I truly enjoy this novel so far. I deeply appreciate Ian McEwan’s level of detail when he illustrates a particular scene – not just the physical setting, but also the emotional landscape. One of my favorite descriptions was of Emily, lying in bed, marooned with a migraine. McEwan portrayed her illness and her sentiments so purely, I felt like I was reading a diary.
I’m also intrigued by Briony’s persona. Her yearning for constant control is well defined by her extremely carefully elaborated stage directions to her less-than-perfect actor cousins. Yet her imagination transports her a different and unruly world, enabling her to create plays as well as direct them – an ironic juxtaposition between control and imagination.
I believe I’m going to continue enjoying this book. So far, it seems like a family story, where only minor dramatic events happen to each character. We’ll see what happens….
I thought the character of Briony was well written. I feel that very few writers capture the true spirt of a 13 year old. Although Briony is not like any 13 year old I know, I can believe her to be a real person.
And I can sympathize with her when Lola appears to take over Briony's play. Briony's play is the one place where she has complete control and can let her creativity shine through. And you never imagine losing that creative control. But when you do, what can you do but sulk? I completely identified with Briony when she spoke of Lola's dominion and how "self-pity needed her full attention." When Briony is in that mindset, Lola's every action proves the need for the young playwright's self pity. On the outside it can seem petty and childish, but all I have to do is think back to last time I felt wronged and robbed and it feels that Ian McEwan is putting my feelings into words. It may not be mature how Briony and I sometimes feel, but McEwan makes it so very eloquent.
The readers are introduced to the main character Briony Tallis, who is a thirteen–year–old girl with ambitious dreams of becoming a writer. Briony’s character is that of a young girl on the verge of entering adulthood. She doesn’t quite understand what is lurking over the edge of adulthood, only that Briony believes that adulthood should be earned. Briony sets out to direct and perform her own play for the arrival of her older brother, Leon, who is returning home to the Tallis’ country house. Briony revisits her gift of writing, and admires the imagery she puts into her writing: “A world could be made in five pages . . . the childhood of spoiled prince could be framed within half a page . . . falling in love could be achieved in a single word – a glance. The pages of a recently finished story seemed to vibrate in her hand with all the life they contained.” (Page 7). This is one of the themes that occurs throughout Atonement: the power of writing. Just like writing transports the reader into a story, Briony will soon experience her own transportation from childhood into the world of adulthood. However, Briony doesn’t seem nor acknowledge just how powerful her own pen and imagination can be. This will foreshadow, later on. By Chapter 3, the readers get a glimpse inside Briony’s mind, as she dislocates herself from reality and enters her imagination. After each of her cousins prove to be incapable of carrying out her play, Briony considers abandoning The Trials of Arabella, because she reflects back on her writing for the past year. Briony recognizes that her writing is filled with childish folktale and nothing mature. This choice was subconsciously presented when Briony witness Lola entering the nursery “in the guise of the adult she considered herself at heart to be.” (Page 32). For Briony, she feels like everyone around her is growing up but her. Chapter 5, finally, Briony had abandoned all hope for her play and goes to the edge of the lake to sulk. Meanwhile, Lola scolds her brothers when they bring up the fact of their parent’s divorce. But suddenly, Paul Marshall enters the children’s room and notices Lola as a”pre–Raphaellite princess.” (Page 57). Here, Paul Marshall displays his underlying motives in taking an interest in the Quincy children, but especially Lola. Chapter 6, the readers are then introduced to Emily Tallis, Briony, Cecilia and Leon’s mother. The readers are given a biological look into Emily Tallis’ life. “She had been educated until the age of sixteen, and was sent to Switzerland for two years which were shortened to one for economy, and she knew for a fact that the whole performance, women at the Varsity was childish really, at best an innocent lark . . .” (Page 61). Emily Tallis’ life demonstrates how much has changed in the role of women in society over a span of one generation. Emily was educated at home and feels a women’s role at the Varsity to be childish. Let me just say, for me I’m not a big fan of McEwan’s writing. While I do find his writing to be quite detailed, I however do no enjoy the fact that I have to have my mind be bombarded with details and images that I just don’t see the importance too. For me, McEwan’s writing is not my favorite since, he leave no room for his reader’s imagination to carry the story on his own. His characters however, are more than two dimensional, so the readers feel a very strong connection with Briony and Cecilia. Yet, I don’t need two or three extra pages prolonging the details of each of the character’s lives.
Sorry in advance that this review is so lengthy; I had been writing individual reviews for each chapter because I could organize my thoughts better that way. Here's the first three...
Chapter 1:
My first impression of the writing style was that there were a LOT of really long sentences; this book is clearly going to be one that requires focus to read. The endless descriptions of Briony’s obsession with neatness were appropriate, I think, because they made me feel sort of tied down, and that’s just what Briony is in having such a habit.
As for the characters, it was hard to decide what to think at fist since we only got a sense of Briony. Overall, I thought she was okay; she seemed like someone who would be difficult to be around in real life, but on the other hand I identified with the way she seemed almost wise-beyond-her-years at points, and I could also understand her need for perfection because I went through similar struggles around that age as well. When the cousins came to visit, I continued to sympathize with Briony. I thought the twins were frustrating, but I don’t think that they were doing anything on purpose; Briony just unfortunately had unrealistic expectations of them. I liked Lola at first because she seemed more mature and on Briony’s side, but then when she said right in front of Briony that she and her sibling were going to have to do annoying things for a while, I instantly hated her.
Chapter 2:
I felt sorry for Cecelia in seeing how she didn’t really feel needed in her home. I am also kind of confused about what Cecelia actually wants in her life, but then again I guess she is too. I found it interesting that she was so obsessed with trying to arrange the wildflowers correctly; it seemed to mirror her sister’s obsessive tendencies.
