Atonement – Ian McEwan

I finished reading “Atonement” by Ian McEwan today.

When I bought this book a few months ago, I had never heard of it nor its writer. I started reading it and the first couple of chapters didn’t really get me that attached to the book as it was mostly character development, so I kept leaving it for a while and coming back a number of times. That’s until the story picked up and things started becoming interesting, then really interesting, then amazing and I was sucked in.

This is a truly great book. The characters feel so real and are so well developed you feel as if you’ve known them for years. The story is amazing and very well told in a fascinating writing style.

It tells the story of a 13 year old English girl (Briony) who lets her imagination overwhelm her judgement leading to close family ties being irreparably severed, and a promising young man’s (Robbie) prospects being destroyed.
The book goes on to track Robbie’s attempts to recapture the grace of his life before the fall, and Briony’s attempts to atone for ruining his future.

The ideas I loved most in it were how with a bit of imagination a number of different versions of a story can come to life, some of them really destructive.

I also loved how the writer told the story through the characters’ eyes and thoughts. It was so beautiful.

I really recommend this book. It was actually nominated for The Booker Prize award a few years back.