Another book down: Atonement, by Ian McEwan

I bought this book
on my Kindle
from amazon.com.

It seems somewhat ironic (if not purposeful) that a critique of one of the characters in the most recent book I finished - Atonement - also fits the first pages of the book itself.

"Such writing can become precious when there is no sense of forward movement. Put the other way round our attention would have been held even more effectively had there been an underlying pull of simple narrative. Development is required."

While each scene was beautifully described, it was, to be blunt, boring.

It may be that the author was trying to say something by referencing a critique of a story written by the main character Briony, which was about something that happened at the start of the book. Who knows?

I read Atonement as part of my 40 by 40 goal to read the top 100 best novels published after 1923, as decided by Time. I have not yet seen the movie, so I can't compare the book with the movie. However, I can see from reading the book how it could be made into a movie pretty easily with a few tweaks.

Atonement, by Ian McEwan, starts in 1935 in England following the Tallis family. It shifts back and forth between the perspectives of various characters – Briony, the 13-year-old aspiring writer; Cecilia, the recently college-graduated back at home for the summer; Robbie, the housekeeper's son who is in love with Cecilia; and so on. Those are the three key characters. Briony wrongly and knowingly accuses Robbie of raping her cousin, changing the course of all three lives forever. Cecilia is the only one in the family to side with her lover Robbie, and thus the story begins.

From there the book jumps to Robbie's point of view as he is part of the retreat in the war back to the edge of France as part of his release from prison – the brutal description of war is instructive and disturbing at the same time; then to Briony treating patients from the war as a nurse trainee (perhaps her attempt at atonement for the mistake she made); and then finally jumps all the way to 1999 when Briony has grown old and is finishing off a book that would expose her wrongful accusation to the world.

Would I recommend this book? It depends on why you're reading. If I were someone that enjoyed studying literature, and understood the styles and influences as a Guardian book reviewer outlined in his review, then maybe. But I just enjoy a good story, one that will push me through to the end of the book. One that makes me want to stay up until 1 a.m. on a work night because it's just that good. I'll be frank: I don't really want to think that much. The book got some rave reviews on Amazon, and the critics at Time loved it. It wasn't a bad book. I guess I just wasn't in the mood for this style of writing.

On a related note, I watched the movie Revolutionary Road this week; for what it's worth, it follows the book very closely. Even the script was sometimes word-for-word what was written in the book. Good movie – depressing, like the book, but that was the point. Atonement is on my list to watch next week.