I wasn't totally sure what Cecelia thinks of Robbie, but I thought the interactions between the two were interesting, and I found Cecelia’s over-analysis of what he was thinking of her to be amusing. Furthermore, as soon as Robbie started insisting that he help her with the vase, I knew what was going to happen; again, it was kind of funny in a way, just in that it was so predictable.
Chapter 3:
So in the beginning, we are back to dealing with Briony and the play, and her cousins’ antics, which, looking at it from Briony’s perspective, would likely be pretty frustrating. But then the tone changes as Briony is alone and starts thinking about her hand. The whole idea of what she was thinking about came off as incredibly odd and existential to me, but I think that that in and of itself fit with Briony’s characterization. Anyway, I was slightly annoyed with Briony because it seemed like she would be unhappy regardless of the answer to her question: if others had independent minds (which, of course, they do), it offended her need for order, yet if only she had an independent mind, then it would make her feel lonely.
As Briony began watching the scene that the readers just witnessed in the previous chapter, things changed. It was interesting to see her childlike interpretation of a situation she barely understood, and the way she was gradually forced to unravel her perfect fantasy world, such as when she contemplates that “the drowning scene, followed by a rescue, should have preceded the marriage proposal” (36-37).
The paragraph describing what Briony “would” do in thee future made me a little confused, but I suppose we’ll get more information on that later. Also, I’m very curious as to what the consequences will be, if any, of Briony’s decision to wait a while longer before she starts the story even though she won’t remember it as well.
In this chapter, we move back into Cecelia’s head. When she finds Briony crying due to the latter’s frustrations with the play, she is almost insistent on trying to provide some sense of comfort, which is consistent with her need that was expressed in Chapter 2 to belong to her family.
I liked the playful and familiar relationship between Leon and Cecelia throughout the second half of that chapter, particularly the backstory about their face-making competitions. As for Marshall, Cecelia seems to treat him cordially at first. McEwan’s very long paragraph about all that Marshall was saying was very reminiscent of Rushdie’s writing; I couldn’t keep track of it, but I didn’t think I was supposed to either.
Overall, this chapter really came off as a filler chapter to me; there was hardly any action, and most of the events were confined to the pool. However, I did find it interesting that both chapters 3 and 4 involved Briony and Cecelia (respectively) looking out a window and seeing people outside, speculating what conversations might be taking place even though they can really never know.
Chapter 5:
So, this was another short chapter, in which we switch back to the perspective of the cousins. I find it interesting how McEwan gets us into everyone’s heads, and how previously introduced characters (or, in Briony’s case, situations) are re-introduced through the eyes of someone else. For example, when the reader is in Lola’s head, Marshall is initially described as a “tall man in a white suit” (55).
My favorite part about this chapter is that I got a new perspective of Lola. She seems to be, understandably, a very sad, homesick girl with a lot on her shoulders, and tries hard to seem like someone who can take charge. When she yells at Jackson for saying up front that their parents are in the middle of a divorce, it reveals her own frustration about the situation, but the part moments before that, when she puts her arm around her brother, also reveals that she probably has a need for the three of them to stick together, especially at a time when familial separation is constantly on their minds.
When Lola is talking with Marshall, it is apparent that she wants to impress him, and she continues to try to convince others (and probably herself) that she could keep her brothers under control. Lola is less naïve than her brothers are, and she is aware that she doesn’t know everything but still tries to pretend to. She is childish in some ways and mature in others, and in that sense she kind of reminds me of Briony.
Chapter 6:
In this chapter, we meet Emily, the chronically ill mother of Briony, Cecelia, and Leon. I felt for Emily—the way the chapter was written gave a clear sense of how cut off she feels from the rest of the family, and how guilty she feels about it. Overall, she seems to have the best of intentions, and she wishes she could be more interactive, not just with her own kids but with her nephews as well.
The only thing I was sort of put off by about Emily was her evident favoritism among her three kids—she adores and wants to protect Briony just as Cecelia does; she shows moderate approval for Leon’s achievements; and we can see that her disgust with what Cecelia is doing with her life is as extreme and terrible as the latter makes it out to be in Chapter 2.
Although it took a while to realize it, I also noticed that there was yet another time overlap for this section—all the events that Emily is overhearing are the ones that we have just seen played out in Chapters 4 and 5. Once again, McEwan continues with his strategy of showing the reader a situation first from the inside and then from an outsider’s point of view, an outsider who can only rely on basic cues (visual ones in Briony’s case and minor voice inflection in Emily’s case) to interpret it, but cannot hear the actual words being said.
In reading the book the things that popped out to me was the need for order and control that Briony wanted. I find it strange that she has to have her toys in a line facing her and having a squirel's head under her bed in a little can.It doesn't seem normal.
What I did enjoy about her character was her passion for writing. Getting lost in an imaginary world ignoring the world until her thoughts are complete are the emotions I have when I read a book that I am so deeply into. I get lost within the pages seeing the scenery and watching the story unfold with the protagonists.
What I did like a lot in this book was being able to read the scene between Cecilia and Robbie from two points of view.
I really didn’t know what to expect from this book, but I’m pleasantly surprised. First off, I absolutely adore McEwan’s pristine writing style. The descriptions are so precise and thorough, yet never extraneous. I also like that the book is set up with foreshadow in the context of Briony’s play’s prologue; “love which did not build a foundation on good sense was doomed,” (3). I’m assuming that this becomes a major message of the book in its entirety, yet its disclosure maintains an essence of impossibility and lightness. At this point, it’s nothing more than the moral of a little girl’s fantasy.
