Atonement....

[Flamesparrow]

Bought it when it first came out, only just got round to reading it (mainly because I KNEW someone would tell me the content once the film came out).

I had heard oodles of good things, but I think I may have missed some vital thing with it....

I was a bit disappointed - I felt like there were lots of bits of stories, but where none of them really went into enough depth, nothing felt completed, and I feel like I only read half a book.

Is it just me?? What is it that I am not grasping?!?

no, i felt the same, couldnt get on with it at all.

gt book - its that brutal shift from innocence

I found The Child in Time much much better for the loss of innocence (the whole thing with the guy trying to go back to his childhood and realising it was gone forever etc). It is a very different loss of innocence though.

I dunno... I even preferred Enduring Love I think. I enjoyed the reading of Atonement, but not the final overall feeling iyswim.

Am just about to start Atonement... interested to see how I get on after reading your comments. Eduring Love - Hmmm, loved the first 1/3 or so, couldn't put it down, then found it a bit self-indulgent and dull. Put me off McEwan a bit, but Atonement sounded good (til I read this thread!)

Wading my way through it at the moment, not a can't put down book. Really enjoyed Saturday by him

it is good! i'm not one for literary fiction usually, i haven't got the concentration and tend to get really bored and would rather be re-reading some kids book!

but Atonement broke thru my anti-high brow barrier, don't give up guys ...

Yes, I also thought that the ending was a bit of an anticlimax too. Still enjoyed the rest of it though.

I think that was part of what I liked about Atonement - no real happy tied-up-the-loose-strings feeling, it was more about the story than the ending. Ditto Flamesparrow, The Child in Time was a better read than Atonement, very sad book. Just finished Amsterdam (sooooo glad I mastered the art of BF and page-turning!), it's gloriously dark.

I have tried to read this so many times but just cannot get on with it...

I am usually a stubborn perseverer (is that a word?) but had to admit defeat about half way through...

I think it's worth persevering with; it's not a feeglood ending, you do feel a bit cheated; but I think that's the part.
If you like dark, try The Comfort of Strangers...!

"feel good" and "point", not part. Sorry. (Not BF, but I am trying to work at the same time as MNing!)

I've just finished this and actually thought it was fantastic despite struggling to get into it at the start. I actually stayed up until 3am last night to finish it, at which point it made me cry.

The only other Ian McEwan I've read so far (have Enduring Love lined up) was Saturday Night and I felt that was all a bit pointless but certainly didn't think that about this. His evocation of the retreat from France and Dunkirk were fantastic (but I'm a bit of a history buff) and really made me think properly, maybe for the 1st time about conditions endured - as opposed to the rather romaticised "Dunkirk" we're taught about at school (mind you, I doubt kids are these days !)

I found the whole loss of innocence thing and interaction between the children and younger adults very realistic. The various excitement, resentment, anger etc described was spot on. It prompted quite a few memories for me of how you perceive things as a child - but only realise later as an adult that you were completely wrong, despite being totally convinced you knew everything.
Thought it was very skilfully written.