Lack of Knowledge, Communication and Understanding = Disaster!, 17 Oct 2008
Edward and Florence - intelligent and well educated, yet unable to communicate and express their fears and expectations regarding married love. This lack of communication leads to unspoken misunderstandings that, in turn, inevitably destroy all that could have been. Ian McEwan's descriptive writing builds the tension brilliantly and the reader cannot help but feel despair. This novella tells its story of communication problems within romantic partnerships, but I found myself once more reminded of the evils regarding lack of understanding and communication on the larger scale, ie., world powers.

Too slow for me, 08 Oct 2008
Vaguely interesting, especially as books/films are not often set in the early 60's. But didn't anyone else find themselves shouting at the characters to "just get on with it".

Rushed, 17 Sep 2008
I agree with the reviewer who said that it was ridiculous to cram the final forty year of the protagonist's life into seven pages. Also, the poorly edited statement that the man's business was dwindling due to 'internet' shopping when the setting was only the early 80s was like a Ferrari driving across a Jane Austen film.
That said, although nothing really happens, the insights into both male and female interior lives during a relationship was powerful.
It was just too bad that McEwen seemed to suddenly get bored with his own work and rush through the denouement.

Beautifully written story about the expectations of marriage., 08 Sep 2008
I found this a beautifully written story about Edward and Florence, two characters set in the fifites in England. The story begins at the start of their honey-moon and McEwan's comi-tragic prose equips the reader with the central character's expectations of their roles in marriage and general expectations of what a marriage was in the 1950s. The tightly controlled language easily reflects the sense of English restriction and politeness between lovers and partners that prevailed in that decade. The story progresses to a wonderfully described climax where McEwan's gift of presenting the comic with the tragic comes to the forefront. I recommend this quick-read for its sense of style and beautiful prose capturing two lives in a day on Chesil Beach.

Sexual innocence, longing and anxiety in a short, touching novel, 25 Aug 2008
In an age of sex being everywhere, media portrayals of everyone being sexual athletes and 'at it' all the time, this was a welcome novel of innocence, longing and anxiety about the 'first time.'

I was touched by this short novel and would read it again. I think McEwan writes about love sensitively and look forward to reading his other works.

Lack of Knowledge, Communication and Understanding = Disaster!, 17 Oct 2008
Edward and Florence - intelligent and well educated, yet unable to communicate and express their fears and expectations regarding married love. This lack of communication leads to unspoken misunderstandings that, in turn, inevitably destroy all that could have been. Ian McEwan's descriptive writing builds the tension brilliantly and the reader cannot help but feel despair. This novella tells its story of communication problems within romantic partnerships, but I found myself once more reminded of the evils regarding lack of understanding and communication on the larger scale, ie., world powers.

Too slow for me, 08 Oct 2008
Vaguely interesting, especially as books/films are not often set in the early 60's. But didn't anyone else find themselves shouting at the characters to "just get on with it".

Rushed, 17 Sep 2008
I agree with the reviewer who said that it was ridiculous to cram the final forty year of the protagonist's life into seven pages. Also, the poorly edited statement that the man's business was dwindling due to 'internet' shopping when the setting was only the early 80s was like a Ferrari driving across a Jane Austen film.
That said, although nothing really happens, the insights into both male and female interior lives during a relationship was powerful.
It was just too bad that McEwen seemed to suddenly get bored with his own work and rush through the denouement.

Beautifully written story about the expectations of marriage., 08 Sep 2008
I found this a beautifully written story about Edward and Florence, two characters set in the fifites in England. The story begins at the start of their honey-moon and McEwan's comi-tragic prose equips the reader with the central character's expectations of their roles in marriage and general expectations of what a marriage was in the 1950s. The tightly controlled language easily reflects the sense of English restriction and politeness between lovers and partners that prevailed in that decade. The story progresses to a wonderfully described climax where McEwan's gift of presenting the comic with the tragic comes to the forefront. I recommend this quick-read for its sense of style and beautiful prose capturing two lives in a day on Chesil Beach.

Sexual innocence, longing and anxiety in a short, touching novel, 25 Aug 2008
In an age of sex being everywhere, media portrayals of everyone being sexual athletes and 'at it' all the time, this was a welcome novel of innocence, longing and anxiety about the 'first time.'

I was touched by this short novel and would read it again. I think McEwan writes about love sensitively and look forward to reading his other works.

Bit long winded, 24 Sep 2008
I've never not finished a book once I've started it, but to be honest, I struggled with this one. At the start I didn't warm at all to any of the characters except for Robbie and what followed in the book enamoured me to them even less. But struggle I did and although I found the scenes in the lead up to Dunkirk very hard to read as they were so gruesome, I was glad I persevered. The last 100 pages more than made up for what came before. I'd read "On Chesil Beach" so was expecting the one pivotal moment in life aspect but it was so much more life altering in this book. It did stay with me long afterwards but I think the book could have been shortened a great deal without losing any of it's final impact.

Disappointing and tedious, 21 Sep 2008
I brought this as a holiday read purely on the basis of its hype and the fact that someone had clearly thought it worth investing money in to make a film. I was utterly disappointed; it was one of the most dull and overrated books I have ever read. It took until chapter nine for anything to actually occur, other than lethargic prose labouring the point that it was an awfully hot summer. So what? That was just rubbing the salt in. ;-)

The most annoying section of the book is the description of the evacuation from Dunkirk. It felt like McEwan was trying to raise the reader's consciousness by bringing in some gritty realism about the horrors of war, but this has been done so much more convincingly and sensitively by others (i.e. Sebastian Faulks, Pat Barker etc) that it just felt like a bid for the Booker. Call me a whiny old misery but I won't be reading anything else by McEwan again.


Read before watching film!, 25 Aug 2008
Atonement is, overall, quite a good read.
However, it is very much an up-hill battle to really get into it, though once you are in, it engrosses you for around 60% of the time, so in this way is good.
There are several parts throughout the book that I personally had to skip, as they were very slow-moving and irrelevant to the story.
If you have seen the film, the book is even more hard work, as it takes so much time to get round to what actually happens in the story, so if you read it after having seen the film - good luck!

Mastery of the written word certainly..., 21 Aug 2008
I don't know where to begin with this review. I have just finished reading Atonement and the last chapter and epilogue were really gripping and unputdownable. But earlier in the novel - the section covering Robbie's time at war - didn't really do it for me. I am not that fond of stories about war, and whilst I appreciate the mastery in the writing and the descriptions, I wasn't as moved as some.

I really like the scene in the library - that was very sensual and I was totally caught up in the moment. The first section of the novel was I felt a little rambling. Lots of 'big' words and flowing sentences which occassionally drove me to distraction - again I appreciated the mastery of the writing but it wasn't an especially easy novel to read on a train, full of distractions and noise! I did enjoy it all the same but I think I think I should've immersed myself in a library to be able to truely concentrate!

The crime - well there were more than one - but Briony's over-imagination was the focus of the novel. Even at the end her imagination got the better of her but I am glad it was explained but as I read the epilogue and the characters attending the party I did wonder what had happened.

I have struggled to give a star rating and have plumped for 4 stars because of the middle section I wasn't so fond of.

I haven't read McEwan before but have bought a couple of others - Saturday, On Cheshil Beach - to see what I think of him as an author. I was bought Atonement as a Christmas present last year and thought I ought to give it a read and am glad I did, despite some of my reservations.

I was umming and ahhing about whether to watch the film but I think it would just spoil the pictures I have in my head of the characters. Sorry - in my interpretation Keira Knightley doesn't feature!

Brillant story, but rubbishly made, 06 Aug 2008
I brought this book and it was brillant. The story is brillant and I liked the way that it had different sexctions focusing on certain events. Anyway, the book did not last long and started to fall to pieces when I had only read a third of it.

Joe planned a postcard-perfect afternoon in the English countryside to celebrate his lover's return after six weeks in the States. The perfect day turns to nightmare, however, when they are involved in freak ballooning accident in which a boy is saved but a man is killed

In itself, the accident would change the couple and the survivors' lives, filling them with an uneasy combination of shame, happiness, and endless self-reproach. But fate has far more unpleasant things in store for Joe. Meeting the eye of fellow rescuer Jed Parry, for example, turns out to be a very bad move. For Jed is instantly obsessed, making the first of many calls to Joe and Clarissa's London flat that very night. Soon he's openly shadowing Joe and writing him endless letters. (One insane epistle begins, "I feel happiness running through me like an electrical current. I close my eyes and see you as you were last night in the rain, across the road from me, with the unspoken love between us as strong as steel cable.") Worst of all, Jed's version of love comes to seem a distortion of Joe's feelings for Clarissa.