A person’s bedroom speaks volumes of their personality, and McEwan was clever to take particular advantage of this underutilized detail. The description of Briony’s bedroom, for example, introduces key pieces of her character; “Briony’s [room] was a shrine to her controlling demon… the only tidy upstairs room in the house…Her straight-backed dolls in their many-roomed mansion appeared to be under strict instructions not to touch the walls,” (5). Briony may not live in “a harmonious, organized world,” as she wishes, but her room functions as a sort of miniature world over which she has control. Emily’s “cool and darkened bedroom” also says something of her character. Her room is both the heart of the house and a jail cell. Due to her debilitation, Emily has developed “a sixth sense”, allowing her to “gauge” the happenings of the household. In this way, she makes herself as useful as her pain (the jail keeper, I suppose) will allow, acting as a sort of security system. In the event of an emergency, I imagine that she would take action (even if it does mean slipping past her knife-wielding jail guard).
I can’t help but compare my own ideas about writing to Briony’s (or McEwan’s?). I appreciate the secrecy, the privacy the self-reflection and self-exposure involved in developing characters, the control of space as well as time, and even the “miniaturization” aspect of writing. This line is perfect: “Falling in love could be achieved in a single word- glance,” (7). I love love love the idea of stories as a form of telepathy; “By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader’s. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it,” (35). I never thought of it like that, but it’s so true- it’s happening right now as I read this book!
I most certainly do not agree, however, that topics in Briony’s “realm of disorder” (e.g. divorce) deny the storyteller of opportunity or possibility. Briony writes with the goal of achieving her perfect organized world, in which enthalpy replaces entropy. She wants to pick the broken pieces up and glue them back together. I like entropy and rebelliousness. I would be the one who broke the thing in the first place.
Speaking of breaking things, I found the scene with the vase falling in the fountain quite enjoyable. Cecilia and Robbie make good scene partners, to say the least. They have to end up together, right? It was also funny to see Briony’s perspective of the ordeal, especially her ideas about their stripping to swim in the fountain, and her frustration with the illogical sequence of the thing.
There’s something a bit off (for lack of a better word) about Cecilia. While I can relate to her preference for “natural chaos” over calculated meticulousness, I feel as if she wants disaster to strike. Maybe she’s just in need of an adrenaline rush, but the diction in this particular passage suggests something more; “Cecilia felt a pleasant sinking sensation in her stomach as she contemplated how deliciously self-destructive it would be, almost erotic, to be married to a man so nearly handsome, so hugely rich, so unfathomably stupid,” (47). She savors unfortunate thoughts, as if tempted to make them come true. I’m looking forward to seeing her character further develop, because right now, Cecilia is vague in my mind compared to the other main characters.
Okay, one more thing. It took me a while to understand that Army Amo was some type of chocolate confection. Needless to say, I was very confused as to why a man working in a chocolate factory would be dealing with ammunition. I finally got it once Pierrot said, “’Soldiers don’t eat chocolate,’” on page 58.
This first part of the novel was a too slow-paced for my taste, but I liked the direction is it taking. I really enjoyed reading about Briony and her play - a lot of people dislike her, but so far I don't mind her. I find it easy to get into her head and feel what she's feeling, and think what she's thinking. I can see her reasoning behind each action she takes. Then there's Cecilia. I'm not sure of my opinion on her yet. I like that she's independent and rebellious and has her own agenda without letting society get in the way. I do find her somewhat stuck up, though. I find it difficult to follow her thought process and to understand her actions. I hope I get to see more depth as the story goes on.
While I'm sure Briony and the Tallis' and Cecilia are all very nice people I find it hard to connect with the characters. Briony's inner dialogues are all beautifully written and very insightful but I just don't believe it for a second. No ten year old goes around contemplating the meanings of life and reading dictionaries there chasing butterflies and running through fields and pretending to ride dragons or something. I could get Briony wanting to act more adult than she really is but her whole deep thought monologue thing just doesn't cut it for me it doesn't make sense how she could be such and in depth thinker and writer and yet not understand the world around her.
I found the first part of the book to be really slow and dense, yet somehow absolutely nothing happened. I like the writing style that Ian McEwan has and the amount of detail he puts in. He is very good ad describing the different characters and making the setting feel real. Briony is introduced as the 13 year old who dreams of being an ambitious writer. Although McEwan did a fantastic job of the descriptions of her, her character really bugs me. To me, she just seems like a whiny, self centered much younger child. At the beginning of the story, all she cares about is the play she wrote. She has a very high opinion of herself and everything that she writes and when Lola took the part she wanted, instead of just saying no, she just got grumpy and eventually quit the play completely.
This had to be, probably, the most boring thing I have ever had to read in this class. I find it particularly difficult to write a blog post about a 60 page segment in which absolutely nothing interesting happened. So let me try and sum up what I got from 60 pages of writing. A vase broke then Cecilia stripped down (for reasons that are beyond me) to get it out. What a thriller. I have serious problems with books set in polite society, since I am a person who does not care a rat’s ass about how polite your damn society is. Class systems do not thrill me. I find no stimulus in reading about how indecisive Cecilia is about her dress, nor do I find Briony’s self centered and misconceived perceptions of reality enthralling. In short these first 60 pages were really, really boring and I do not think I will be enjoying the rest of this book. Sorry Amy
I feel like all of the characters are described very well and in great detail, but I feel like they are just so fake and unbelievable. However, Briony's reaction to the cousins taking over and well... Kind of destroying her play, seemed slightly believable. She is so self-center that she feels the need to just wallow in self-pity and do nothing to fix it. I actually like Cecilia's character. She seems rebellious and wanting to be her own woman, but is being held back by her family. I agree with Brenda about seeing the scene between Cecilia and Robbie from different points of view. It showed how easy it is (in real life as well as in fiction) to misjudge a situation because we can't see or hear it clearly.
I was dreading this book during this first section. It was not the most interesting plot at the beginning. It was hard to figure out what was important, and what was not in each chapter. I really did not know where the book was going. I did like the device of seeing scenes from two different points of view, which makes me think of how often that might happen day to day without us knowing. The misunderstanding reminded me of a more sadistic Three's Company. Watching the movie did give me a better appreciation for what was happening. It helped my understand the importance of things that I would have never realised were important.
