Atonement

By: Ian McEwan

Narrated by: Jill Tanner

National Book Critics Circle, Fiction, 2003

In Atonement, three children lose their innocence, as the sweltering summer heat bears down on the hottest day in 1935, and their lives are changed forever. Cecilia Tallis is of England's priviledged class; Robbie Turner is the housekeeper's son. In their moment of intimate surrender, they are interrupted by Cecilia's hyperimaginative and scheming 13-year-old sister, Briony. And as chaos consumes the family, Briony commits a crime, the guilt of which she shall carry throughout her life.

©2001 Ian McEwan (P)2003 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

• Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Fiction, 2003

"A tour de force. Every bit as affecting as it is gripping." (The New York Times)
"Enthralling...With psychological insight and a command of sensual and historical detail, Mr. McEwan creates an absorbing fictional world." (The Wall Street Journal)
"A beautiful and majestic fictional panorama." (The New Yorker)

An amazing book about complex human perception

"Atonement" is a deeply satifying, extraordinarily well written book that seems simple because it is so well crafted, but deals with such complex issues. Core to the book is that each of us comes to our own 'truth' while never really seeing the whole. One of the characters says "It's like being close up to something so large you don't even see it. Even now, I'm not sure I can. But I know it's there." Throughout the book the reader watches this happen again and again, something so large the individuals don't see the whole of it, although they know it is there. For Briony, this lack of understanding leads to tragic consequences, but the book goes on to show how each of us lacks a comprehensive understanding.

I thought it a wonderful, brilliantly written book that will stay with me for many years. Rarely have I had such a satifying "read." From start to finish McEwan didn't let me down. I think those who don't like it are listeners who prefer more action in their books, and this isn't that. It isn't a light read, nor is it fast-paced. I find myself almost wishing I belonged to a book club so I could talk about it, since I know that for all I got out of it, I missed so much. If this type of book isn't to one's taste, or the subject matter and ideas the author explores aren't interesting to you, then certainly don't get it. But that it is well written is not in doubt. I also found the topic utterly fascinating and felt the author was able to express ideas that I have played with in my own head but never would be able to write up as well.

Well written; well read.

Atonement is a beautifully written but ultimately very sad piece of serious literature. Days after finishing it, I find myself thinking about the lead character and the questions that she raises. The reading was also well done. Some listeners may find that the story moves too slowly for their tastes. For example, the first half (seven hours) of the book covers just one day in 1935 and is full of nice description but little action.

Tedious

The first 13 or 14 chapters were tedious, and I almost gave up before the story redeemed itself.

Good but so is the Movie.

Most people know that this novel was made into a movie with the same name. I watched the movie long before I listened to the book. I would recommend reading/listening to the book before watching the movie. A huge amount of the suspense was taken away from the listening experience and I would argue that the surprising events that take place in the story are really what makes the novel so great. The author is very detailed in his descriptions which make the main events of the story very well flushed out and easy to visualize. The great detail as well makes the not-so-important events of the story especially boring and difficult to get through. I give the book 3 stars because it is a good story but I would probably just recommend watching the movie and skipping the book.

Engrossing, beautiful prose

Where does Atonement rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This may be one of the best I've listened to so far, if not the best, though I haven't listened to too many.

What did you like best about this story?

I really love all the detailed descriptions and beautiful turns of phrase. Really good character development and the author has a real insight into the varying degrees of the human condition as exemplified in all the characters.

Which scene was your favorite?

I really enjoyed the first half of the story which is solely dedicated to character development and framing the narrative from the sides of every major character, it was really engrossing. I would go back and listen to parts over again.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I think there already was a film of this book.

Memorable!

This is one of the most intricately written,
fascinating and emotion evoking novels I've ever read. The war scenes are so well written they're traumatic. One may need to take some deep breaths after reading. The narration is excellent.

Will always be a classic

The story is one for the ages. Jill is a great narrator with regards to enunciation and even emotion, though it is admittedly hard to discern when there are multiple characters in any given scene - more likely to make inferences based on the content than the sound of her voice. Overall, highly recommend.

Literature with a capital L

Favorite novel of all time, no contest. It hurts so good. No notes. Perfection all around.

Beautiful book

This book was beautifully written. The reader is one of my favorites on audible (she was one of the readers of "The Thirteenth Tale", my favorite audible book to date). The story was long, bittersweet, slow - something to savor over a cup of tea with a warm blanket, or sit on the porch with a cup of coffee. I can't wait to see the movie!

A long read

I enjoyed the story but just felt it so long for what it had to say. There was too much running on about the texture of the surrounding but not enough insight in to character development or what attonement really ment to the main character at a more deep understanding. I was disappointed.