Atonement

By: Ian McEwan

Narrated by: Jill Tanner

Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Critics Circle, Fiction, 2003

In Atonement, three children lose their innocence, as the sweltering summer heat bears down on the hottest day in 1935, and their lives are changed forever. Cecilia Tallis is of England's priviledged class; Robbie Turner is the housekeeper's son. In their moment of intimate surrender, they are interrupted by Cecilia's hyperimaginative and scheming 13-year-old sister, Briony. And as chaos consumes the family, Briony commits a crime, the guilt of which she shall carry throughout her life.

©2001 Ian McEwan (P)2003 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

• Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Fiction, 2003

"A tour de force. Every bit as affecting as it is gripping." (The New York Times)
"Enthralling...With psychological insight and a command of sensual and historical detail, Mr. McEwan creates an absorbing fictional world." (The Wall Street Journal)
"A beautiful and majestic fictional panorama." (The New Yorker)

Dissapointing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. It was just sad, sad, sad from beginning to end

What could Ian McEwan have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

A happy ending would have been nice.

Have you listened to any of Jill Tanner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of her other books, however, she was very good.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Not his best

The story proceeded a little slowly and did not come to a suspenseful climax as much as a long unwinding. It is not entirely out of character, I believe, since the other book of McEwan's I have read (The Innocent) was also deliberately written, if more exciting.

The reading is also good, and certainly does not interfere with your enjoyment.

McEwan's very best

I am not a McEwan fan, i think he's a brilliant writer, but i usually don't appreciate his book plots which are focused on human weakness in an unbearable way.
In this case, both the writing and the plot are brilliant, he maginificently toys with the readers' point of view.

Brilliant narrator!

Good story, strange audiobook layout.

Good story, exactly like the movie. My one complaint is that the chapters in the audiobook do not line up with the chapters in the text. Grant it, chapters in the audiobook mark a good place to pause the story if you need to walk away. However, they're not better places to stop than chapter breaks. Some audiobook chapters are actually in the middle of a scene in the story. Just strange.

One of my favorites

I read this book every few years as it’s one of my all time favorites. I couldn’t find my physical copy so I downloaded the audiobook, it did not disappoint.

Beautiful Performance, Terrible Story

Title says it all. I loved the performance, Tanner's reading was calming and engrossing. However, the story itself was too long, and too deliberately slow paced. I'm sure plenty of people will enjoy the story, but it was not for me.

Fantastic read and narrator!

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. The narrator was excellent and perhaps added an element to the book that you would not otherwise get if read. The way the author wrote was beautifully descriptive without being too detailed. I also very much enjoyed his style that had multiple voices and perspectives of the same scenes. It was very well written.

Magnificent book

This book is amazing. The author's ability to capture the minds of his characters -- their certainties, their doubts, the very process of the ways in which they think -- is exceptional. You really come to understand who these characters are. He also has an extraordinary eye for detail, which in this book feels exactly right. And the story itself is powerful, right up to its thought-provoking ending. Highly recommended.

Ended it

I really enjoyed this one. Thought the narrator was wonderful. I look forward to seeing how the movie measures up

Loved it. Highly recommend.

Really enjoyed this. I had run across a recommendation somewhere & really glad I followed thru to read this. I'll be reading more of Mr. McEwan.