Rating: 
Summary: Impressive and Moving
Review: I read "Atonement" knowing nothing about it other than my wife said it made her cry, and that the book had had good reviews. I am not an Eng Lit type, but I think a novel needs four things to succeed: character, plot, construction and style. McEwan spends the first half of the book developing the characters to such an extent that I felt I knew them all, and knew them quite well. The plot unfolded, but I had no idea where it was going. I knew where I wanted it to go, but there were surprises. The construction of the novel was impressive. It was seamless and very clever, but never appeared clever. McEwan is a master of "The art that conceals the art." And this is shown also in his beautiful prose - well worthy of being read aloud. Now I have to re-read "Amsterdam" - just skimmed it the first time.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking and provoking
Review: Like other reviewers I was ambivalent about all the publicity that surrounded 'Atonement' before its release last year. Happily I was not disappointed and it lived up to its expectations. It relies on traditional literary techniques to evoke memory and the power of writing. It also raises issues of literary power and readership. The conflicts of love and war, shame and forgiveness are carried throughout the novel. It also questions issues of class and atonement. I found it incredibly moving and shocking in many parts...Highly Recommended
Rating: 
Summary: A Travesty
Review: Ageing starry-eyed yuppies will eat this solipsistic-self infatuated sugar tart of a book right up as it's passed from sweaty palm to palm through all the precious literary boutiques frequented by urban liberal elites. The snob appeal is impressive; every faddish academic/critic will want one to maintain good social odor with their colleagues, dour men of letters who missed out on the Nobel Prize who specialize in the sexual anxieties of financial planners (zzzzz), and trendy California newspapers soliciting manuscripts for 30 something movie studio executives who crave "serious" recognition and full page advertising for Oscar nominations. Those who believe the life-style choices of arrogant prep school frat boys is anything but the posturing of conceited social climbers will enjoy this trashy melodrama. A contrived, pretentious bore of a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book! Some others just as good!
Review: ATONEMENT is a wonderful book, but it isn't quite up to THE MAN WHO LOVED CHILDREN, by Christina Stead, which I read in college. And I read a book at Christmes, THE EVIDENCE AGAINST HER, by Robb Foreman Dew, that had more inherent tension in the prose and was equally perceptive about the lives of children, especially. But it's not a contest. They are all wonderful books. Each one worth the careful attention they require, and each one giving you a whole world to live in while you're reading them. These books are what reaading is about. ATONEMENT reminded me of the first book you read when you're growing up that absorbs you so that you can hardly put it down. And you're sad when you don't have it to read anymore. It's that good! Enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: A stunning achievement
Review: Superlatives really do not do this book justice. It is perhaps one of the most haunting and beautifully-crafted novels of the past fifty years with an ending that lingers and affects long after you've turned the final page. Each of the novel's four parts is meticulously crafted. McEwan is a very descriptive writer - particularly in the extended first chapter - but he is not one to waste words. He builds his characters slowly, weaving a subtly etched plot to a quiet but devastating effect. This is a novel to treasure and be read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: I'm an Ian McEwan fan...
Review: ...and I agree with the critics who consider this his best effort to date. I've read Enduring Love and Amsterdam, and am intrigued by a theme which runs though all of them: the ability of a random event, a seemingly minor decision, or a simple misunderstanding to change EVERYTHING, irrevocably and (usually, for McEwan) horribly. Add to this his superb prose and, in this case, a haunting story, and you get a book I had trouble putting down (and more worthy of the Booker than Amsterdam).
Rating:
Summary: What a great book club selection...
Review: On several different levels, "Atonement" is a beautiful, memorable, and thoroughly engrossing novel. All of us who enjoy serious fiction know at some level that plot and characters are the author's creation, the result of a series of deliberate choices. Here, though, Ian McEwan makes that reality a key element in the novel itself. The miracle is that, for me at least, this self-conscious dimension in no way interfered with my being totally engaged by the story he tells. But it would make for fantastic book-club discussion!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite able to live up to its hype.
Review: This was my first McEwan read, and while it was lovely in some ways, I don't necessarily agree that it's all everyone is raving about. It seemed to me not all that interesting a story, nor all that accomplished prosaically or stylistically. There were instances in which I found myself thrilled and smiling, times when I reread passages to enjoy something a second time. But I guess mostly I just want to convey that all the hoopla here and in other media about this book falls into the "emperor has no clothes" category as far as I'm concerned. It's a good book, not a great book, and I'd have given it 3.5 stars if I could have.
Rating: 
Summary: Uneven
Review: After reading glowing reviews for this novel, I was very excited to start it, and found myself deeply engrossed in Part One, which is set during one long, hot summer's day at an England manor house. Treachery, lust, betrayal, and violence occur, shattering a child's view of the world around her. It is a startling, unpredictable start...unfortunately, Parts Two and Three (McEwan seems to think of his novel as theatrical, in the tradition, I suppose of Greek tragedy) can't measure up. I personally find war fiction to be incredibly boring, so was disappointed to find that Part Two was all about WWII. And Part Three, as an elderly woman travels home for a family reunion, feels surprisingly cloying when placed next to the dark, brooding suspense of Part One. The novel feels very uneven, and I was disappointed to see it go downhill, especially since the beginning is so promising.
Rating:
Summary: Atonement
Review: The first half of the book was the best literature I've read in some time. Ian McEwan gives great descriptions of the personalities of major characters and their motivations. The second half of the book was good, just not as fabulous as the first half. Ending was a little weak. Left a few loose ends. I was enthralled all the way through and highly recommend the book. Ian McEwan is sensational.
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