Book Review #60

Atonement by Ian McEwan

I was absolutely delighted by the British wit that opened this novel. The honeymoon lasted for about fifty pages and then gave way to annoyance. I do not do well with books that dwell on a few mostly insignificant events for what seems like eternity. I prefer for things to happen than to be stuck in the character's head. Inevitably the character begins to over analyze situations and I end up throwing the book at the wall and ranting to my husband who all of a sudden will come out with, "I think I should go mow the lawn."

What made Atonement even worse was that the characters were in the wrong about something vitally important which could have been stopped had one person looked at the facts and come up with a reasonable explanation. But no. Lives had to be ruined. For the first time I read half the novel and then was so exasperated I skipped to the end and felt like I hadn't missed anything.

General consensus: It had a few Oscar Wilde-like moments of great insight but it just wasn't enough to hang in there.