Right off the bat I knew that I was going to enjoy something about this book, whether it was the story or the writing style because those two do not necessarily go together, it was going to be something. I was immediately taken with the descriptiveness of McEwan's words. On page 5 he says, about Briony, that "A taste for the miniature was one aspect of an orderly spirit," so much is said about this girl with this single sentence. Within the first few pages I was wrapped in the slow summery-ness that seems to envelope Briony's world so far. Though her world was calm and filled with summer idleness it was clearly lonely. After several pages I began to worry that the whole book was about Briony's play and whether or not it would be put on, which would have been oh so very boring. But the story continued on its way. In normal circumstances I would say that I am looking forward to how Briony develops her presence but since I know what happens I am not looking forward to it and am disappointed that this is the moment that she is held highest in my esteem.
If any character was going to be described as "aloof" it would be Cecelia. One could make the case that Emily, Cecelia and Briony's mother" is aloof but she is a woman with whom the ship of aloofness has sailed into absence. Though I am thoroughly bothered by Cecelia's indecisiveness I find it relatable, She is a recent college graduate who doesn't know what to do with her life. She reminds us how scary decision making can be, and how easy it is to do nothing.
This section of the book was really really boring. However i think its a good book so far. Slow and nothing happened at all, but the style of writing is interesting. I feel the characters may do stupid things but I dont see an excessive amount of detail and description. I feel the Author really captures the characters motivations and personalities. You can really imagine the characters and they really come to life. Briony is a brat, but you can understand why she is such a spoiled kid. She is so trapped in this large house with out someone to play with. she has her mother whos ill and doesnt participate in her life and she has cecilia who is an overly motherly figure. all together the seperate acounts of each scene really gives you a rounded view of whats happening. allowing the reader to really experience each side.
When I picked up the book and started to read, I automatically felt that it was going to be a looooong read. Turns out, I was right! And the whole time, I was caught between shaking my head in frustration, and screaming at the characters (mostly Briony) for being complete morons. The beginning is really slow, and at first doesn't set the scene for the coming events. I liked the way McEwan used colorful words to describe the family and their surroundings. And don't even get me started on Briony. If she got her head out of her ass, and looked around, she would immediately see what really is happening, not some make believe scenario. Really really annoying.
Thirteen year old Briony Tallis loves to write and create her own versions reality. Briony lives in a big house with her absent mother and father and her restless sister. Because her parents ignore her, Briony turns to her brother and sister for love and comfort which they happily give her. Briony is growing up and wants to be considered their equal however, she is a child and still needs the support from her siblings.
In the beginning, Briony writes a play for her brother Leon, to celebrate his return. Wanting to impress her brother, Briony writes the main character, Arabella, as her parallel. She wants Leon to see how mature and thoughtful she is. She wants to be closer to him by “[provoking] his admiration” and guiding him towards finding a wife that “would sweetly request Briony’s services as a bridesmaid” (4). She want to be his equal. However, Briony also wants “nothing to come between herself and her reader” (35), Leon, she wants a father like influence in her life, someone to comfort her. Overall, Briony seems to want everyone's attention.
This reading was a long and non eventful reading. The first character we were introduced to was Briony, a 13 year old girl who thinks she’s the shit at writing. At the beginning of the book she is producing a play for her older brother’s return home. Whenever she would write anything she was always complimented on it which gave her a semi-false sense of her ability. The other important occurrence in this reading was the breaking of the very expensive vase. Cecilia (Briony’s older sister) and Robbie (the cleaning ladies son) end up breaking a vase that belonged to Cecilia’s dead uncle. Cecilia had already been upset with Robbie because he had been avoiding her so when the vase broke she was really pissed at him. The way that she got back at Robbie was by stripping down and retrieving the lost vase shards from the fountain. First this is the weirdest way to show someone that you’re mad at them. And second who has a fountain that big? These were the two important things that happened in all 67 pages. Ian McEwan is obviously a very descriptive and intellectual writer but I don’t think so many long descriptions are necessary to convey his ideas.
The first 67 pages of this book were extremely slow and dense. I found it very hard to stay concentrated and it took a number of attempts to finally complete the reading. Although I am quite interested in the minds and thought processes of each character, I feel that it is hard to stay attached when practically nothing of substance is happening over it. I know that Ian McEwan is getting us warmed up and familiar with each character but at this point in the reading, all I felt was a slight urge to clock Briony. And I can say that because she's not real. I feel like i would have enjoyed it a bit more if it started with a bit more of a bang to hold my interest. Of course, as the story unfolds, I feel more and more personal with each character, just the beginning has been a tad slow.
The story Atonement begins with a thirteen year old girl named Briony Tallis. Briony is at odds with reality and writes stories to create a world she finds easier to deal with. Like most thirteen year olds she doesn't understand why the world is the way it is. She is at that age when her mind is beginning to blossom into a young woman; she wants to be an individual but the adult world is too complicated.
Briony's sister Cecilia has recently returned from college and is living at home. Cecilia is at a turning point in her life. Unsure of where she wants her life to go, she stays home hoping someone will choose for her. Whether it be another man or her parents. She is in love with a servant boy, Robbie, but refuses her feelings for him in search of a "wealthy man". In the end she finds she is drawn to Robbie because he is intellectual and interesting. The two dance around each other too scared to reveal each others feelings.
Briony has written a play, called The Trials of Arabella, for her older brother Leon. Briony wants the performance of her play to be perfect for her brother, so he can see she has matured. Unfortunately her cousins don't preform to her standards. Briony becomes agitated and gives up; and retreats to the edge of the pond.
So far I enjoy McEwan's writing, his attention to detail is spectacular and his characters are all so complicated. He brings the story to life. The way he grasped the mind of an intelligent thirteen year old and her love for writing is dizzying. " It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it. Reading a sentence and understanding it were the same thing; as with the crooking of a finger, nothing lay between them."(35)
21 comments:
I truly enjoy this novel so far. I deeply appreciate Ian McEwan’s level of detail when he illustrates a particular scene – not just the physical setting, but also the emotional landscape. One of my favorite descriptions was of Emily, lying in bed, marooned with a migraine. McEwan portrayed her illness and her sentiments so purely, I felt like I was reading a diary.
