正文
Atonement (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Atonement is a 2001 novel by British author Ian McEwan.
The title refers to the process of forgiving or pardoning a transgression, and alludes to the main characters' search for atonement. An upper-middle-class girl in interwar England - who aspires to be a writer - makes a serious mistake that has life changing effects for many. Consequently through the remaining years of the century she seeks atonement - which leads to an exploration on the nature of writing itself.
It is widely regarded as one of McEwan's best works and is one of the most celebrated and honoured books of recent years. It was shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize for fiction, an award he had already won for his previous novel, Amsterdam. McEwan utilises several stylistic techniques in the novel, including metafiction and psychological realism. The book was later adapted into a BAFTA and Academy-Award nominated film of the same name, starring James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, and directed by Joe Wright in 2007.
In the hot summer of 1935, 13-year-old Briony Tallis is already an ambitious writer. She has written a play for her older brother, Leon, who is supposed to arrive later in the day. The characters are to be played by her cousins, 15-year-old Lola and the nine-year-old twins Jackson and Pierrot. Briony's sister, Cecilia, has returned home from Girton College, Cambridge, and is trying to sort out her confused feelings towards the charlady’s son and her childhood friend, Robbie Turner, who is also home from Cambridge for the summer. His studies were financed by her father, Jack Tallis, and Robbie is now considering becoming a doctor, which would also be funded by Jack Tallis.
Atonement
The novel bears the name of its primary theme. Throughout the work, the reader can see the characters search for atonement. "I gave them happiness, but I was not so self-serving as to let them forgive me," Briony says at the end of the novel. Briony recognizes her sin (i.e., wrongfully accusing Robbie and ruining his and Cecilia's chance at a life together) and attempts to atone for it through writing her novel. She does not grant herself forgiveness; rather, she attempts to earn atonement through giving Robbie and Cecilia a life together in her writing.
Book/Author Relationship
McEwan reiterates the comparison between himself, a writer in reality, and Briony, a writer of fiction in his story. Throughout the novel, McEwan compares himself, an author of literary fiction, to Briony and both her literary fiction and real-life fiction. This comparison draws a relationship between the life of the author and the life of Briony in the story.
Truth v. Imagination
Throughout the novel, Briony constructs her own world due to immaturity and misunderstanding, both in her literature and in her mind. Briony’s fabricated reality is often positive and optimistic, such as the inclusion of Robbie and Cecilia meeting at the end of her story; however her false reality initiated the plot of the story, as she lied about the rape of Lola.
Peace
The motif of peace is shown through the stillness and calm the characters experience at the Tallis Estate at the beginning of the novel.
Death
Throughout the second half of the novel, the motif of death contrasts the motif of life shown in the beginning of the novel.
Love
The relationship between Cecilia and Robbie is portrayed throughout the book as a loving one, even when Briony fictitiously portrays their reunion. Companionship is also exemplified between family members in the book, although Briony’s relationships are mostly overprotective.
[edit] Dunkirk
The second section of the book contains detailed descriptions of the Dunkirk evacuation, in which Robbie takes part, and gives an account of his war experiences.
[edit] Social background
Robbie has been well-treated, being the friend and companion of the Tallis family children and having a first class school and university education paid for by the father. Nevertheless, neither he nor the family members forget that he is the charwoman's son.
[edit] References to other literary works
Atonement contains intertextual references to a number of other literary works, including Virginia Woolf's The Waves, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Henry James' The Golden Bowl, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, and Shakespeare's The Tempest, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night. McEwan has also said that he was directly influenced by L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between. It also has a (fictional) letter by the literary critic and editor Cyril Connolly, addressed to Briony.
[edit] Awards, rankings and critiques
Atonement was shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize for fiction. It was also shortlisted for the 2001 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2001 Whitbread Book Award for Novel. It won the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the 2002 WH Smith Literary Award, the 2002 Boeke Prize and the 2004 Santiago Prize for the European Novel.[2] In its 1000th issue, Entertainment Weekly named the novel #82 on its list of best 100 books in the past 25 years. Time named it the best fiction novel of the year and included it in its All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels,[3] and The Observer cites it as one of the 100 best novels written, calling it "a contemporary classic of mesmerising narrative conviction."[4]
Literary critiques:
Crosthwaite, Paul. "Speed, War, and Traumatic Affect: Reading Ian McEwan's Atonement." Cultural Politics 3.1 (2007): 51-70.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Atonement is a 2001 novel by British author Ian McEwan.