Apart from the incessant stalking, it is the conditionals--the contingencies--that most frustrate Joe, a scientific journalist. If only he and Clarissa had gone straight home from the airport... If only the wind hadn't picked up... If only he had saved Jed's 29 messages in a single day... Ian McEwan has long been a poet of the arbitrary nightmare, his characters ineluctably swept up in others' fantasies, skidding into deepening violence, and--worst of all--becoming strangers to those who love them. Even his prose itself is a masterful and methodical exercise in de-familiarisation. But Enduring Love and its underrated predecessor, Black Dogs, are also meditations on knowledge and perception as well as brilliant manipulations of our own expectations. By the novel's end, you will be surprisingly unafraid of hot-air balloons, but you won't be too keen on looking a stranger in the eye. --Alex Freeman Joe Rose has planned a postcard-perfect afternoon in the English countryside to celebrate his lover's return after six weeks in the States. To complete the picture, there's even a "helium balloon drifting dreamily across the wooded valley." But as Joe and Clarissa watch the balloon touch down, their idyll comes to an abrupt end. The pilot catches his leg in the anchor rope, while the only passenger, a boy, is too scared to jump down. As the wind whips into action, Joe and four other men rush to secure the basket. Mother Nature, however, isn't feeling very maternal. "A mighty fist socked the balloon in two rapid blows, one-two, the second more vicious than the first," and at once the rescuers are airborne. Joe manages to drop to the ground, as do most of his companions, but one man is lifted sky- high, only to fall to his death.

In itself, the accident would change the survivors' lives, filling them with an uneasy combination of shame, happiness and endless self-reproach. (In one of the novel's many ironies, the balloon eventually lands safely, the boy unscathed.) But fate has far more unpleasant things in store for Joe. Meeting the eye of fellow rescuer Jed Parry, for example, turns out to be a very bad move. For Jed is instantly obsessed, making the first of many calls to Joe and Clarissa's London flat that very night. Soon he's openly shadowing Joe and writing him endless letters. One insane epistle begins, "I feel happiness running through me like an electrical current. I close my eyes and see you as you were last night in the rain, across the road from me, with the unspoken love between us as strong as steel cable." Worst of all, Jed's version of love comes to seem a distortion of Joe's feelings for Clarissa.

Apart from the incessant stalking, it is the conditionals--the contingencies--that most frustrate Joe, a scientific journalist. If only he and Clarissa had gone straight home from the airport... if only the wind hadn't picked up... if only he had saved Jed's 29 messages in a single day... Ian McEwan has long been a poet of the arbitrary nightmare, his characters ineluctably swept up in others' fantasies, skidding into deepening violence, and--worst of all--becoming strangers to those who love them. Even his prose itself is a masterful and methodical exercise in defamiliarization. But Enduring Love and its underrated predecessor, Black Dogs, are also meditations on knowledge and perception as well as brilliant manipulations of our own expectations. By the novel's end, you will be surprisingly unafraid of hot-air balloons, but you won't be too keen on looking a stranger in the eye.

Lack of Knowledge, Communication and Understanding = Disaster!, 17 Oct 2008
Edward and Florence - intelligent and well educated, yet unable to communicate and express their fears and expectations regarding married love. This lack of communication leads to unspoken misunderstandings that, in turn, inevitably destroy all that could have been. Ian McEwan's descriptive writing builds the tension brilliantly and the reader cannot help but feel despair. This novella tells its story of communication problems within romantic partnerships, but I found myself once more reminded of the evils regarding lack of understanding and communication on the larger scale, ie., world powers.

Too slow for me, 08 Oct 2008
Vaguely interesting, especially as books/films are not often set in the early 60's. But didn't anyone else find themselves shouting at the characters to "just get on with it".

Rushed, 17 Sep 2008
I agree with the reviewer who said that it was ridiculous to cram the final forty year of the protagonist's life into seven pages. Also, the poorly edited statement that the man's business was dwindling due to 'internet' shopping when the setting was only the early 80s was like a Ferrari driving across a Jane Austen film.
That said, although nothing really happens, the insights into both male and female interior lives during a relationship was powerful.
It was just too bad that McEwen seemed to suddenly get bored with his own work and rush through the denouement.

Beautifully written story about the expectations of marriage., 08 Sep 2008
I found this a beautifully written story about Edward and Florence, two characters set in the fifites in England. The story begins at the start of their honey-moon and McEwan's comi-tragic prose equips the reader with the central character's expectations of their roles in marriage and general expectations of what a marriage was in the 1950s. The tightly controlled language easily reflects the sense of English restriction and politeness between lovers and partners that prevailed in that decade. The story progresses to a wonderfully described climax where McEwan's gift of presenting the comic with the tragic comes to the forefront. I recommend this quick-read for its sense of style and beautiful prose capturing two lives in a day on Chesil Beach.

Sexual innocence, longing and anxiety in a short, touching novel, 25 Aug 2008
In an age of sex being everywhere, media portrayals of everyone being sexual athletes and 'at it' all the time, this was a welcome novel of innocence, longing and anxiety about the 'first time.'

I was touched by this short novel and would read it again. I think McEwan writes about love sensitively and look forward to reading his other works.

Bit long winded, 24 Sep 2008
I've never not finished a book once I've started it, but to be honest, I struggled with this one. At the start I didn't warm at all to any of the characters except for Robbie and what followed in the book enamoured me to them even less. But struggle I did and although I found the scenes in the lead up to Dunkirk very hard to read as they were so gruesome, I was glad I persevered. The last 100 pages more than made up for what came before. I'd read "On Chesil Beach" so was expecting the one pivotal moment in life aspect but it was so much more life altering in this book. It did stay with me long afterwards but I think the book could have been shortened a great deal without losing any of it's final impact.

Disappointing and tedious, 21 Sep 2008
I brought this as a holiday read purely on the basis of its hype and the fact that someone had clearly thought it worth investing money in to make a film. I was utterly disappointed; it was one of the most dull and overrated books I have ever read. It took until chapter nine for anything to actually occur, other than lethargic prose labouring the point that it was an awfully hot summer. So what? That was just rubbing the salt in. ;-)

The most annoying section of the book is the description of the evacuation from Dunkirk. It felt like McEwan was trying to raise the reader's consciousness by bringing in some gritty realism about the horrors of war, but this has been done so much more convincingly and sensitively by others (i.e. Sebastian Faulks, Pat Barker etc) that it just felt like a bid for the Booker. Call me a whiny old misery but I won't be reading anything else by McEwan again.


Read before watching film!, 25 Aug 2008
Atonement is, overall, quite a good read.
However, it is very much an up-hill battle to really get into it, though once you are in, it engrosses you for around 60% of the time, so in this way is good.
There are several parts throughout the book that I personally had to skip, as they were very slow-moving and irrelevant to the story.
If you have seen the film, the book is even more hard work, as it takes so much time to get round to what actually happens in the story, so if you read it after having seen the film - good luck!

Mastery of the written word certainly..., 21 Aug 2008
I don't know where to begin with this review. I have just finished reading Atonement and the last chapter and epilogue were really gripping and unputdownable. But earlier in the novel - the section covering Robbie's time at war - didn't really do it for me. I am not that fond of stories about war, and whilst I appreciate the mastery in the writing and the descriptions, I wasn't as moved as some.

I really like the scene in the library - that was very sensual and I was totally caught up in the moment. The first section of the novel was I felt a little rambling. Lots of 'big' words and flowing sentences which occassionally drove me to distraction - again I appreciated the mastery of the writing but it wasn't an especially easy novel to read on a train, full of distractions and noise! I did enjoy it all the same but I think I think I should've immersed myself in a library to be able to truely concentrate!

The crime - well there were more than one - but Briony's over-imagination was the focus of the novel. Even at the end her imagination got the better of her but I am glad it was explained but as I read the epilogue and the characters attending the party I did wonder what had happened.

I have struggled to give a star rating and have plumped for 4 stars because of the middle section I wasn't so fond of.

I haven't read McEwan before but have bought a couple of others - Saturday, On Cheshil Beach - to see what I think of him as an author. I was bought Atonement as a Christmas present last year and thought I ought to give it a read and am glad I did, despite some of my reservations.

I was umming and ahhing about whether to watch the film but I think it would just spoil the pictures I have in my head of the characters. Sorry - in my interpretation Keira Knightley doesn't feature!

Brillant story, but rubbishly made, 06 Aug 2008
I brought this book and it was brillant. The story is brillant and I liked the way that it had different sexctions focusing on certain events. Anyway, the book did not last long and started to fall to pieces when I had only read a third of it.

Beautiful but strange, 04 Nov 2008
There's absolutely no denying Ian McEwan has an incredible writing ability, if you've read Atonement you'll know this all too well! The way in which he makes you engage with the characters is incredible, you really really know how they feel. The only downside I'd say is that the story is a bit bizarre - no plot spoilers but - it wasn't the most believable idea for a plot.
If you like his writing style then I'd say definitely buy this book, but if you're more into a really good story then its a bit farfetched..

Disappointing, 03 Nov 2008
After reading (and watching!) Atonement, I expected that Enduring Love would be good. Boy, was I wrong. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm studying it for A Level English Literature or what but this book is the most boring and unimaginative book ever written. McEwan goes into too much detail in pretty much every description he makes, and I just lose interest. I can't actually read a page of that book without glazing over. Yeah, the first chapter was alright, I'll give him that, but when you use the same, long-winded, dull and time-wasting technique, it turns into torture. There's such a good plot and a brilliant idea that appears to be really creative, however McEwan takes the imaginative idea and turns it into something so scientific and when you read literature, you don't want to read a science book, you want to read something beautifully written and captivating!!
Overall, Enduring Love was actually awful and the worst book I have ever read in my life. It is boring, dull, uninteresting, long-winded, tiring and just plain bad. I normally like a book, in some way or another but this book is just unlikeable and horrible! McEwan has usually written so beautifully, so where did that go?? It certainly isn't in this horrendous book and frankly, it shouldn't be bought. Borrow it from your local library before you do buy it so you can see for yourself. If I weren't studying english lit that book would be at the dump right now. I cannot stand it.