I’m also intrigued by Briony’s persona. Her yearning for constant control is well defined by her extremely carefully elaborated stage directions to her less-than-perfect actor cousins. Yet her imagination transports her a different and unruly world, enabling her to create plays as well as direct them – an ironic juxtaposition between control and imagination.
I believe I’m going to continue enjoying this book. So far, it seems like a family story, where only minor dramatic events happen to each character. We’ll see what happens….
I thought the character of Briony was well written. I feel that very few writers capture the true spirt of a 13 year old. Although Briony is not like any 13 year old I know, I can believe her to be a real person.
And I can sympathize with her when Lola appears to take over Briony's play. Briony's play is the one place where she has complete control and can let her creativity shine through. And you never imagine losing that creative control. But when you do, what can you do but sulk? I completely identified with Briony when she spoke of Lola's dominion and how "self-pity needed her full attention." When Briony is in that mindset, Lola's every action proves the need for the young playwright's self pity. On the outside it can seem petty and childish, but all I have to do is think back to last time I felt wronged and robbed and it feels that Ian McEwan is putting my feelings into words. It may not be mature how Briony and I sometimes feel, but McEwan makes it so very eloquent.
The readers are introduced to the main character Briony Tallis, who is a thirteen–year–old girl with ambitious dreams of becoming a writer. Briony’s character is that of a young girl on the verge of entering adulthood. She doesn’t quite understand what is lurking over the edge of adulthood, only that Briony believes that adulthood should be earned. Briony sets out to direct and perform her own play for the arrival of her older brother, Leon, who is returning home to the Tallis’ country house. Briony revisits her gift of writing, and admires the imagery she puts into her writing: “A world could be made in five pages . . . the childhood of spoiled prince could be framed within half a page . . . falling in love could be achieved in a single word – a glance. The pages of a recently finished story seemed to vibrate in her hand with all the life they contained.” (Page 7). This is one of the themes that occurs throughout Atonement: the power of writing. Just like writing transports the reader into a story, Briony will soon experience her own transportation from childhood into the world of adulthood. However, Briony doesn’t seem nor acknowledge just how powerful her own pen and imagination can be. This will foreshadow, later on. By Chapter 3, the readers get a glimpse inside Briony’s mind, as she dislocates herself from reality and enters her imagination. After each of her cousins prove to be incapable of carrying out her play, Briony considers abandoning The Trials of Arabella, because she reflects back on her writing for the past year. Briony recognizes that her writing is filled with childish folktale and nothing mature. This choice was subconsciously presented when Briony witness Lola entering the nursery “in the guise of the adult she considered herself at heart to be.” (Page 32). For Briony, she feels like everyone around her is growing up but her. Chapter 5, finally, Briony had abandoned all hope for her play and goes to the edge of the lake to sulk. Meanwhile, Lola scolds her brothers when they bring up the fact of their parent’s divorce. But suddenly, Paul Marshall enters the children’s room and notices Lola as a”pre–Raphaellite princess.” (Page 57). Here, Paul Marshall displays his underlying motives in taking an interest in the Quincy children, but especially Lola. Chapter 6, the readers are then introduced to Emily Tallis, Briony, Cecilia and Leon’s mother. The readers are given a biological look into Emily Tallis’ life. “She had been educated until the age of sixteen, and was sent to Switzerland for two years which were shortened to one for economy, and she knew for a fact that the whole performance, women at the Varsity was childish really, at best an innocent lark . . .” (Page 61). Emily Tallis’ life demonstrates how much has changed in the role of women in society over a span of one generation. Emily was educated at home and feels a women’s role at the Varsity to be childish.
Let me just say, for me I’m not a big fan of McEwan’s writing. While I do find his writing to be quite detailed, I however do no enjoy the fact that I have to have my mind be bombarded with details and images that I just don’t see the importance too. For me, McEwan’s writing is not my favorite since, he leave no room for his reader’s imagination to carry the story on his own. His characters however, are more than two dimensional, so the readers feel a very strong connection with Briony and Cecilia. Yet, I don’t need two or three extra pages prolonging the details of each of the character’s lives.
Sorry in advance that this review is so lengthy; I had been writing individual reviews for each chapter because I could organize my thoughts better that way. Here's the first three...
Chapter 1:
My first impression of the writing style was that there were a LOT of really long sentences; this book is clearly going to be one that requires focus to read. The endless descriptions of Briony’s obsession with neatness were appropriate, I think, because they made me feel sort of tied down, and that’s just what Briony is in having such a habit.
As for the characters, it was hard to decide what to think at fist since we only got a sense of Briony. Overall, I thought she was okay; she seemed like someone who would be difficult to be around in real life, but on the other hand I identified with the way she seemed almost wise-beyond-her-years at points, and I could also understand her need for perfection because I went through similar struggles around that age as well. When the cousins came to visit, I continued to sympathize with Briony. I thought the twins were frustrating, but I don’t think that they were doing anything on purpose; Briony just unfortunately had unrealistic expectations of them. I liked Lola at first because she seemed more mature and on Briony’s side, but then when she said right in front of Briony that she and her sibling were going to have to do annoying things for a while, I instantly hated her.
Chapter 2:
I felt sorry for Cecelia in seeing how she didn’t really feel needed in her home. I am also kind of confused about what Cecelia actually wants in her life, but then again I guess she is too. I found it interesting that she was so obsessed with trying to arrange the wildflowers correctly; it seemed to mirror her sister’s obsessive tendencies.
I wasn't totally sure what Cecelia thinks of Robbie, but I thought the interactions between the two were interesting, and I found Cecelia’s over-analysis of what he was thinking of her to be amusing. Furthermore, as soon as Robbie started insisting that he help her with the vase, I knew what was going to happen; again, it was kind of funny in a way, just in that it was so predictable.