The title refers to the process of forgiving or pardoning a transgression, and alludes to the main characters' search for atonement. An upper-middle-class girl in interwar England - who aspires to be a writer - makes a serious mistake that has life changing effects for many. Consequently through the remaining years of the century she seeks atonement - which leads to an exploration on the nature of writing itself.
It is widely regarded as one of McEwan's best works and is one of the most celebrated and honoured books of recent years. It was shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize for fiction, an award he had already won for his previous novel, Amsterdam. McEwan utilises several stylistic techniques in the novel, including metafiction and psychological realism. The book was later adapted into a BAFTA and Academy-Award nominated film of the same name, starring James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, and directed by Joe Wright in 2007.
In the hot summer of 1935, 13-year-old Briony Tallis is already an ambitious writer. She has written a play for her older brother, Leon, who is supposed to arrive later in the day. The characters are to be played by her cousins, 15-year-old Lola and the nine-year-old twins Jackson and Pierrot. Briony's sister, Cecilia, has returned home from Girton College, Cambridge, and is trying to sort out her confused feelings towards the charlady’s son and her childhood friend, Robbie Turner, who is also home from Cambridge for the summer. His studies were financed by her father, Jack Tallis, and Robbie is now considering becoming a doctor, which would also be funded by Jack Tallis.
Atonement
The novel bears the name of its primary theme. Throughout the work, the reader can see the characters search for atonement. "I gave them happiness, but I was not so self-serving as to let them forgive me," Briony says at the end of the novel. Briony recognizes her sin (i.e., wrongfully accusing Robbie and ruining his and Cecilia's chance at a life together) and attempts to atone for it through writing her novel. She does not grant herself forgiveness; rather, she attempts to earn atonement through giving Robbie and Cecilia a life together in her writing.
Book/Author Relationship
McEwan reiterates the comparison between himself, a writer in reality, and Briony, a writer of fiction in his story. Throughout the novel, McEwan compares himself, an author of literary fiction, to Briony and both her literary fiction and real-life fiction. This comparison draws a relationship between the life of the author and the life of Briony in the story.
Truth v. Imagination
Throughout the novel, Briony constructs her own world due to immaturity and misunderstanding, both in her literature and in her mind. Briony’s fabricated reality is often positive and optimistic, such as the inclusion of Robbie and Cecilia meeting at the end of her story; however her false reality initiated the plot of the story, as she lied about the rape of Lola.
Peace
The motif of peace is shown through the stillness and calm the characters experience at the Tallis Estate at the beginning of the novel.
Death
Throughout the second half of the novel, the motif of death contrasts the motif of life shown in the beginning of the novel.
Love
The relationship between Cecilia and Robbie is portrayed throughout the book as a loving one, even when Briony fictitiously portrays their reunion. Companionship is also exemplified between family members in the book, although Briony’s relationships are mostly overprotective.
[edit] Dunkirk
The second section of the book contains detailed descriptions of the Dunkirk evacuation, in which Robbie takes part, and gives an account of his war experiences.
[edit] Social background
Robbie has been well-treated, being the friend and companion of the Tallis family children and having a first class school and university education paid for by the father. Nevertheless, neither he nor the family members forget that he is the charwoman's son.
[edit] References to other literary works
Atonement contains intertextual references to a number of other literary works, including Virginia Woolf's The Waves, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Henry James' The Golden Bowl, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, and Shakespeare's The Tempest, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night. McEwan has also said that he was directly influenced by L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between. It also has a (fictional) letter by the literary critic and editor Cyril Connolly, addressed to Briony.
[edit] Awards, rankings and critiques
Atonement was shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize for fiction. It was also shortlisted for the 2001 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2001 Whitbread Book Award for Novel. It won the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the 2002 WH Smith Literary Award, the 2002 Boeke Prize and the 2004 Santiago Prize for the European Novel.[2] In its 1000th issue, Entertainment Weekly named the novel #82 on its list of best 100 books in the past 25 years. Time named it the best fiction novel of the year and included it in its All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels,[3] and The Observer cites it as one of the 100 best novels written, calling it "a contemporary classic of mesmerising narrative conviction."[4]
Literary critiques:
Crosthwaite, Paul. "Speed, War, and Traumatic Affect: Reading Ian McEwan's Atonement." Cultural Politics 3.1 (2007): 51-70.
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