Close study reveals hidden depths, 25 Oct 2008
My class is sudying this for A Level coursework and under close analysis it's really interesting and thought provoking. Ian McEwan introduces thoughtful ideas and clever points about life and human nature. I felt it also worked as a novel for entertainment but not as well because the plot is not exactly fast-paced. IMPORTANTLY if you do read it, also read the Appendices at the end...

Good plot if you can find it in the drivel, 12 Oct 2008
The overall plot was really enjoyable and well written. However, the majority of the novel was made up of pointless waffle. I actually got to the point where I was skimming the less interesting bits (which in places was several pages at a time) and don't feel that I missed out anything at all of importance. If McEwan had just stuck to the basic plot and not tried to seem impressive by talking about irrelevant topics then I would have given this 5 stars

unpredictable, self indulgent and lacking plot, 13 Sep 2008
Not having read any other of his books, I don't know how others rate, but I'm not rushing to find out ofter this painful experience. This story features a frustrated writer desperate to get back to real science, written by an author who tries to come across as scientific (see the appendix which attempts to justufy the ludicrous plot). Alongside the anti-religion tirade, this just feels far too autobiographical to be set as a novel.

And the (disconnected) leaps in the plot go far beyond a credible novel. Probably trying to be too clever, and cram in too many disconnected ideas, I'm afraid McEwan fails to pull it off (or pull it all together) in this book.

Atonement is Ian McEwan's ninth novel and his first since the Booker Prize-winning Amsterdam in 1998. But whereas Amsterdam was a slim, sleek piece, Atonement is a more sturdy, ambitious work, allowing McEwan more room to play, think and experiment.

We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama The Trials of Arabella to welcome home her elder, idolised brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting preoccupations come onto the scene. The charlady's son Robbie Turner appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the Fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Amo" bar; and upstairs Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present...

The interwar upper-middle-class setting of the book's long, masterfully sustained opening section might recall Virginia Woolf or Henry Green, but as we move forward--eventually to the turn of the 21st century--the novel's central concerns emerge, and McEwan's voice becomes clear, even personal. For at heart, Atonement is about the pleasures, pains and dangers of writing, and perhaps even more, about the challenge of controlling what readers make of your writing. McEwan shouldn't have any doubts about readers of Atonement: this is a thoughtful, provocative and at times moving book that will have readers applauding.--Alan Stewart

Lack of Knowledge, Communication and Understanding = Disaster!, 17 Oct 2008
Edward and Florence - intelligent and well educated, yet unable to communicate and express their fears and expectations regarding married love. This lack of communication leads to unspoken misunderstandings that, in turn, inevitably destroy all that could have been. Ian McEwan's descriptive writing builds the tension brilliantly and the reader cannot help but feel despair. This novella tells its story of communication problems within romantic partnerships, but I found myself once more reminded of the evils regarding lack of understanding and communication on the larger scale, ie., world powers.

Too slow for me, 08 Oct 2008
Vaguely interesting, especially as books/films are not often set in the early 60's. But didn't anyone else find themselves shouting at the characters to "just get on with it".

Rushed, 17 Sep 2008
I agree with the reviewer who said that it was ridiculous to cram the final forty year of the protagonist's life into seven pages. Also, the poorly edited statement that the man's business was dwindling due to 'internet' shopping when the setting was only the early 80s was like a Ferrari driving across a Jane Austen film.
That said, although nothing really happens, the insights into both male and female interior lives during a relationship was powerful.
It was just too bad that McEwen seemed to suddenly get bored with his own work and rush through the denouement.

Beautifully written story about the expectations of marriage., 08 Sep 2008
I found this a beautifully written story about Edward and Florence, two characters set in the fifites in England. The story begins at the start of their honey-moon and McEwan's comi-tragic prose equips the reader with the central character's expectations of their roles in marriage and general expectations of what a marriage was in the 1950s. The tightly controlled language easily reflects the sense of English restriction and politeness between lovers and partners that prevailed in that decade. The story progresses to a wonderfully described climax where McEwan's gift of presenting the comic with the tragic comes to the forefront. I recommend this quick-read for its sense of style and beautiful prose capturing two lives in a day on Chesil Beach.

Sexual innocence, longing and anxiety in a short, touching novel, 25 Aug 2008
In an age of sex being everywhere, media portrayals of everyone being sexual athletes and 'at it' all the time, this was a welcome novel of innocence, longing and anxiety about the 'first time.'

I was touched by this short novel and would read it again. I think McEwan writes about love sensitively and look forward to reading his other works.

Bit long winded, 24 Sep 2008
I've never not finished a book once I've started it, but to be honest, I struggled with this one. At the start I didn't warm at all to any of the characters except for Robbie and what followed in the book enamoured me to them even less. But struggle I did and although I found the scenes in the lead up to Dunkirk very hard to read as they were so gruesome, I was glad I persevered. The last 100 pages more than made up for what came before. I'd read "On Chesil Beach" so was expecting the one pivotal moment in life aspect but it was so much more life altering in this book. It did stay with me long afterwards but I think the book could have been shortened a great deal without losing any of it's final impact.

Disappointing and tedious, 21 Sep 2008
I brought this as a holiday read purely on the basis of its hype and the fact that someone had clearly thought it worth investing money in to make a film. I was utterly disappointed; it was one of the most dull and overrated books I have ever read. It took until chapter nine for anything to actually occur, other than lethargic prose labouring the point that it was an awfully hot summer. So what? That was just rubbing the salt in. ;-)

The most annoying section of the book is the description of the evacuation from Dunkirk. It felt like McEwan was trying to raise the reader's consciousness by bringing in some gritty realism about the horrors of war, but this has been done so much more convincingly and sensitively by others (i.e. Sebastian Faulks, Pat Barker etc) that it just felt like a bid for the Booker. Call me a whiny old misery but I won't be reading anything else by McEwan again.


Read before watching film!, 25 Aug 2008
Atonement is, overall, quite a good read.
However, it is very much an up-hill battle to really get into it, though once you are in, it engrosses you for around 60% of the time, so in this way is good.
There are several parts throughout the book that I personally had to skip, as they were very slow-moving and irrelevant to the story.
If you have seen the film, the book is even more hard work, as it takes so much time to get round to what actually happens in the story, so if you read it after having seen the film - good luck!

Mastery of the written word certainly..., 21 Aug 2008
I don't know where to begin with this review. I have just finished reading Atonement and the last chapter and epilogue were really gripping and unputdownable. But earlier in the novel - the section covering Robbie's time at war - didn't really do it for me. I am not that fond of stories about war, and whilst I appreciate the mastery in the writing and the descriptions, I wasn't as moved as some.

I really like the scene in the library - that was very sensual and I was totally caught up in the moment. The first section of the novel was I felt a little rambling. Lots of 'big' words and flowing sentences which occassionally drove me to distraction - again I appreciated the mastery of the writing but it wasn't an especially easy novel to read on a train, full of distractions and noise! I did enjoy it all the same but I think I think I should've immersed myself in a library to be able to truely concentrate!

The crime - well there were more than one - but Briony's over-imagination was the focus of the novel. Even at the end her imagination got the better of her but I am glad it was explained but as I read the epilogue and the characters attending the party I did wonder what had happened.

I have struggled to give a star rating and have plumped for 4 stars because of the middle section I wasn't so fond of.

I haven't read McEwan before but have bought a couple of others - Saturday, On Cheshil Beach - to see what I think of him as an author. I was bought Atonement as a Christmas present last year and thought I ought to give it a read and am glad I did, despite some of my reservations.

I was umming and ahhing about whether to watch the film but I think it would just spoil the pictures I have in my head of the characters. Sorry - in my interpretation Keira Knightley doesn't feature!

Brillant story, but rubbishly made, 06 Aug 2008
I brought this book and it was brillant. The story is brillant and I liked the way that it had different sexctions focusing on certain events. Anyway, the book did not last long and started to fall to pieces when I had only read a third of it.

Beautiful but strange, 04 Nov 2008
There's absolutely no denying Ian McEwan has an incredible writing ability, if you've read Atonement you'll know this all too well! The way in which he makes you engage with the characters is incredible, you really really know how they feel. The only downside I'd say is that the story is a bit bizarre - no plot spoilers but - it wasn't the most believable idea for a plot.
If you like his writing style then I'd say definitely buy this book, but if you're more into a really good story then its a bit farfetched..

Disappointing, 03 Nov 2008
After reading (and watching!) Atonement, I expected that Enduring Love would be good. Boy, was I wrong. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm studying it for A Level English Literature or what but this book is the most boring and unimaginative book ever written. McEwan goes into too much detail in pretty much every description he makes, and I just lose interest. I can't actually read a page of that book without glazing over. Yeah, the first chapter was alright, I'll give him that, but when you use the same, long-winded, dull and time-wasting technique, it turns into torture. There's such a good plot and a brilliant idea that appears to be really creative, however McEwan takes the imaginative idea and turns it into something so scientific and when you read literature, you don't want to read a science book, you want to read something beautifully written and captivating!!
Overall, Enduring Love was actually awful and the worst book I have ever read in my life. It is boring, dull, uninteresting, long-winded, tiring and just plain bad. I normally like a book, in some way or another but this book is just unlikeable and horrible! McEwan has usually written so beautifully, so where did that go?? It certainly isn't in this horrendous book and frankly, it shouldn't be bought. Borrow it from your local library before you do buy it so you can see for yourself. If I weren't studying english lit that book would be at the dump right now. I cannot stand it.

