Book Review: Atonement

Friday, Apr 17, 2009

Book Review: Atonement

Author: Ian McEwan

Publisher: Doubleday/Random House

ISBN: 978-0-385-50395-2

Website: www.ianmcewan.com

Type: Fiction:Historical

Pages: 351 Hardback

Purchase: $7.99 @ Amazon.com (HERE)

The Story

This is a tragic story of a love that was truly meant to be, but never fully grew to its full fruition because of the naitivity of a girl, bound by jealousy and fear. The lovers are Cecelia and Robbie and their fate is turned in the events that take place on one night. The girl who interrupted their love was Briony, Cecelia’s younger, imaginative sister who made more of what she saw and heard than she had a right to.

This is also the story of consequences and how the decisions you make influence not only your path, but those of others around you. Briony’s false accusations tear apart Cecilia & Robbie’s love. It takes a lifetime for Briony to make atonement for the wake of her lies.

The Review

I watched this movie in Big Bear over Thanksgiving week in 2008. The movie brought me to tears. It was a movie that I had purchased, however had just not gotten around to watching. In the dark of the night, I watched it alone and was struck by its force. It was a truly incredible movie. For those who may be familiar with my blog, I am a stickler about reading books before watching the movies based upon them. I want my mind to be a fresh and clean palate for the words of the book. In this particular case, it ended up that the movie induced me to purchase the book. Particularly, it was the commentary on the movie DVD that had indicated that this movie so closely followed the book that I thought the book must be wonderful.

Along with several others, I purchased the book. When I went to read it, I found that I was disturbed by the images in my head that were associated with the movie. It is hard reading a story that you already know the ending to. This further enforces my belief that I should always read a book before viewing the movie (thank God I read The Secret Life of Bees and haven’t watched the movie yet). In any case, I’ve started and stopped reading this novel several times. Why? Because it felt “wordy” to me and I already knew the story. I became disappointed in myself. I had made a determination to read this book, I invested in purchasing it in hardback, and damn it if I wasn’t going to read it!

I promised myself it would be read before April was over; as such, I have read the novel. I felt differently about the novel than the movie. I loved the movie and didn’t love the book. Why? Because when I read Briony’s thoughts and feelings, I felt nothing but contempt for her. I already knew that she had ruined Cecelia & Robbie’s hopes at love and life. She seemed almost oblivious to the ramifications of her childish whims. In addition, the book was so filled with description of scenery and events that I found myself rushing to finish the book. I didn’t want to envision what the book was saying because the movie had done that for me.

There were some differences between the movie and the book. The ending was quite different than the movie and I believe that the movie would have been better served had it chosen the identical ending to the book. I also felt a much deeper connection to Briony in her years as a nurse in the book versus how it was displayed in the movie. Overall, if I had to choose one or the other, I’d choose the movie. How sad is that? I love books! I love the poetry of words. But, I feel in some ways that my read and review were doomed because of my love for the movie.

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

In regards to recommendations, I would DEFINITELY recommend the movie. The book… I believe is for the few who really love the art of writing and the art of words. Some of the passages were so well written that they were poetic in nature. This is a truly gifted author and his efforts are not wasted on this novel. If there is one thing that you can take away from this review, it is to read the book before you see this movie and not in the reverse order, as I did.

For the genre Fiction:Historical, I am going to rate this book an 8.5 OUT OF 10.

18 Comments

| Posted in Books Books Books

18 Responses

Karen

April 17th, 2009 at 3:17 am

I read this book last year and absolutely loved it! I have had the DVD on my shelf for ages now and just haven’t watched it yet – I think I might be afraid it won’t be as wonderful as the book so I am holding back even though I have only heard great things about the movie! I will just have to dive in and watch it I think.
Molly

April 17th, 2009 at 4:09 am

The book has been sitting on my shelf for about 2 years now; I have not watched the movie (although my daughters have and absolutely loved it). I do enjoy the beauty of words – and since I don’t know the ending of the story, I think I may enjoy the book.

Thank you for the honest review!!

PS — how is Lainey doing?!
3m

April 17th, 2009 at 5:20 am

Congrats on finishing the Book Awards Challenge!

