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LITERATURE: Atonement by Ian McEwan


So this was first recommended to me by a friend whose literary opinion I really respect. She said there was a part of this novel, towards the end, where you're sort of reading and it doesn't really make 100% sense but then you're like "OHHH".

I didn't quite get that moment, but that doesn't change the fact that I really enjoyed the read. To be fair, though, I thought I'd get the "aha" moment, and was really waiting for it, and when it didn't come I was a bit underwhelmed. That being said, let's dig in.

If you've seen the movie (I haven't) then I suppose the plot will be somewhat ruined, and that's a shame, because part of what makes this book so tantalizing is the constant desire of the reader to know more, and quickly, and McEwan's absolute disregard of the reader's desire in favor of advancing his plot slowly, carefully, and sensually. When I say sensually, here, I don't mean sexually. In fact, if you ask me, the book could have done with a good deal more smut. Not to be a pervert, but this really was literary blue-balling, because McEwan leads you right up to the moment, and then sort of drops you off in favor of exploring other things.

(N.B. *I think I'm going to go ahead and start using that as a post label, because I feel like too many authors do it. Literary blueballing, I mean.)

In McEwan's case, though, I attest that it was justifiable, since his plot, ultimately, is not so much about the love affair between Cecelia and Robbie as it is, naturally, about Briony (the younger sister)'s Atonement, hence the name of the novel.

That being said, I can definitely imagine a much more cathartic experience for film viewers than for readers, if we're talking about the sexual realm. If we're talking about the realm of words, metaphor, description, and sheer literary skill, McEwan truly impressed me. There is something extraordinarily beautiful about not only what he writes, but how he writes it. Each word seems to be selected as carefully as a choice chocolate from an extraordinarily diverse and rich Whitman's sampler, if you'll pardon the food pun.

I'm really glad that I hadn't discovered him before, because now, I have the luck to have more of his writing ahead of me. Cheerio!

But back to brass tacks. The plot: early 20th century, 13-year-old Briony sees something happen between her sister, Cecelia, and Robbie, the son of the hired help. What Briony doesn't realize due to her immaturity causes her to ultimately blame Robbie for a terrible crime that's committed about halfway through the novel. (Sorry if I'm being crazy vague. I just know that some people absolutely detest spoilers.) This accusation ultimately ruins a ton of lives, including (arguably) Briony's own.

So. While the writing was grand, I really do wish the plot progressed just a teeny, tiny bit faster at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious to read, but I found myself almost skipping paragraphs because I wanted to know what happened. This, of course, is a rare talent among writers, but for me, McEwan almost does what I like to call the "Tolkien effect." That is, spending 20 pages describing a single blade of grass on the foggy hillside. Gag me with a spoon.

I'm all for description and setting the scene, but please, progress as you do this!

Further, while I found Briony to be a really rich, 3 and even 4 dimensional character (let's count time as a dimension, shall we?) I wish there was more to Cecelia. I knew that I liked her, but ultimately, that was only because I really liked Robbie, and she liked him. Since so much of the book focuses on her, and Briony's relationship with her and Robbie, I almost wish there was more to go on than just the broad strokes. Although, the beauty of McEwan is that we can sit and hypothesize about her and argue about Briony all the live-long day.

At the end, though, I found Briony to be a bit more disturbed and strange than even McEwan gives her credit for. SPOILERS Follow::::::

I didn't really buy that she "forgot" about her crush on Robbie, and I also didn't quite like how nonchalant she seemed about the incident, at the end. Granted, she was young then, but as an adult who understood the real intricacies of what happened, I was horrified to learn how little remorse she really seemed to show about it. As though writing about it was going to make it all better! But I guess that's the key to a disturbed personality. Well done, I.M.

FINAL VERDICT:
*** and 1/2 out of *****
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LITERATURE: Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides


Oh Jeff. Love you, boo.

Beautiful, very lyrical prose and a fairly gripping story about a man named Cal, and how he journeyed from being a young Greek girl (Calliope) to realizing that he had both, erm, parts, and identified more with the male form. More or less, I guess you'd have to classify this as a coming-of-age, but also as one of those family history sort of texts, a la "If I Told You Once" by Judy Budnitz (brilliant), or even something like "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn," since the vast majority of the story, though it's being narrated by Cal, focuses on events that happened before his birth.

Particularly, he traces his "condition" back to the very familial "mistakes" that caused it. (Incest, much?) which gives the reader a very thoughtful account of landscapes like Greece and Detroit at the turn of the century.

There are alternating moments of mirth, grief, and salacious scenes between adolescents just budding over with repressed sexuality, all of which makes this a great read. There are also a ton of "Forest Gump"-like moments, where the family's adventures intersect with historical figures or events, which adds to the pleasure of reading this book through slowly.

My only criticism might be that, for me, the ending didn't quite seem to match up. All too quickly, it seemed to disconnect from the rest of the plot re: Cal's family, and the very end was a little underdeveloped for me. I wanted a more about adult Cal, though I can definitely see what Eugenides accomplished by leaving the plot openended. IMHO, though, I feel like the adult Cal should have been more developed since the whole plot is sort of his explanation of his current life.

But then again, it won a Pulitzer, so what do I know?

The only other thing I will say is that, for me, at least, it was a fairly slow read. I was definitely able to put it down, (I read Twilight in a day in the middle of this one), and I'm not sure whether that's a boon or a bore. I was glad, ultimately, that I read it, but I suppose that it wasn't the best beach book out there. Although, to be fair, 4 separate people on the beach in the group that I was with were all reading it. So there.

FINAL VERDICT:

**** out of *****
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