A review by damianwayne
Atonement by Ian McEwan

emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Jesus fucking Christ. I hated the first half of this book when nothing happened, but then too much happened and I was desperate for it. Really beautiful and haunting writing from Ian McEwan even if you can read his cockiness through his writing sometimes (all the time). I am actually actively fighting against crying right now because I’m sitting with my family. Might be added to my list of favourite books I’ve ever read (this, Maurice, Babel)

Three things need to atone for this book breaking my heart: McEwan, Briony and the shuffle of TTPD that Spotify created.
I finished this book whilst listening to Peter by Taylor Swift and the idea of never reuniting with not only the person you loved, but never feeling again that level of love itself is heartbreaking. This is why my teacher said crime is just a sub genre of tragedy really. loml is playing now it’s so criminal. 

Also, I think it’s so interesting that my willingness to forgive Briony came from initially believing the happy ending she gave us. But ultimately what makes me hate her is that her giving them a happy ending isn’t her atoning, but her cowardice to truly admit that despite her wanting to make amends, she couldn’t and they would’ve suffered no matter what. The damage she did was so great there was no going back from the moment she uttered those words to Leon that night. It was always going to end this way.
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