Hope you’ll join in on Book Awards III. I’ll announce in May.
Bonnie

April 17th, 2009 at 5:40 am

I read Atonement with my book club and then later that year or some months later we all met and watched the movie. We were divided in our opinions of the book. I believe only 2 out of 9 liked the book, including myself. Several didn’t finish it as they disliked it. It is a hard book to follow, and I found the ending of the book packed a powerful punch and still makes me wonder. I actually liked the book better. We all felt that the movie didn’t do the book justice, it was hard to follow without having read the book and there were parts missing from the book that should have been there. I agree, it is more enjoyable for those who enjoy the beauty of words and analyzing a book. It’s not a clear cut story, you have to peel away the layers and think about what is going on to come to conclusions.
It’s interesting that you preferred the movie, it was very dramatic and powerful. I wonder if you read the book first if your feelings would have been different?
Fyrefly

April 17th, 2009 at 6:33 am

I read the book first, and wound up loving both the book and the movie. I’m usually not a writing-over-plot gal, but the writing was so beautiful that it took my breath away in parts. I always wondered how the book would read if you knew the ending… so I appreciate your honest answer!
Nely

April 17th, 2009 at 8:08 am

Oh, you read it before I did.. I saw that you had it on your coming soon list and so did I but I have been putting it aside. I enjoyed your review and am making a promise to myself to read within the next 2 weeks.

♥ Nely
Darlene

April 17th, 2009 at 8:10 am

I’ve had this book on my shelf for ages now and I’m meaning to read it for the War Challenge this year. I will read the book before the movie for sure. Hopefully I will enjoy it. I’m glad the comments are working!

ps—I’ve been wondering about Lainey too.
claire

April 17th, 2009 at 8:27 am

I read the book first and I just loved loved loved it. The movie.. ehm.. not so much, just because I also knew the ending already. I think you’ve hit upon a valid point, that you didn’t enjoy the book so much because you already have a biased feeling about Briony, even from the start. I notice McEwan’s works usually steers towards a punch, and once you know that punch, the development of the rest of the story really is lost on you. I have a feeling that had you read the book first, you might have liked it better. But, that’s okay. You love the movie, so at least you don’t not like them both.
Kathy

April 17th, 2009 at 9:08 am

I thought this book was really well written, but the ending just didn’t work for me.
Anna

April 17th, 2009 at 9:55 am

I haven’t read the book or seen the movie. I started reading the book a while back, but I couldn’t get into it. It’s one that I was thinking about giving another go, but not any time soon. Maybe I’ll just see the movie instead. I appreciate your honest review.
Kristi

April 17th, 2009 at 10:01 am

I tried listening to this one on audio and just could not get into it. I do want to read it though, so will probably give the actual book a try sometime. I agree with needing to read the book before I see the movie!
Alyce

April 17th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

I haven’t seen the movie, but I did try to read the book. I gave up about a third of the way through, and that is really unusual for me. I just didn’t really care about the characters, and I couldn’t get into the plot. Maybe I didn’t give it enough of a chance, but it’s not one I plan on picking up again.
Petunia

April 17th, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Get this, I was reading the book before watching the movie when it came out in the theater. I had to put the book down with TWO PAGES LEFT TO THE END to get to the movie on time. So when we got to the end of the movie and the story turned out to be what it was I almost cried out in the theater. “NOOOOO!!!” I sobbed the whole drive home. And I cry every time I watch the movie again. I love the book whole heartedly but the movie is my #1 favorite movie of all time.
Petunia

April 17th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

BTW, I thought the movie ending was an acceptable change (and I’m usually a stickler about these things) and an appropriate one considering that it was a visual medium instead of a written one.
Melissa - Shhh I'm Reading

April 17th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

I’ve had this one on my shelf for a while. I’d like to see the movie, but definitely want to read the book first.
Ladytink_534

April 17th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

I read this one soon after it first cameout and wasn’t very impressed with it so I never watched the movie. I may have to since you enjoyed it more than the book.
Carrie K.

April 17th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

I really didn’t like this book, and so was hesitant to see the movie. I think i’ll go ahead and give it a try.
Trin

April 17th, 2009 at 10:55 pm

I am planning on reading this one in the next few weeks. I can’t wait to see how our opinions differ. I don’t think I have ever watched the movie first.