There Was No Such Thing: Atonement by Ian McEwan

I was so close to not writing this post. I'm going through a transition of some sorts in my professional life, and I'm doing so many things that I was starting to feel like a hamster on a wheel and I was getting tired. Forgetting writing is my saving grace, I thought this blog was unimportant in my endeavors, which is resoundingly false. So breakdown and crisis averted, here is the post for this week:

I really wanted to like Atonement by Ian McEwan. A bit regretfully, I saw the movie first and loved the heartbreaking love story. But something always rubbed me the wrong way about the entirety of the story. 

Atonement is about a young girl named Briony and how her imagination and naivety changes the course of her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie, a family friend, lives forever in history. In a course of a day, Briony sees different events take place and convinces herself that Robbie is a sex maniac. What Briony sees as a sexual act forced upon her sister is actually Cecilia and Robbie realizing their love for one another and having sex for the first time. Thereafter, Briony accuses Robbie after her cousin, Lola, is raped during a search for Lola's missing twin brothers. Robbie is promptly arrested and convicted on the word of thirteen year old Briony. She is the sole witness and her word is taken as fact. Now, Robbie has committed no crime and Briony doesn't actually SEE the man that rapes Lola. Or perhaps, she sees him, but wants it to be Robbie so badly. This is never really clear. Regardless, Robbie goes to jail and Cecilia ceases all contact with her family for she cannot forgive them for sending the man she loves away.

The story takes place at the beginning of World War II and Robbie is given the choice of staying in prison or shortening his sentence by enlisting; he readily enlists. Part two of the novel follows Robbie as a soldier and the various obstacles he overcomes as he is trying to reach the ships to be evacuated. This is where the novel shines for me. The description of the solemn, yet hopeful mood made me sympathize with Robbie's character and efforts. All the while, I was reminded that if Briony hadn't accused him, he may not have been in that predicament.

"I love you. I'll wait for you. Come back." The words spoken by Cecilia that gives Robbie strength to carry on.

Then the reader is presented with an eighteen year old Briony in her first year as a nurse. She followed in Cecilia's footsteps (she is also a nurse) as way of atonement for what she did as a child. I feel like this was supposed to make Briony more endearing and likable because of her sacrifice (she could have been a proper student at Cambridge) and presumed humility but I still felt contempt. I could not forgive her because I had just finished reading the impact it had on Robbie.

The ending further frustrated me and I gave up trying to find any redeeming qualities to the story. Without giving too much away, Lola marries her rapist, who was a friend of Briony and Cecilia's brother and a wealthy chocolate magnate. He and Lola live a long life as does Briony. I felt that the bad guys got away with everything and didn’t learn anything. I love an anti-hero or an unlikable main character, I do, but in a story like this when the character changes the lives other people through their own foolish faults and then is too cowardice to right the wrong, I can't forgive them and I think them poorly written. Briony does not grow at all. She proves to be the same selfish and self-important little girl she was in the beginning. I would venture to say she got worst.

I thought, just maybe, the book would have more character development and explain more than the movie. But it did not. While reading this novel, I couldn't help but think, "I would rather be watching the movie". I rarely feel this way but the movie is so beautifully done and a near perfect adaptation. I will say this, the description and writing are immaculate; Ian McEwan is a impeccable writer. 

Certain elements of the story leave the readers wondering how much of it is simply a novel and how much is supposed to be the novel written by Briony. Though it is ambitious, I don't like this element at all because then I feel manipulated by Briony, who thinks she can play God as an acclaimed novelist. I actually ignored this element at first because it would make me second guess what was real and what was created to suit Briony's creativity and assuage guilt. Also, if McEwan was pulling an Inception, Briony wasn't that good of storyteller because at no point did I like her character or find her the least bit interesting. The story just didn't do it for me. The book can be found on Amazon of course and you can form your own opinion. On Thursday, I'll compare the book and movie.