Chapter 3:
So in the beginning, we are back to dealing with Briony and the play, and her cousins’ antics, which, looking at it from Briony’s perspective, would likely be pretty frustrating. But then the tone changes as Briony is alone and starts thinking about her hand. The whole idea of what she was thinking about came off as incredibly odd and existential to me, but I think that that in and of itself fit with Briony’s characterization. Anyway, I was slightly annoyed with Briony because it seemed like she would be unhappy regardless of the answer to her question: if others had independent minds (which, of course, they do), it offended her need for order, yet if only she had an independent mind, then it would make her feel lonely.
As Briony began watching the scene that the readers just witnessed in the previous chapter, things changed. It was interesting to see her childlike interpretation of a situation she barely understood, and the way she was gradually forced to unravel her perfect fantasy world, such as when she contemplates that “the drowning scene, followed by a rescue, should have preceded the marriage proposal” (36-37).
The paragraph describing what Briony “would” do in thee future made me a little confused, but I suppose we’ll get more information on that later. Also, I’m very curious as to what the consequences will be, if any, of Briony’s decision to wait a while longer before she starts the story even though she won’t remember it as well.
And 4-6:
Chapter 4:
In this chapter, we move back into Cecelia’s head. When she finds Briony crying due to the latter’s frustrations with the play, she is almost insistent on trying to provide some sense of comfort, which is consistent with her need that was expressed in Chapter 2 to belong to her family.
I liked the playful and familiar relationship between Leon and Cecelia throughout the second half of that chapter, particularly the backstory about their face-making competitions. As for Marshall, Cecelia seems to treat him cordially at first. McEwan’s very long paragraph about all that Marshall was saying was very reminiscent of Rushdie’s writing; I couldn’t keep track of it, but I didn’t think I was supposed to either.
Overall, this chapter really came off as a filler chapter to me; there was hardly any action, and most of the events were confined to the pool. However, I did find it interesting that both chapters 3 and 4 involved Briony and Cecelia (respectively) looking out a window and seeing people outside, speculating what conversations might be taking place even though they can really never know.
Chapter 5:
So, this was another short chapter, in which we switch back to the perspective of the cousins. I find it interesting how McEwan gets us into everyone’s heads, and how previously introduced characters (or, in Briony’s case, situations) are re-introduced through the eyes of someone else. For example, when the reader is in Lola’s head, Marshall is initially described as a “tall man in a white suit” (55).
My favorite part about this chapter is that I got a new perspective of Lola. She seems to be, understandably, a very sad, homesick girl with a lot on her shoulders, and tries hard to seem like someone who can take charge. When she yells at Jackson for saying up front that their parents are in the middle of a divorce, it reveals her own frustration about the situation, but the part moments before that, when she puts her arm around her brother, also reveals that she probably has a need for the three of them to stick together, especially at a time when familial separation is constantly on their minds.
When Lola is talking with Marshall, it is apparent that she wants to impress him, and she continues to try to convince others (and probably herself) that she could keep her brothers under control. Lola is less naïve than her brothers are, and she is aware that she doesn’t know everything but still tries to pretend to. She is childish in some ways and mature in others, and in that sense she kind of reminds me of Briony.
Chapter 6:
In this chapter, we meet Emily, the chronically ill mother of Briony, Cecelia, and Leon. I felt for Emily—the way the chapter was written gave a clear sense of how cut off she feels from the rest of the family, and how guilty she feels about it. Overall, she seems to have the best of intentions, and she wishes she could be more interactive, not just with her own kids but with her nephews as well.
The only thing I was sort of put off by about Emily was her evident favoritism among her three kids—she adores and wants to protect Briony just as Cecelia does; she shows moderate approval for Leon’s achievements; and we can see that her disgust with what Cecelia is doing with her life is as extreme and terrible as the latter makes it out to be in Chapter 2.
Although it took a while to realize it, I also noticed that there was yet another time overlap for this section—all the events that Emily is overhearing are the ones that we have just seen played out in Chapters 4 and 5. Once again, McEwan continues with his strategy of showing the reader a situation first from the inside and then from an outsider’s point of view, an outsider who can only rely on basic cues (visual ones in Briony’s case and minor voice inflection in Emily’s case) to interpret it, but cannot hear the actual words being said.
In reading the book the things that popped out to me was the need for order and control that Briony wanted. I find it strange that she has to have her toys in a line facing her and having a squirel's head under her bed in a little can.It doesn't seem normal.
What I did enjoy about her character was her passion for writing. Getting lost in an imaginary world ignoring the world until her thoughts are complete are the emotions I have when I read a book that I am so deeply into. I get lost within the pages seeing the scenery and watching the story unfold with the protagonists.
What I did like a lot in this book was being able to read the scene between Cecilia and Robbie from two points of view.
p. 1-67 post #1
I really didn’t know what to expect from this book, but I’m pleasantly surprised. First off, I absolutely adore McEwan’s pristine writing style. The descriptions are so precise and thorough, yet never extraneous. I also like that the book is set up with foreshadow in the context of Briony’s play’s prologue; “love which did not build a foundation on good sense was doomed,” (3). I’m assuming that this becomes a major message of the book in its entirety, yet its disclosure maintains an essence of impossibility and lightness. At this point, it’s nothing more than the moral of a little girl’s fantasy.
