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A review of Atonement

by Ian McEwan

A single moment of poor judgment haunts a family for decades.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Santiago
About Jennifer Santiago

Atonement At the heart of "Atonement" is Briony Tallis, who at thirteen lives in a world of lush and fantastical stories and plays of her own making, always dealing with tragedy, redemption, and love. In her misguided quest for real-life drama and passage into what she imagines to be adulthood, Briony supplies false evidence about a crime she has witnessed. In the process, Briony destroys the lives of her entire family. When she is old enough to realize the damage she has wrought, she embarks on a quest for atonement that is as self-serving as her original sin.

To say, "I loved this book" would lump it in with Jackie Collins novels and volumes of Shel Silverstein poetry that I have also loved; would trivialize the awe-inspiring brilliance of McEwan's masterpiece. Every word in this book is perfectly chosen, without a single misstep, a single instance where the reader can imagine a sentence or phrase turned any differently. The reader can only marvel that there exists in the universe someone who can write like this, who can make the English countryside circa 1935 and war-torn France seem so vivid, so believable. You'll be utterly convinced that you, the reader, not main character Briony Tallis, have labored for 14 hours straight tending to wounded soldiers in a London hospital; that you, the reader, not hero Robbie Turner, have trudged hundreds of miles across France, stepping over disembodied limbs and surviving fever-induced hallucinations. McEwan cannot possibly have amassed his vast stores of sagacity and insight, not to mention talent, in the span of just one lifetime.

This novel is not about the horrors of war. It is about the astonishing resiliency of the human spirit. It is about the unknowable inner lives of the people you love. It is about how differently a group of people can experience the exact same event. It is about infinitesimally tiny decisions, choices, and words that can radically alter lives in mere seconds. It is about the baggage we carry and the mistakes we pay for with our souls.

While McEwan masterfully wrestles these daunting, lofty themes, the real charm of the book is his deft description of the small details of daily life that really define our existence- the random memories of childhood, sensory impressions of a lovely summer day, familiar locations from the past viewed from the window of a cab.

"Atonement" is a triumph from beginning to end, and can rightfully be described as a masterpiece, and arguably the best novel of 2002.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Atonement

Copyright © by Jennifer Santiago, 2003

Reviewed by Jennifer Santiago:
-- The Lovely Bones - by Alice Sebold
-- 30 Minute Meals - by Rachael Ray
-- Raising Blaze - by Debra Ginsberg
-- Backpack - by Emily Barr
-- You Are Not a Stranger Here - by Adam Haslett
-- Bookends - by Jane Green
-- A Confederacy of Dunces - by John Kennedy Toole
-- Ash Wednesday - by Ethan Hawke
-- All Saints' Day - by Brent Benoit
-- The Stepford Wives - by Ira Levin
-- The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating - by David M. Buss
-- Literary New Orleans - by Judy Long (Editor)
-- The Sopranos Family Cookbook - by Allen Rucker; Recipes by Michele Scicolone
-- Atonement - by Ian McEwan
-- The Crimson Petal and the White - by Michel Faber
-- Midnight Bayou - by Nora Roberts
-- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - by Ann Brashares
-- The Zygote Chronicles - by Suzanne Finnamore
-- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - by J.K. Rowling









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