Atonement - Ian McEwan

I am trying not to give anything away (because it is that sort of a book) and I don't want to atone for such a crime(because I am not that sort of person). Ian McEwan, once again provides a neat twist at the end of his tale. I read his 1997 1998 Booker winner - Amsterdam before starting Atonement to get a better sense of Ian McEwan. He is fantastic. Deep, but still readable. An author who writes a story with a 'good plot' is a rare commodity these days.
In my opinion, Amsterdam is way better than Atonement. Both are similar, being mostly about love and relationships, but in Amsterdam McEwan's talent is better displayed. There was a mix of social commentary on politics, music and media; the irony of friendship and love; a tale of revenge; all done in half the number of pages. I digress, the relative merits of the two is a matter of a separate discussion. In Atonement, Ian McEwan is more controlled, the story longer and less complex. It is like a classic symphony with three movements. Part I is the setup, Part II is Robbie's story and Part III is everybody back in the picture. There is always a surprise at the end but it's not what you expect.
With each section of the book, Ian McEwan allows us to see multiple points of view. The Absolute Truth is diffracted differently by everyone's individual lens - there is Briony's story, Cecilia's story, Emily's story and Robbie's story of what really happened. As the characters reveal their history and thoughts, the mystery of that night unravels. Every subsequent recreation of the event is different. When Robbie remembers an earlier incident when he took Briony swimming, you wonder - was that what made her do it? Or was that inconsequential?
Children can be cruel, manipulative; and yet, also be quite innocent. After Briony witnesses two intimate scenes and reads the scandalous note written by Robbie, she is convinced of her initiation into the 'mysteries of adulthood'. She decides to punish Robbie... Years later, she realises her mistake and seeks atonement. But life is not as simple as her fairy-tale play - The Trials of Arabella - mistakes will always be made and there are those than can't be undone. The Trials of Briony begin.
Long after finishing the novel, you still think of alternative scenarios and wonder 'What if...?'
Rating: 4/5

**
The parts which I found irksome were the excruciating details of evacuation from Dunkirk. I felt I was reading Cornelius Ryan and not McEwan. Was the detail necessary? Wonder if such inflation has anything to do with writers being paid by number of words written. I tend to get a feeling that after their first major success every subsequent work gets longer and longer. At the end, I was as tired as the soldiers. The corrections provided by the Colonel to the manuscript were a fine touch. I wonder if people caught them. I was too weary, at that point to catch bloopers like the 'one-thousand ton bomb'.