Close study reveals hidden depths, 25 Oct 2008
My class is sudying this for A Level coursework and under close analysis it's really interesting and thought provoking. Ian McEwan introduces thoughtful ideas and clever points about life and human nature. I felt it also worked as a novel for entertainment but not as well because the plot is not exactly fast-paced. IMPORTANTLY if you do read it, also read the Appendices at the end...

Good plot if you can find it in the drivel, 12 Oct 2008
The overall plot was really enjoyable and well written. However, the majority of the novel was made up of pointless waffle. I actually got to the point where I was skimming the less interesting bits (which in places was several pages at a time) and don't feel that I missed out anything at all of importance. If McEwan had just stuck to the basic plot and not tried to seem impressive by talking about irrelevant topics then I would have given this 5 stars

unpredictable, self indulgent and lacking plot, 13 Sep 2008
Not having read any other of his books, I don't know how others rate, but I'm not rushing to find out ofter this painful experience. This story features a frustrated writer desperate to get back to real science, written by an author who tries to come across as scientific (see the appendix which attempts to justufy the ludicrous plot). Alongside the anti-religion tirade, this just feels far too autobiographical to be set as a novel.

And the (disconnected) leaps in the plot go far beyond a credible novel. Probably trying to be too clever, and cram in too many disconnected ideas, I'm afraid McEwan fails to pull it off (or pull it all together) in this book.

Slow starter, 01 Nov 2008
I've never read any McEwan before, and generally do not care for modern writers, but I was absolutely floored by his prose. The writing is amazing.


His portrayal of naive, pre-teen Briony is dead-on and eerie, and, even though she is far less developed, I could identify some with Cecelia's feelings of being a bit lost and out-of-place at home after the relative independence of college.


I've read a lot of reviews that are impatient with the slow pace, especially of the first part of the novel. While I agree that it is a novel that immerses the reader fully in descriptions, I think such criticism is a little unfair. It is not a novel that should be read in anticipation of getting to a juicy ending; it's a novel that should be read with the mindset that getting there is half (most of) the enjoyment.


The ending was complicated. No, I don't think anything she did later could actually atone for the mess Briony made. On the other hand, she was 13 and acting out of ignorance more than viciousness. And, frankly, I thought the title referred more at her attempt to atone to herself, to lay her conscience to rest, than to actually achieving any sort of atonement in the eyes of the rest of the world. I think it should not be taken too literally.

Slow starter but worth sticking with, 28 Sep 2008
I found this book to start slowly and did not really seem very interesting. However, I thought that maybe I was expecting too much after all the recommendations I have had so decided to stick with it and give the story a proper chance. I am so glad I did this, the plot quicky beomces gripping after those first few dreary pages. You soon realise how important those first pages are in setting the scene and helping you understand all the characters. I really enjoyed this book and have been thinking about it since finishing and I will definitley be re-reading this

Brilliant Evocation of Life-Changing Events, 19 Aug 2008
Atonement is not a quick read, nor should it be. The warps and wens of language into which Ian McEwan delves are to be savoured like a delicious meal. The premise is that Briony Tallis, an overly-imaginative 13-year-old thinks she sees something, and the tale she spins based on this changes several lives. The story is told from the viewpoint of Briony, her sister Cecilia and family friend Robbie Turner. The novel has the feel of "Rashomon" in that each perspective makes the book feel like a completely different story.

There are some segments that were difficult for me to read - mostly those dealing with Briony's work in a hospital following the evacuation of Dunkirk, but the realities of war should not be sugarcoated, much as we might like to hide our eyes from them.

More than anything, Atonement is a character study, examining the various ways we rationalize our actions, for good or bad, and how we, yes, "atone" for those actions, if we ever bother to try. This is the kind of writing that other authors should aspire to, and which few achieve. Very highly recommended.

Words can't do it justice, 15 Jul 2008
This is simply what is called a masterpiece. A word too often used and not often enough deserved.The writing is incredible, so good that you could weep that some people have the talent to create such prose and you don't. At least you can read it which is a blessing indeed.
It is the story of a young girl, too clever by half, somewhat arrogant and presumptuous who misreads a situation, sees too much, understands too little and will ruin three lives, her sister's, that of the young man her sister is in love with, and her own as she has to live with the consequences of her act of betrayal.

Perfection, 11 Jul 2008
A very short review simply because you should read the book for yourself - it will not disappoint. Beautifully written, beautiful plot, beautiful characters. McEwan is genius!

The critical response to Saturday must be making Ian McEwan a very happy man (not that his virtually unassailable position as Britain's leading novelist has been in doubt). While contemporaries (and rivals) Martin Amis and Will Self have had much more hit-or-miss records recently, each new McEwan novel gleans a host of plaudits, and Atonement has been generally hailed as his masterpiece. Saturday may not enjoy quite such acclaim, but it's a remarkably accomplished piece of work, as richly drawn and characterised as anything he has written.

McEwan's protagonist is neurosurgeon Henry Perowne, a man comfortably ensconced in an enviable upper middle class existence. His wife is a successful newspaper lawyer, his daughter Daisy a budding poet. But as he wakes one Saturday morning and witnesses a plane accident through his window, he is not yet aware that this is a harbinger of a sustained assault on all that he holds dear. It's a McEwan trademark to begin his novels with a striking or violent rupture of everyday existence, but this opening is a prelude to his most impressively sustained narrative yet. It's the publication day of Henry's daughter's poetry collection, but a chance encounter with a drunken trio emerging from a lap-dancing club ends violently, even as a march against the war in Iraq streams past nearby. And this encounter with the menacing Baxter, main antagonist of the group, is to have fateful consequences. As Saturday progresses, Henry is forced to examine every aspect of his life and beliefs, not least his attitude to the war.

Unlike many of his peers, McEwan is not content to reduce the issues of the war to simple opposition, in which Tony Blair is characterised as a war criminal. Henry has treated a victim of Saddam's brutality, and although a comic encounter with the Prime Minister himself is a highlight of the book, both Henry (and his creator) are obliged to consider the complex skein of the conflict from all sides. While there are missteps (the poetic daughter, Daisy, is thinly drawn), McEwan's invigorating and trenchant novel is an unmissable experience. --Barry Forshaw

Lack of Knowledge, Communication and Understanding = Disaster!, 17 Oct 2008
Edward and Florence - intelligent and well educated, yet unable to communicate and express their fears and expectations regarding married love. This lack of communication leads to unspoken misunderstandings that, in turn, inevitably destroy all that could have been. Ian McEwan's descriptive writing builds the tension brilliantly and the reader cannot help but feel despair. This novella tells its story of communication problems within romantic partnerships, but I found myself once more reminded of the evils regarding lack of understanding and communication on the larger scale, ie., world powers.

Too slow for me, 08 Oct 2008
Vaguely interesting, especially as books/films are not often set in the early 60's. But didn't anyone else find themselves shouting at the characters to "just get on with it".

Rushed, 17 Sep 2008
I agree with the reviewer who said that it was ridiculous to cram the final forty year of the protagonist's life into seven pages. Also, the poorly edited statement that the man's business was dwindling due to 'internet' shopping when the setting was only the early 80s was like a Ferrari driving across a Jane Austen film.
That said, although nothing really happens, the insights into both male and female interior lives during a relationship was powerful.
It was just too bad that McEwen seemed to suddenly get bored with his own work and rush through the denouement.

Beautifully written story about the expectations of marriage., 08 Sep 2008
I found this a beautifully written story about Edward and Florence, two characters set in the fifites in England. The story begins at the start of their honey-moon and McEwan's comi-tragic prose equips the reader with the central character's expectations of their roles in marriage and general expectations of what a marriage was in the 1950s. The tightly controlled language easily reflects the sense of English restriction and politeness between lovers and partners that prevailed in that decade. The story progresses to a wonderfully described climax where McEwan's gift of presenting the comic with the tragic comes to the forefront. I recommend this quick-read for its sense of style and beautiful prose capturing two lives in a day on Chesil Beach.

Sexual innocence, longing and anxiety in a short, touching novel, 25 Aug 2008
In an age of sex being everywhere, media portrayals of everyone being sexual athletes and 'at it' all the time, this was a welcome novel of innocence, longing and anxiety about the 'first time.'

I was touched by this short novel and would read it again. I think McEwan writes about love sensitively and look forward to reading his other works.

Bit long winded, 24 Sep 2008
I've never not finished a book once I've started it, but to be honest, I struggled with this one. At the start I didn't warm at all to any of the characters except for Robbie and what followed in the book enamoured me to them even less. But struggle I did and although I found the scenes in the lead up to Dunkirk very hard to read as they were so gruesome, I was glad I persevered. The last 100 pages more than made up for what came before. I'd read "On Chesil Beach" so was expecting the one pivotal moment in life aspect but it was so much more life altering in this book. It did stay with me long afterwards but I think the book could have been shortened a great deal without losing any of it's final impact.