A person’s bedroom speaks volumes of their personality, and McEwan was clever to take particular advantage of this underutilized detail. The description of Briony’s bedroom, for example, introduces key pieces of her character; “Briony’s [room] was a shrine to her controlling demon… the only tidy upstairs room in the house…Her straight-backed dolls in their many-roomed mansion appeared to be under strict instructions not to touch the walls,” (5). Briony may not live in “a harmonious, organized world,” as she wishes, but her room functions as a sort of miniature world over which she has control. Emily’s “cool and darkened bedroom” also says something of her character. Her room is both the heart of the house and a jail cell. Due to her debilitation, Emily has developed “a sixth sense”, allowing her to “gauge” the happenings of the household. In this way, she makes herself as useful as her pain (the jail keeper, I suppose) will allow, acting as a sort of security system. In the event of an emergency, I imagine that she would take action (even if it does mean slipping past her knife-wielding jail guard).
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I can’t help but compare my own ideas about writing to Briony’s (or McEwan’s?). I appreciate the secrecy, the privacy the self-reflection and self-exposure involved in developing characters, the control of space as well as time, and even the “miniaturization” aspect of writing. This line is perfect: “Falling in love could be achieved in a single word- glance,” (7). I love love love the idea of stories as a form of telepathy; “By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader’s. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it,” (35). I never thought of it like that, but it’s so true- it’s happening right now as I read this book!
I most certainly do not agree, however, that topics in Briony’s “realm of disorder” (e.g. divorce) deny the storyteller of opportunity or possibility. Briony writes with the goal of achieving her perfect organized world, in which enthalpy replaces entropy. She wants to pick the broken pieces up and glue them back together. I like entropy and rebelliousness. I would be the one who broke the thing in the first place.
Speaking of breaking things, I found the scene with the vase falling in the fountain quite enjoyable. Cecilia and Robbie make good scene partners, to say the least. They have to end up together, right? It was also funny to see Briony’s perspective of the ordeal, especially her ideas about their stripping to swim in the fountain, and her frustration with the illogical sequence of the thing.
There’s something a bit off (for lack of a better word) about Cecilia. While I can relate to her preference for “natural chaos” over calculated meticulousness, I feel as if she wants disaster to strike. Maybe she’s just in need of an adrenaline rush, but the diction in this particular passage suggests something more; “Cecilia felt a pleasant sinking sensation in her stomach as she contemplated how deliciously self-destructive it would be, almost erotic, to be married to a man so nearly handsome, so hugely rich, so unfathomably stupid,” (47). She savors unfortunate thoughts, as if tempted to make them come true. I’m looking forward to seeing her character further develop, because right now, Cecilia is vague in my mind compared to the other main characters.
Okay, one more thing. It took me a while to understand that Army Amo was some type of chocolate confection. Needless to say, I was very confused as to why a man working in a chocolate factory would be dealing with ammunition. I finally got it once Pierrot said, “’Soldiers don’t eat chocolate,’” on page 58.
This first part of the novel was a too slow-paced for my taste, but I liked the direction is it taking. I really enjoyed reading about Briony and her play - a lot of people dislike her, but so far I don't mind her. I find it easy to get into her head and feel what she's feeling, and think what she's thinking. I can see her reasoning behind each action she takes.
Then there's Cecilia. I'm not sure of my opinion on her yet. I like that she's independent and rebellious and has her own agenda without letting society get in the way. I do find her somewhat stuck up, though. I find it difficult to follow her thought process and to understand her actions. I hope I get to see more depth as the story goes on.
While I'm sure Briony and the Tallis' and Cecilia are all very nice people I find it hard to connect with the characters. Briony's inner dialogues are all beautifully written and very insightful but I just don't believe it for a second. No ten year old goes around contemplating the meanings of life and reading dictionaries there chasing butterflies and running through fields and pretending to ride dragons or something. I could get Briony wanting to act more adult than she really is but her whole deep thought monologue thing just doesn't cut it for me it doesn't make sense how she could be such and in depth thinker and writer and yet not understand the world around her.
I found the first part of the book to be really slow and dense, yet somehow absolutely nothing happened. I like the writing style that Ian McEwan has and the amount of detail he puts in. He is very good ad describing the different characters and making the setting feel real.
Briony is introduced as the 13 year old who dreams of being an ambitious writer. Although McEwan did a fantastic job of the descriptions of her, her character really bugs me. To me, she just seems like a whiny, self centered much younger child. At the beginning of the story, all she cares about is the play she wrote. She has a very high opinion of herself and everything that she writes and when Lola took the part she wanted, instead of just saying no, she just got grumpy and eventually quit the play completely.
This had to be, probably, the most boring thing I have ever had to read in this class. I find it particularly difficult to write a blog post about a 60 page segment in which absolutely nothing interesting happened. So let me try and sum up what I got from 60 pages of writing. A vase broke then Cecilia stripped down (for reasons that are beyond me) to get it out. What a thriller. I have serious problems with books set in polite society, since I am a person who does not care a rat’s ass about how polite your damn society is. Class systems do not thrill me. I find no stimulus in reading about how indecisive Cecilia is about her dress, nor do I find Briony’s self centered and misconceived perceptions of reality enthralling. In short these first 60 pages were really, really boring and I do not think I will be enjoying the rest of this book. Sorry Amy
I feel like all of the characters are described very well and in great detail, but I feel like they are just so fake and unbelievable. However, Briony's reaction to the cousins taking over and well... Kind of destroying her play, seemed slightly believable. She is so self-center that she feels the need to just wallow in self-pity and do nothing to fix it.
I actually like Cecilia's character. She seems rebellious and wanting to be her own woman, but is being held back by her family.
I agree with Brenda about seeing the scene between Cecilia and Robbie from different points of view. It showed how easy it is (in real life as well as in fiction) to misjudge a situation because we can't see or hear it clearly.
I was dreading this book during this first section. It was not the most interesting plot at the beginning. It was hard to figure out what was important, and what was not in each chapter. I really did not know where the book was going. I did like the device of seeing scenes from two different points of view, which makes me think of how often that might happen day to day without us knowing. The misunderstanding reminded me of a more sadistic Three's Company. Watching the movie did give me a better appreciation for what was happening. It helped my understand the importance of things that I would have never realised were important.
