Amends

Atonement, an amazing novel by Ian McEwan, was an intriguing summer read.  The story itself made me feel like I was part of the book, as I didn’t feel like I was just a person reading it, but instead, I felt like I was one of the characters, Cecilia.  It was very easy for me to feel like I was Cecilia in the events that were going on, simply because they were very easy to relate to.  I originally didn’t choose this book because I thought it was a good choice, but instead I chose it for the sole reason that I had heard very good reviews for the movie.  I was also much more inspired to read this book because I had procrastinated watching the movie for about a year so I figured it was just easier for me to read the book, that way I would know what the story was about.  After I started reading the book and I realized that actual format or regime was so unusual, I was even more interested to see what came next, and what kept happening as I finished each chapter.  Unlikely, British literature is actually one of my favorite genres; so reading Atonement was very enjoyable. I enjoyed the fact that not only was the story complex, but the way that the book was physically set up, made me think even more because what the main character, Briony sees, is not what is truly happening and McEwan takes us back to understand what is going on in reality and not in Briony's head.  It was so interesting for me to see what different perspectives and what different minds made up of the same scenario, truly because it’s something that throughout my life, I’ve encountered with my parents and with my brother, what looks to my dad like something of a huge significance, to my mom it’s something of very small importance.  Point of view and perspective are things that when done well make every story better.  The greatest strength that this novel had, story-telling, has to be every instance when Briony is describing a moment, like at the very beginning when she describes what her play is like, and how she feels, she leads to a pure image of what she is thinking and a our understanding of what she is feeling, or truly McEwan is giving an incredible description of the thoughts and feelings that he wants to share with us readers.   Although I did love the book, and the descriptions, what made me fall in love even more with this book, that it crossed lines.  Atonement, was no simple book, it contained a message that not every person, or only a more mature person would understand, such as the importance of trust, and the wide range of dangers that can happen in a thought where what you think, can be something completely different.  I loved the fact that Robbie, Cecilia’s lover, paid for the mistakes that her sister made, and I loved that he suffered so much because of her, but at the end of it all he learns that because he loves Cecilia and that at the end of everything, he was able to be with Cecilia, Briony just made him stronger.