Disappointing and tedious, 21 Sep 2008
I brought this as a holiday read purely on the basis of its hype and the fact that someone had clearly thought it worth investing money in to make a film. I was utterly disappointed; it was one of the most dull and overrated books I have ever read. It took until chapter nine for anything to actually occur, other than lethargic prose labouring the point that it was an awfully hot summer. So what? That was just rubbing the salt in. ;-)

The most annoying section of the book is the description of the evacuation from Dunkirk. It felt like McEwan was trying to raise the reader's consciousness by bringing in some gritty realism about the horrors of war, but this has been done so much more convincingly and sensitively by others (i.e. Sebastian Faulks, Pat Barker etc) that it just felt like a bid for the Booker. Call me a whiny old misery but I won't be reading anything else by McEwan again.


Read before watching film!, 25 Aug 2008
Atonement is, overall, quite a good read.
However, it is very much an up-hill battle to really get into it, though once you are in, it engrosses you for around 60% of the time, so in this way is good.
There are several parts throughout the book that I personally had to skip, as they were very slow-moving and irrelevant to the story.
If you have seen the film, the book is even more hard work, as it takes so much time to get round to what actually happens in the story, so if you read it after having seen the film - good luck!

Mastery of the written word certainly..., 21 Aug 2008
I don't know where to begin with this review. I have just finished reading Atonement and the last chapter and epilogue were really gripping and unputdownable. But earlier in the novel - the section covering Robbie's time at war - didn't really do it for me. I am not that fond of stories about war, and whilst I appreciate the mastery in the writing and the descriptions, I wasn't as moved as some.

I really like the scene in the library - that was very sensual and I was totally caught up in the moment. The first section of the novel was I felt a little rambling. Lots of 'big' words and flowing sentences which occassionally drove me to distraction - again I appreciated the mastery of the writing but it wasn't an especially easy novel to read on a train, full of distractions and noise! I did enjoy it all the same but I think I think I should've immersed myself in a library to be able to truely concentrate!

The crime - well there were more than one - but Briony's over-imagination was the focus of the novel. Even at the end her imagination got the better of her but I am glad it was explained but as I read the epilogue and the characters attending the party I did wonder what had happened.

I have struggled to give a star rating and have plumped for 4 stars because of the middle section I wasn't so fond of.

I haven't read McEwan before but have bought a couple of others - Saturday, On Cheshil Beach - to see what I think of him as an author. I was bought Atonement as a Christmas present last year and thought I ought to give it a read and am glad I did, despite some of my reservations.

I was umming and ahhing about whether to watch the film but I think it would just spoil the pictures I have in my head of the characters. Sorry - in my interpretation Keira Knightley doesn't feature!

Brillant story, but rubbishly made, 06 Aug 2008
I brought this book and it was brillant. The story is brillant and I liked the way that it had different sexctions focusing on certain events. Anyway, the book did not last long and started to fall to pieces when I had only read a third of it.

Beautiful but strange, 04 Nov 2008
There's absolutely no denying Ian McEwan has an incredible writing ability, if you've read Atonement you'll know this all too well! The way in which he makes you engage with the characters is incredible, you really really know how they feel. The only downside I'd say is that the story is a bit bizarre - no plot spoilers but - it wasn't the most believable idea for a plot.
If you like his writing style then I'd say definitely buy this book, but if you're more into a really good story then its a bit farfetched..

Disappointing, 03 Nov 2008
After reading (and watching!) Atonement, I expected that Enduring Love would be good. Boy, was I wrong. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm studying it for A Level English Literature or what but this book is the most boring and unimaginative book ever written. McEwan goes into too much detail in pretty much every description he makes, and I just lose interest. I can't actually read a page of that book without glazing over. Yeah, the first chapter was alright, I'll give him that, but when you use the same, long-winded, dull and time-wasting technique, it turns into torture. There's such a good plot and a brilliant idea that appears to be really creative, however McEwan takes the imaginative idea and turns it into something so scientific and when you read literature, you don't want to read a science book, you want to read something beautifully written and captivating!!
Overall, Enduring Love was actually awful and the worst book I have ever read in my life. It is boring, dull, uninteresting, long-winded, tiring and just plain bad. I normally like a book, in some way or another but this book is just unlikeable and horrible! McEwan has usually written so beautifully, so where did that go?? It certainly isn't in this horrendous book and frankly, it shouldn't be bought. Borrow it from your local library before you do buy it so you can see for yourself. If I weren't studying english lit that book would be at the dump right now. I cannot stand it.

Close study reveals hidden depths, 25 Oct 2008
My class is sudying this for A Level coursework and under close analysis it's really interesting and thought provoking. Ian McEwan introduces thoughtful ideas and clever points about life and human nature. I felt it also worked as a novel for entertainment but not as well because the plot is not exactly fast-paced. IMPORTANTLY if you do read it, also read the Appendices at the end...

Good plot if you can find it in the drivel, 12 Oct 2008
The overall plot was really enjoyable and well written. However, the majority of the novel was made up of pointless waffle. I actually got to the point where I was skimming the less interesting bits (which in places was several pages at a time) and don't feel that I missed out anything at all of importance. If McEwan had just stuck to the basic plot and not tried to seem impressive by talking about irrelevant topics then I would have given this 5 stars

unpredictable, self indulgent and lacking plot, 13 Sep 2008
Not having read any other of his books, I don't know how others rate, but I'm not rushing to find out ofter this painful experience. This story features a frustrated writer desperate to get back to real science, written by an author who tries to come across as scientific (see the appendix which attempts to justufy the ludicrous plot). Alongside the anti-religion tirade, this just feels far too autobiographical to be set as a novel.

And the (disconnected) leaps in the plot go far beyond a credible novel. Probably trying to be too clever, and cram in too many disconnected ideas, I'm afraid McEwan fails to pull it off (or pull it all together) in this book.

Slow starter, 01 Nov 2008
I've never read any McEwan before, and generally do not care for modern writers, but I was absolutely floored by his prose. The writing is amazing.


His portrayal of naive, pre-teen Briony is dead-on and eerie, and, even though she is far less developed, I could identify some with Cecelia's feelings of being a bit lost and out-of-place at home after the relative independence of college.


I've read a lot of reviews that are impatient with the slow pace, especially of the first part of the novel. While I agree that it is a novel that immerses the reader fully in descriptions, I think such criticism is a little unfair. It is not a novel that should be read in anticipation of getting to a juicy ending; it's a novel that should be read with the mindset that getting there is half (most of) the enjoyment.


The ending was complicated. No, I don't think anything she did later could actually atone for the mess Briony made. On the other hand, she was 13 and acting out of ignorance more than viciousness. And, frankly, I thought the title referred more at her attempt to atone to herself, to lay her conscience to rest, than to actually achieving any sort of atonement in the eyes of the rest of the world. I think it should not be taken too literally.

Slow starter but worth sticking with, 28 Sep 2008
I found this book to start slowly and did not really seem very interesting. However, I thought that maybe I was expecting too much after all the recommendations I have had so decided to stick with it and give the story a proper chance. I am so glad I did this, the plot quicky beomces gripping after those first few dreary pages. You soon realise how important those first pages are in setting the scene and helping you understand all the characters. I really enjoyed this book and have been thinking about it since finishing and I will definitley be re-reading this

Brilliant Evocation of Life-Changing Events, 19 Aug 2008
Atonement is not a quick read, nor should it be. The warps and wens of language into which Ian McEwan delves are to be savoured like a delicious meal. The premise is that Briony Tallis, an overly-imaginative 13-year-old thinks she sees something, and the tale she spins based on this changes several lives. The story is told from the viewpoint of Briony, her sister Cecilia and family friend Robbie Turner. The novel has the feel of "Rashomon" in that each perspective makes the book feel like a completely different story.

There are some segments that were difficult for me to read - mostly those dealing with Briony's work in a hospital following the evacuation of Dunkirk, but the realities of war should not be sugarcoated, much as we might like to hide our eyes from them.

More than anything, Atonement is a character study, examining the various ways we rationalize our actions, for good or bad, and how we, yes, "atone" for those actions, if we ever bother to try. This is the kind of writing that other authors should aspire to, and which few achieve. Very highly recommended.

Words can't do it justice, 15 Jul 2008
This is simply what is called a masterpiece. A word too often used and not often enough deserved.The writing is incredible, so good that you could weep that some people have the talent to create such prose and you don't. At least you can read it which is a blessing indeed.
It is the story of a young girl, too clever by half, somewhat arrogant and presumptuous who misreads a situation, sees too much, understands too little and will ruin three lives, her sister's, that of the young man her sister is in love with, and her own as she has to live with the consequences of her act of betrayal.

Perfection, 11 Jul 2008
A very short review simply because you should read the book for yourself - it will not disappoint. Beautifully written, beautiful plot, beautiful characters. McEwan is genius!