Right off the bat I knew that I was going to enjoy something about this book, whether it was the story or the writing style because those two do not necessarily go together, it was going to be something. I was immediately taken with the descriptiveness of McEwan's words. On page 5 he says, about Briony, that "A taste for the miniature was one aspect of an orderly spirit," so much is said about this girl with this single sentence. Within the first few pages I was wrapped in the slow summery-ness that seems to envelope Briony's world so far. Though her world was calm and filled with summer idleness it was clearly lonely. After several pages I began to worry that the whole book was about Briony's play and whether or not it would be put on, which would have been oh so very boring. But the story continued on its way. In normal circumstances I would say that I am looking forward to how Briony develops her presence but since I know what happens I am not looking forward to it and am disappointed that this is the moment that she is held highest in my esteem.
If any character was going to be described as "aloof" it would be Cecelia. One could make the case that Emily, Cecelia and Briony's mother" is aloof but she is a woman with whom the ship of aloofness has sailed into absence. Though I am thoroughly bothered by Cecelia's indecisiveness I find it relatable, She is a recent college graduate who doesn't know what to do with her life. She reminds us how scary decision making can be, and how easy it is to do nothing.
All these characters are so human!
This section of the book was really really boring. However i think its a good book so far. Slow and nothing happened at all, but the style of writing is interesting. I feel the characters may do stupid things but I dont see an excessive amount of detail and description. I feel the Author really captures the characters motivations and personalities. You can really imagine the characters and they really come to life. Briony is a brat, but you can understand why she is such a spoiled kid. She is so trapped in this large house with out someone to play with. she has her mother whos ill and doesnt participate in her life and she has cecilia who is an overly motherly figure. all together the seperate acounts of each scene really gives you a rounded view of whats happening. allowing the reader to really experience each side.
When I picked up the book and started to read, I automatically felt that it was going to be a looooong read. Turns out, I was right! And the whole time, I was caught between shaking my head in frustration, and screaming at the characters (mostly Briony) for being complete morons. The beginning is really slow, and at first doesn't set the scene for the coming events. I liked the way McEwan used colorful words to describe the family and their surroundings. And don't even get me started on Briony. If she got her head out of her ass, and looked around, she would immediately see what really is happening, not some make believe scenario. Really really annoying.
Thirteen year old Briony Tallis loves to write and create her own versions reality. Briony lives in a big house with her absent mother and father and her restless sister. Because her parents ignore her, Briony turns to her brother and sister for love and comfort which they happily give her. Briony is growing up and wants to be considered their equal however, she is a child and still needs the support from her siblings.
In the beginning, Briony writes a play for her brother Leon, to celebrate his return. Wanting to impress her brother, Briony writes the main character, Arabella, as her parallel. She wants Leon to see how mature and thoughtful she is. She wants to be closer to him by “[provoking] his admiration” and guiding him towards finding a wife that “would sweetly request Briony’s services as a bridesmaid” (4). She want to be his equal. However, Briony also wants “nothing to come between herself and her reader” (35), Leon, she wants a father like influence in her life, someone to comfort her. Overall, Briony seems to want everyone's attention.
This reading was a long and non eventful reading. The first character we were introduced to was Briony, a 13 year old girl who thinks she’s the shit at writing. At the beginning of the book she is producing a play for her older brother’s return home. Whenever she would write anything she was always complimented on it which gave her a semi-false sense of her ability. The other important occurrence in this reading was the breaking of the very expensive vase. Cecilia (Briony’s older sister) and Robbie (the cleaning ladies son) end up breaking a vase that belonged to Cecilia’s dead uncle. Cecilia had already been upset with Robbie because he had been avoiding her so when the vase broke she was really pissed at him. The way that she got back at Robbie was by stripping down and retrieving the lost vase shards from the fountain. First this is the weirdest way to show someone that you’re mad at them. And second who has a fountain that big? These were the two important things that happened in all 67 pages. Ian McEwan is obviously a very descriptive and intellectual writer but I don’t think so many long descriptions are necessary to convey his ideas.
The first 67 pages of this book were extremely slow and dense. I found it very hard to stay concentrated and it took a number of attempts to finally complete the reading. Although I am quite interested in the minds and thought processes of each character, I feel that it is hard to stay attached when practically nothing of substance is happening over it. I know that Ian McEwan is getting us warmed up and familiar with each character but at this point in the reading, all I felt was a slight urge to clock Briony. And I can say that because she's not real.
I feel like i would have enjoyed it a bit more if it started with a bit more of a bang to hold my interest. Of course, as the story unfolds, I feel more and more personal with each character, just the beginning has been a tad slow.
The story Atonement begins with a thirteen year old girl named Briony Tallis. Briony is at odds with reality and writes stories to create a world she finds easier to deal with. Like most thirteen year olds she doesn't understand why the world is the way it is. She is at that age when her mind is beginning to blossom into a young woman; she wants to be an individual but the adult world is too complicated.
Briony's sister Cecilia has recently returned from college and is living at home. Cecilia is at a turning point in her life. Unsure of where she wants her life to go, she stays home hoping someone will choose for her. Whether it be another man or her parents. She is in love with a servant boy, Robbie, but refuses her feelings for him in search of a "wealthy man". In the end she finds she is drawn to Robbie because he is intellectual and interesting. The two dance around each other too scared to reveal each others feelings.
Briony has written a play, called The Trials of Arabella, for her older brother Leon. Briony wants the performance of her play to be perfect for her brother, so he can see she has matured. Unfortunately her cousins don't preform to her standards. Briony becomes agitated and gives up; and retreats to the edge of the pond.
So far I enjoy McEwan's writing, his attention to detail is spectacular and his characters are all so complicated. He brings the story to life. The way he grasped the mind of an intelligent thirteen year old and her love for writing is dizzying. " It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it. Reading a sentence and understanding it were the same thing; as with the crooking of a finger, nothing lay between them."(35)
Everything flows into a beautiful rhythm.
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