developed characters; moving and engaging

Cons: none

The Bottom Line: A literary masterpiece that will fully engage you, move you, and challenge the way you think about writing.

Review: On the hottest day of the year 1935, 13-year-old Briony witnesses a scene by the fountain in the garden between her elder sister, Cecilia (Cee) and Robbie. Both Cee and Robbie are down from Cambridge, and the former had barely acknowledged the latter ...

Pros: Brilliantly told story. Very well-written.

Cons: The second half isn't as strong as the first.

The Bottom Line: can be forgiven.

Review: Speaking as a writer, editorialization can be one of the most difficult aspects of penmanship. Just when can an author hint at or even frankly state the themes of his or her novel? Can nothing be said? Can everything be said, only in the closing ...

Pros: Just read it already!

Cons: Some would say the beginning is a bit slow.

The Bottom Line: just read this book if you like the chronicling of lives, war time description, and great endings!

Review: Summary
Ian McEwan's tale of a woman trying to atone for a horrible act she committed as a young girl is spellbinding. His language is poetic and sticks in your mind after you put the book down. Intricately plotted but not overdone 'Atonement' is...

Pros: Vintage McEwan in execution, style, and profundity.

Cons: The inexplicable delay in release to this side of the Atlantic.

The Bottom Line: I have searched for a long while to find a living writer who is McEwan's equal. Atonement makes the search only tougher.

Review: Ian McEwan's latest novel, Atonement, which was published, released, nominated for a Booker Prize, and denied that Booker Prize - all before its release in the US - was well worth the wait.

McEwan is a master of his own riveting structure....

Pros: Deliciously vivid attention to detail and razor-sharp insight to the protagonists' psyche

Cons: I wasn't convinced by the time-shifted ending...

The Bottom Line: For its deadly accurate representation of the thought processes and motivations of 3 interconnected individuals, I would recommend this to all readers.

Review: This is the second of McEwan's novels I have read, following "Enduring Love" and I am rapidly becoming a fan.

At first sight this book is very different to Enduring Love in that it is a period piece set in 1930s England featuring an adolescent...

Pros: takes you on a wonderful personal journey

Cons: be prepared to dry away the tears

The Bottom Line: As the story unfolds situations will arise that strike deep into your heart, you will feel deeply involved with the experiences of the main characters.

Review: This is the story of one hot summer afternoon and evening for a young teenage girl, her interaction with the people around her, and the events prior to and after the event. It also ties in the experiences of the people around her.

I purchased...

Pros: Stylish language, sophisticated

Cons: possibly old fashioned

The Bottom Line: One of the best books for the year

Review: The first part of Atonement is initially a recollection of a single day in 1935. The main character is Briony, a thirteen-year-old, but the narrative voice is in the 3rd-person; and fully aware of the competence of a young girl acting as narrator. Briony...

Pros: Vivid and talented writing...

Cons: It starts a little too slowly...

The Bottom Line: If you don't like this book, there's something wrong with your brain.

Review: Vivid and talented writing that makes you think and delivers a provocative philosophical point, without being anything less than remarkably entertaining. That's Atonement.

Yes, it starts a little too slowly, but picks up quickly. By the end,...

Pros: Artistic - Powerful

Cons: Somewhat hard to follow at times

The Bottom Line: A youngsters misconception that changes lives and follows through the horrors of war and ends in the late 1990's.

Review: ATONEMENT Ian McEwan , Londoner, has done it again. He has put together a powerful book that exp ...

Pros: Intense, heavy story focuses on difficult questions of guilt, repentance, and, yes, atonement.

Cons: Somewhat inaccessible and occasionally slow going.

The Bottom Line: Challenging but rewarding book doesn't pull its punches. Don't go in expecting a neatly-wrapped-up, cheery ending: this one is just as sad as real life is.

Review: When I was about twelve, some friends and I decided to amuse ourselves by inventing a secret admirer for a geek and social pariah of our acquaintance. We composed perfumed love letters, full of romance-novel phrases we barely understood, and left them on...