Elaborate hoax?, 26 Sep 2008
Just when I was beginning to think that the PC trend for favouring minority writers - disabled black communist lesbians for example - had gone a bit overboard, I was powerfully reminded why the tide had turned against white middle-aged, middle-class literary prize-winning male academics. Atonement was excellent and original, Enduring Love meaty and compelling; Saturday, though well-written and very readable, is as has been noted ad nauseam, a pretentious lifestyle novel, very full of its own pedigree ('John Grammaticus', for heaven's sake) - oozing well heeled self-satisfaction at every turn. Sure there's nothing wrong with class, but this is so self-consciously attuned to the lifestyle must-haves of 'people like us' that the characters lack all integrity. They are straight out of the Sunday supplement, down to the coffee and probiotic yogurt. This makes the 9-11 backdrop seem rather fashionably employed, and the treatment of the character of Baxter questionable. Glibly asserting that 'Some of the worst wrecks have been privately educated' does not address the issue here: it doesn't matter how fortunate or unfortunate the characters portrayed, if they're real people brought to life for us with some recognition of their lives' myriad associations and complexities. Perowne and his family are too much the kind of people marketing companies dangle before us to aspire to; as for Baxter and co, sadly McEwan reveals a much poorer understanding of social class than he has acquired of neurosurgery. There is also an undercurrent of emasculation, as though on some level Perowne/McEwan would love to be brave enough to fight for a cause, but in this world the serious business of male supremacy is fought to the death on the squash court. He's a cunning writer - perhaps his secret intention all along was to get us to side with the underdog?

the nineeleveniraqwar novel, 11 Sep 2008
'Ian? This is the marketing department, for God's sake write a nine eleven novel!'. But the authour has little to say on the subject beyond school boy observations that moslim women wear veils and that post Sadam Iraq (at the time of writing) couldn't be expected to be any worse than the then status quo. However the book is beautifully written and its characters are fully formed by McEwans perfect prose. Yes, they're the predicatable metropolitain, extended middle-class nuclear family, but in MacEwan's hands they come to life fully and have a detailed and interesting back story which completes and explains their reactions to the events in the narrative. Events which are partly given by circumstance, but also by accident of neurology, a subject he tackles with clarity whilst not detracting from its obvious complexity. En route we learn a lot about how to play the blues, play squash (the infamous 15 pages) and even the development of the cordless kettle. In the hands of a lesser writer these would appear padding for the non-nine-eleven novel, but in MacEwan's hands every word adds to his reader's understanding of the characters. Be warned, the story line struck me as being of secondary importance to the people that inhabited it, and the ending felt rather improbable. Without giving too much away, one moral of the narrative might be 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. Something we all agree with but which can be difficult to show convincingly in fiction given the backdrop of our times - both at home and abroad.

A bad kebab, 06 Sep 2008
I binned this book after the first few dozen pages. They were totally leaden. The author seemed to have swallowed a medical dictionary, whose contents were then regurgitated like a bad kebab supper. More of an endurance test than a novel, this was the second McEwan offering to bore me rigid. There won't be a third.

I thought it was just me..., 29 Aug 2008
As I write this, I'm about 15 pages from the end of 'Saturday' and can't wait to finish it, just to get it over with and to move onto something I might actually enjoy reading! It seems to have taken me forever to read and has turned into more of a chore than a pleasure. I've only stuck with it in the hope that something would actually 'happen' - alas, it seems I am to be disappointed (unless someone comes and blows up the Perownes' house in the final pages...). I thought I would read some reviews just to see if I was alone in wondering what all the fuss was about, and am very relieved to find I am not - I was beginning to think that this novel was part of some literary 'in-joke' which I didn't get.

I am, perhaps, something of a latecomer to McEwan. A friend lent me 'Enduring Love' a couple of years ago and I loved it, so resolved to read more of him. 'On Chesil Beach' was my next McEwan outing, and I enjoyed that too, so had high hopes for 'Saturday' - and the back-cover synopsis does make it sound as if this book has all the right ingredients for a gripping read. I have, however, found I have little interest in the main protagonist and, as many reviewers before me have stated, found his seemingly perfect family and upper-middle-class life nauseating.

McEwan's depth of research clearly cannot be faulted, however, the reader is rather beaten over the head with it - perhaps occasioning the need for Perowne's services... I just found myself drifting off with every description of a brain operation, the naming of each piece of equipment used, each procedure carried out, etc., etc., and could certainly have lived without the 20-or-so-page-long-shot-by-shot description of Perowne's squash game, which came across as pointless and self-indulgent. The description of the squash game may be interesting to those who play squash (which I don't); I will concede that squash players may make up a reasonable proportion of those who might read this book, however, the surgical descriptions are probably fascinating only to neurosurgeons who may want to read this book so that they can congratulate McEwan on his research, and I suspect that they will constitute only a tiny proportion of the readership. For most of the rest of us, these laboured passages seem to be just rather dull filler and add little to the plot.

Also very disappointing was the complete anti-climax that was the opening plane crash. The book opens in such a way that the reader expects this event to have a major impact on the rest of the story (in a similar vein to the incident at the opening of 'Enduring Love'), however, it turns into a minor distraction and one is left wondering why it's there. Sure, it may be the event that kicks off Perowne's unease throughout the day but as a plot device the plane crash turns out to be something of a damp squib.

Overall, I have found 'Saturday' to be self-indulgent, implausible (the Perownes' perfect life, Baxter's apparent road-to-Damascus moment on hearing Daisy reciting poetry) and, at times, rambling. I still have 'Atonement' and 'Amsterdam' sitting on my bookshelves, waiting to be read but think I will have to psych myself up for my next dose of McEwan, and cross my fingers that those two do actually live up to all the hype - which 'Saturday', sadly, certainly did not.

gipping by young reader, 07 Aug 2008
i read this at the age of 17 and even then found myself fully immersed in the ordinary routine of a londoner /neurosurgeon. there was nothing immense in the style of writting, nothing even brilliant however its the way the book forces u without forcing you to realise life and understand its qualities to be happy about what you have etc that was amazing. i
was finding myself tlaking about it with friends as if it was some film or soap i had been watching te detail is immense.
absolutley gripping.

Lack of Knowledge, Communication and Understanding = Disaster!, 17 Oct 2008
Edward and Florence - intelligent and well educated, yet unable to communicate and express their fears and expectations regarding married love. This lack of communication leads to unspoken misunderstandings that, in turn, inevitably destroy all that could have been. Ian McEwan's descriptive writing builds the tension brilliantly and the reader cannot help but feel despair. This novella tells its story of communication problems within romantic partnerships, but I found myself once more reminded of the evils regarding lack of understanding and communication on the larger scale, ie., world powers.

Too slow for me, 08 Oct 2008
Vaguely interesting, especially as books/films are not often set in the early 60's. But didn't anyone else find themselves shouting at the characters to "just get on with it".

Rushed, 17 Sep 2008
I agree with the reviewer who said that it was ridiculous to cram the final forty year of the protagonist's life into seven pages. Also, the poorly edited statement that the man's business was dwindling due to 'internet' shopping when the setting was only the early 80s was like a Ferrari driving across a Jane Austen film.
That said, although nothing really happens, the insights into both male and female interior lives during a relationship was powerful.
It was just too bad that McEwen seemed to suddenly get bored with his own work and rush through the denouement.

Beautifully written story about the expectations of marriage., 08 Sep 2008
I found this a beautifully written story about Edward and Florence, two characters set in the fifites in England. The story begins at the start of their honey-moon and McEwan's comi-tragic prose equips the reader with the central character's expectations of their roles in marriage and general expectations of what a marriage was in the 1950s. The tightly controlled language easily reflects the sense of English restriction and politeness between lovers and partners that prevailed in that decade. The story progresses to a wonderfully described climax where McEwan's gift of presenting the comic with the tragic comes to the forefront. I recommend this quick-read for its sense of style and beautiful prose capturing two lives in a day on Chesil Beach.

Sexual innocence, longing and anxiety in a short, touching novel, 25 Aug 2008
In an age of sex being everywhere, media portrayals of everyone being sexual athletes and 'at it' all the time, this was a welcome novel of innocence, longing and anxiety about the 'first time.'

I was touched by this short novel and would read it again. I think McEwan writes about love sensitively and look forward to reading his other works.

Bit long winded, 24 Sep 2008
I've never not finished a book once I've started it, but to be honest, I struggled with this one. At the start I didn't warm at all to any of the characters except for Robbie and what followed in the book enamoured me to them even less. But struggle I did and although I found the scenes in the lead up to Dunkirk very hard to read as they were so gruesome, I was glad I persevered. The last 100 pages more than made up for what came before. I'd read "On Chesil Beach" so was expecting the one pivotal moment in life aspect but it was so much more life altering in this book. It did stay with me long afterwards but I think the book could have been shortened a great deal without losing any of it's final impact.

Disappointing and tedious, 21 Sep 2008
I brought this as a holiday read purely on the basis of its hype and the fact that someone had clearly thought it worth investing money in to make a film. I was utterly disappointed; it was one of the most dull and overrated books I have ever read. It took until chapter nine for anything to actually occur, other than lethargic prose labouring the point that it was an awfully hot summer. So what? That was just rubbing the salt in. ;-)

The most annoying section of the book is the description of the evacuation from Dunkirk. It felt like McEwan was trying to raise the reader's consciousness by bringing in some gritty realism about the horrors of war, but this has been done so much more convincingly and sensitively by others (i.e. Sebastian Faulks, Pat Barker etc) that it just felt like a bid for the Booker. Call me a whiny old misery but I won't be reading anything else by McEwan again.


Read before watching film!, 25 Aug 2008
Atonement is, overall, quite a good read.
However, it is very much an up-hill battle to really get into it, though once you are in, it engrosses you for around 60% of the time, so in this way is good.
There are several parts throughout the book that I personally had to skip, as they were very slow-moving and irrelevant to the story.
If you have seen the film, the book is even more hard work, as it takes so much time to get round to what actually happens in the story, so if you read it after having seen the film - good luck!

