Atonement

by Ian McEwan

New York : N.A. Talese/Doubleday, 2002, ©2001.
ISBN: 0385503954 9780385503952
OCLC: 47665315

Date completed: 10-29-2008

Why I read this book: The movie looked good, and I am doing this as my book/movie program at work for November.

Wow, I thought this was very good. First off, it's a page-turner. Once I started, I did not want to put it down. It draws you in by telling the story from different perspectives. So, you see a scene from one perspective, and only have part of the information, so you don't really understand what's going on, and then you can't wait to see that scene from someone else's perspective to see what the heck the deal is. If that makes any sense at all.
There are some very intense and detailed scenes of war, as well as intense and detailed scenes of more normal stuff happening at home, and it's pretty cool how these very different settings work together in one book.
Plus, this book probably has the most accurate title for something besides Snakes on a Plane. (Ha, I bet no other reviewer of Atonement has EVER mentioned Snakes on a Plane in their review!) It asks the question: is atonement ever possible? There is also a meta kind of device used to give it some verisimilitude (wow, I used a big word!), which I am always a fan of. I like to suspend my disbelief!! That makes a story get under my skin and I love that!
Oh, and I also have to mention that this book the best-written sex scene I have ever read.
I can't wait to watch this movie on Saturday, even though Keira Knightley's underbite tends to distract me. I remember reading that Atonement has one of the longest continuous one-shot scenes ever during the war segment which I am kind of excited about.
Sooo good.