Mastery of the written word certainly..., 21 Aug 2008
I don't know where to begin with this review. I have just finished reading Atonement and the last chapter and epilogue were really gripping and unputdownable. But earlier in the novel - the section covering Robbie's time at war - didn't really do it for me. I am not that fond of stories about war, and whilst I appreciate the mastery in the writing and the descriptions, I wasn't as moved as some.

I really like the scene in the library - that was very sensual and I was totally caught up in the moment. The first section of the novel was I felt a little rambling. Lots of 'big' words and flowing sentences which occassionally drove me to distraction - again I appreciated the mastery of the writing but it wasn't an especially easy novel to read on a train, full of distractions and noise! I did enjoy it all the same but I think I think I should've immersed myself in a library to be able to truely concentrate!

The crime - well there were more than one - but Briony's over-imagination was the focus of the novel. Even at the end her imagination got the better of her but I am glad it was explained but as I read the epilogue and the characters attending the party I did wonder what had happened.

I have struggled to give a star rating and have plumped for 4 stars because of the middle section I wasn't so fond of.

I haven't read McEwan before but have bought a couple of others - Saturday, On Cheshil Beach - to see what I think of him as an author. I was bought Atonement as a Christmas present last year and thought I ought to give it a read and am glad I did, despite some of my reservations.

I was umming and ahhing about whether to watch the film but I think it would just spoil the pictures I have in my head of the characters. Sorry - in my interpretation Keira Knightley doesn't feature!

Brillant story, but rubbishly made, 06 Aug 2008
I brought this book and it was brillant. The story is brillant and I liked the way that it had different sexctions focusing on certain events. Anyway, the book did not last long and started to fall to pieces when I had only read a third of it.

Beautiful but strange, 04 Nov 2008
There's absolutely no denying Ian McEwan has an incredible writing ability, if you've read Atonement you'll know this all too well! The way in which he makes you engage with the characters is incredible, you really really know how they feel. The only downside I'd say is that the story is a bit bizarre - no plot spoilers but - it wasn't the most believable idea for a plot.
If you like his writing style then I'd say definitely buy this book, but if you're more into a really good story then its a bit farfetched..

Disappointing, 03 Nov 2008
After reading (and watching!) Atonement, I expected that Enduring Love would be good. Boy, was I wrong. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm studying it for A Level English Literature or what but this book is the most boring and unimaginative book ever written. McEwan goes into too much detail in pretty much every description he makes, and I just lose interest. I can't actually read a page of that book without glazing over. Yeah, the first chapter was alright, I'll give him that, but when you use the same, long-winded, dull and time-wasting technique, it turns into torture. There's such a good plot and a brilliant idea that appears to be really creative, however McEwan takes the imaginative idea and turns it into something so scientific and when you read literature, you don't want to read a science book, you want to read something beautifully written and captivating!!
Overall, Enduring Love was actually awful and the worst book I have ever read in my life. It is boring, dull, uninteresting, long-winded, tiring and just plain bad. I normally like a book, in some way or another but this book is just unlikeable and horrible! McEwan has usually written so beautifully, so where did that go?? It certainly isn't in this horrendous book and frankly, it shouldn't be bought. Borrow it from your local library before you do buy it so you can see for yourself. If I weren't studying english lit that book would be at the dump right now. I cannot stand it.

Close study reveals hidden depths, 25 Oct 2008
My class is sudying this for A Level coursework and under close analysis it's really interesting and thought provoking. Ian McEwan introduces thoughtful ideas and clever points about life and human nature. I felt it also worked as a novel for entertainment but not as well because the plot is not exactly fast-paced. IMPORTANTLY if you do read it, also read the Appendices at the end...

Good plot if you can find it in the drivel, 12 Oct 2008
The overall plot was really enjoyable and well written. However, the majority of the novel was made up of pointless waffle. I actually got to the point where I was skimming the less interesting bits (which in places was several pages at a time) and don't feel that I missed out anything at all of importance. If McEwan had just stuck to the basic plot and not tried to seem impressive by talking about irrelevant topics then I would have given this 5 stars

unpredictable, self indulgent and lacking plot, 13 Sep 2008
Not having read any other of his books, I don't know how others rate, but I'm not rushing to find out ofter this painful experience. This story features a frustrated writer desperate to get back to real science, written by an author who tries to come across as scientific (see the appendix which attempts to justufy the ludicrous plot). Alongside the anti-religion tirade, this just feels far too autobiographical to be set as a novel.

And the (disconnected) leaps in the plot go far beyond a credible novel. Probably trying to be too clever, and cram in too many disconnected ideas, I'm afraid McEwan fails to pull it off (or pull it all together) in this book.

Slow starter, 01 Nov 2008
I've never read any McEwan before, and generally do not care for modern writers, but I was absolutely floored by his prose. The writing is amazing.


His portrayal of naive, pre-teen Briony is dead-on and eerie, and, even though she is far less developed, I could identify some with Cecelia's feelings of being a bit lost and out-of-place at home after the relative independence of college.


I've read a lot of reviews that are impatient with the slow pace, especially of the first part of the novel. While I agree that it is a novel that immerses the reader fully in descriptions, I think such criticism is a little unfair. It is not a novel that should be read in anticipation of getting to a juicy ending; it's a novel that should be read with the mindset that getting there is half (most of) the enjoyment.


The ending was complicated. No, I don't think anything she did later could actually atone for the mess Briony made. On the other hand, she was 13 and acting out of ignorance more than viciousness. And, frankly, I thought the title referred more at her attempt to atone to herself, to lay her conscience to rest, than to actually achieving any sort of atonement in the eyes of the rest of the world. I think it should not be taken too literally.

Slow starter but worth sticking with, 28 Sep 2008
I found this book to start slowly and did not really seem very interesting. However, I thought that maybe I was expecting too much after all the recommendations I have had so decided to stick with it and give the story a proper chance. I am so glad I did this, the plot quicky beomces gripping after those first few dreary pages. You soon realise how important those first pages are in setting the scene and helping you understand all the characters. I really enjoyed this book and have been thinking about it since finishing and I will definitley be re-reading this

Brilliant Evocation of Life-Changing Events, 19 Aug 2008
Atonement is not a quick read, nor should it be. The warps and wens of language into which Ian McEwan delves are to be savoured like a delicious meal. The premise is that Briony Tallis, an overly-imaginative 13-year-old thinks she sees something, and the tale she spins based on this changes several lives. The story is told from the viewpoint of Briony, her sister Cecilia and family friend Robbie Turner. The novel has the feel of "Rashomon" in that each perspective makes the book feel like a completely different story.

There are some segments that were difficult for me to read - mostly those dealing with Briony's work in a hospital following the evacuation of Dunkirk, but the realities of war should not be sugarcoated, much as we might like to hide our eyes from them.

More than anything, Atonement is a character study, examining the various ways we rationalize our actions, for good or bad, and how we, yes, "atone" for those actions, if we ever bother to try. This is the kind of writing that other authors should aspire to, and which few achieve. Very highly recommended.

Words can't do it justice, 15 Jul 2008
This is simply what is called a masterpiece. A word too often used and not often enough deserved.The writing is incredible, so good that you could weep that some people have the talent to create such prose and you don't. At least you can read it which is a blessing indeed.
It is the story of a young girl, too clever by half, somewhat arrogant and presumptuous who misreads a situation, sees too much, understands too little and will ruin three lives, her sister's, that of the young man her sister is in love with, and her own as she has to live with the consequences of her act of betrayal.

Perfection, 11 Jul 2008
A very short review simply because you should read the book for yourself - it will not disappoint. Beautifully written, beautiful plot, beautiful characters. McEwan is genius!

Elaborate hoax?, 26 Sep 2008
Just when I was beginning to think that the PC trend for favouring minority writers - disabled black communist lesbians for example - had gone a bit overboard, I was powerfully reminded why the tide had turned against white middle-aged, middle-class literary prize-winning male academics. Atonement was excellent and original, Enduring Love meaty and compelling; Saturday, though well-written and very readable, is as has been noted ad nauseam, a pretentious lifestyle novel, very full of its own pedigree ('John Grammaticus', for heaven's sake) - oozing well heeled self-satisfaction at every turn. Sure there's nothing wrong with class, but this is so self-consciously attuned to the lifestyle must-haves of 'people like us' that the characters lack all integrity. They are straight out of the Sunday supplement, down to the coffee and probiotic yogurt. This makes the 9-11 backdrop seem rather fashionably employed, and the treatment of the character of Baxter questionable. Glibly asserting that 'Some of the worst wrecks have been privately educated' does not address the issue here: it doesn't matter how fortunate or unfortunate the characters portrayed, if they're real people brought to life for us with some recognition of their lives' myriad associations and complexities. Perowne and his family are too much the kind of people marketing companies dangle before us to aspire to; as for Baxter and co, sadly McEwan reveals a much poorer understanding of social class than he has acquired of neurosurgery. There is also an undercurrent of emasculation, as though on some level Perowne/McEwan would love to be brave enough to fight for a cause, but in this world the serious business of male supremacy is fought to the death on the squash court. He's a cunning writer - perhaps his secret intention all along was to get us to side with the underdog?

the nineeleveniraqwar novel, 11 Sep 2008
'Ian? This is the marketing department, for God's sake write a nine eleven novel!'. But the authour has little to say on the subject beyond school boy observations that moslim women wear veils and that post Sadam Iraq (at the time of writing) couldn't be expected to be any worse than the then status quo. However the book is beautifully written and its characters are fully formed by McEwans perfect prose. Yes, they're the predicatable metropolitain, extended middle-class nuclear family, but in MacEwan's hands they come to life fully and have a detailed and interesting back story which completes and explains their reactions to the events in the narrative. Events which are partly given by circumstance, but also by accident of neurology, a subject he tackles with clarity whilst not detracting from its obvious complexity. En route we learn a lot about how to play the blues, play squash (the infamous 15 pages) and even the development of the cordless kettle. In the hands of a lesser writer these would appear padding for the non-nine-eleven novel, but in MacEwan's hands every word adds to his reader's understanding of the characters. Be warned, the story line struck me as being of secondary importance to the people that inhabited it, and the ending felt rather improbable. Without giving too much away, one moral of the narrative might be 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. Something we all agree with but which can be difficult to show convincingly in fiction given the backdrop of our times - both at home and abroad.

A bad kebab, 06 Sep 2008
I binned this book after the first few dozen pages. They were totally leaden. The author seemed to have swallowed a medical dictionary, whose contents were then regurgitated like a bad kebab supper. More of an endurance test than a novel, this was the second McEwan offering to bore me rigid. There won't be a third.

I thought it was just me..., 29 Aug 2008
As I write this, I'm about 15 pages from the end of 'Saturday' and can't wait to finish it, just to get it over with and to move onto something I might actually enjoy reading! It seems to have taken me forever to read and has turned into more of a chore than a pleasure. I've only stuck with it in the hope that something would actually 'happen' - alas, it seems I am to be disappointed (unless someone comes and blows up the Perownes' house in the final pages...). I thought I would read some reviews just to see if I was alone in wondering what all the fuss was about, and am very relieved to find I am not - I was beginning to think that this novel was part of some literary 'in-joke' which I didn't get.

I am, perhaps, something of a latecomer to McEwan. A friend lent me 'Enduring Love' a couple of years ago and I loved it, so resolved to read more of him. 'On Chesil Beach' was my next McEwan outing, and I enjoyed that too, so had high hopes for 'Saturday' - and the back-cover synopsis does make it sound as if this book has all the right ingredients for a gripping read. I have, however, found I have little interest in the main protagonist and, as many reviewers before me have stated, found his seemingly perfect family and upper-middle-class life nauseating.

McEwan's depth of research clearly cannot be faulted, however, the reader is rather beaten over the head with it - perhaps occasioning the need for Perowne's services... I just found myself drifting off with every description of a brain operation, the naming of each piece of equipment used, each procedure carried out, etc., etc., and could certainly have lived without the 20-or-so-page-long-shot-by-shot description of Perowne's squash game, which came across as pointless and self-indulgent. The description of the squash game may be interesting to those who play squash (which I don't); I will concede that squash players may make up a reasonable proportion of those who might read this book, however, the surgical descriptions are probably fascinating only to neurosurgeons who may want to read this book so that they can congratulate McEwan on his research, and I suspect that they will constitute only a tiny proportion of the readership. For most of the rest of us, these laboured passages seem to be just rather dull filler and add little to the plot.

Also very disappointing was the complete anti-climax that was the opening plane crash. The book opens in such a way that the reader expects this event to have a major impact on the rest of the story (in a similar vein to the incident at the opening of 'Enduring Love'), however, it turns into a minor distraction and one is left wondering why it's there. Sure, it may be the event that kicks off Perowne's unease throughout the day but as a plot device the plane crash turns out to be something of a damp squib.

Overall, I have found 'Saturday' to be self-indulgent, implausible (the Perownes' perfect life, Baxter's apparent road-to-Damascus moment on hearing Daisy reciting poetry) and, at times, rambling. I still have 'Atonement' and 'Amsterdam' sitting on my bookshelves, waiting to be read but think I will have to psych myself up for my next dose of McEwan, and cross my fingers that those two do actually live up to all the hype - which 'Saturday', sadly, certainly did not.

gipping by young reader, 07 Aug 2008
i read this at the age of 17 and even then found myself fully immersed in the ordinary routine of a londoner /neurosurgeon. there was nothing immense in the style of writting, nothing even brilliant however its the way the book forces u without forcing you to realise life and understand its qualities to be happy about what you have etc that was amazing. i
was finding myself tlaking about it with friends as if it was some film or soap i had been watching te detail is immense.
absolutley gripping.

Amazing, wonderful, awe inspiring yet deeply sad, 30 Sep 2008
What a fantastic, wonderful book - but not really for young children. The concepts are far too challenging. This is one for 9 to 99 year olds!

I am a year 6 teacher, and part of my History curriculum covers life during World War 2. Although we barely touch on the effects of the war for children abroad, this book covers a lot of it and introduces children to several challenging and disturbing concepts - thus tying together History and PSHE. It covers similar ideas to 'The Boy in Striped Pyjamas', but in a shorter and more instantly accessible format.

Rose Blanche is a young girl who discovers a concentration camp very near to where she lives. She visits regularly, not really understanding what she sees. The ending is sad, but the book is amazing!

'Rose Blanche', 28 Nov 2006
'Rose Blanche' is an interesting book it leaves you thinking about it and makes you wonder what is going to happen.

It has lots of interesting parts and it is very educational. It is good for older chilldren learning about World War Two you could also read it to younger chilldren if you read a few sentances a day. It gives lots of imformation about things that happened during the war.

Rose Blanches mother never findes her and Rose Blanche could have been killed.

It is set in Germany and most other books about the war are set in England.

A review of Rose Blanche, 24 Jun 2005
This book allows you to understand what it was like for a German child during the war. I think this book is very good because many books are about English children or sometimes not children, but adults.
The pictures in the book are extraordinary because of the colours as they are very dull, but they great brighter.
At the end of the story Ian McEwen describes the Spring arrival as a little invasion. This is a good example of using imagery to create effects.
This book also shows that lots of children were in camps and did die and were not evacuated like the children in England.
I think this book would be good for an older junior age child who is learning about the war.

Special..., 25 Mar 2004
It is a very special book and I would recommend it to both children and adults.
This is a story of agony and pain intertwined with hope and the beauty of a child's nature.
Good Book!

War through the eyes of a child, 13 Aug 2003
When Rose Blanche discovers a concentartion camp in the woods near her home in a little German town she doesn't quite understand what she has found, but she knows she must help the starving children there and keep their secret from the adults, even her mother. Haubting and strangley beautiful book where the pictures tell the story but the simple childlike language just adds to the tradedy of the inevitable outcome. As much a book for adults as it is for children.

Lack of Knowledge, Communication and Understanding = Disaster!, 17 Oct 2008
Edward and Florence - intelligent and well educated, yet unable to communicate and express their fears and expectations regarding married love. This lack of communication leads to unspoken misunderstandings that, in turn, inevitably destroy all that could have been. Ian McEwan's descriptive writing builds the tension brilliantly and the reader cannot help but feel despair. This novella tells its story of communication problems within romantic partnerships, but I found myself once more reminded of the evils regarding lack of understanding and communication on the larger scale, ie., world powers.

Too slow for me, 08 Oct 2008
Vaguely interesting, especially as books/films are not often set in the early 60's. But didn't anyone else find themselves shouting at the characters to "just get on with it".

Rushed, 17 Sep 2008
I agree with the reviewer who said that it was ridiculous to cram the final forty year of the protagonist's life into seven pages. Also, the poorly edited statement that the man's business was dwindling due to 'internet' shopping when the setting was only the early 80s was like a Ferrari driving across a Jane Austen film.
That said, although nothing really happens, the insights into both male and female interior lives during a relationship was powerful.
It was just too bad that McEwen seemed to suddenly get bored with his own work and rush through the denouement.

Beautifully written story about the expectations of marriage., 08 Sep 2008
I found this a beautifully written story about Edward and Florence, two characters set in the fifites in England. The story begins at the start of their honey-moon and McEwan's comi-tragic prose equips the reader with the central character's expectations of their roles in marriage and general expectations of what a marriage was in the 1950s. The tightly controlled language easily reflects the sense of English restriction and politeness between lovers and partners that prevailed in that decade. The story progresses to a wonderfully described climax where McEwan's gift of presenting the comic with the tragic comes to the forefront. I recommend this quick-read for its sense of style and beautiful prose capturing two lives in a day on Chesil Beach.

Sexual innocence, longing and anxiety in a short, touching novel, 25 Aug 2008
In an age of sex being everywhere, media portrayals of everyone being sexual athletes and 'at it' all the time, this was a welcome novel of innocence, longing and anxiety about the 'first time.'

I was touched by this short novel and would read it again. I think McEwan writes about love sensitively and look forward to reading his other works.

Bit long winded, 24 Sep 2008
I've never not finished a book once I've started it, but to be honest, I struggled with this one. At the start I didn't warm at all to any of the characters except for Robbie and what followed in the book enamoured me to them even less. But struggle I did and although I found the scenes in the lead up to Dunkirk very hard to read as they were so gruesome, I was glad I persevered. The last 100 pages more than made up for what came before. I'd read "On Chesil Beach" so was expecting the one pivotal moment in life aspect but it was so much more l