BookCrazy discussion

Hi Everyone,
I've finished Atonement and am so glad you suggested this book Grace Ann! This was my first Ian McEwan and I loved it. He is a very insightful writer. I won't say more until someone else posts.

Aw Heck - I haven't even *started* it yet - I didn't realize we'd chosen that one to go with. Sorry about that - I'll catch up just as soon as I can. :-)

No problem GraceAnn, did anyone else get around to reading it? It's really worth it.

I just got into the third chapter. It appears that Briony has a very active imagination, which makes her a good author of stories and plays, but since she has just spotted her sister and Robbie in the garden, that imagination could get her into trouble.
I haven't seen the movie for this book so I'm guessing about all of this.
I also think that Lola and her freckled brothers are a hoot. Can't wait to see how Briony's issues with them play out.

Lisa

I haven't got the book yet, so I'll be late. I'm glad the discussion is going though. This way I'll be able to ask questions as I go. If I wait until the end, I'll forget! Sigh. I think it's called "aging".

I would say that McEwan has a gift for painting his characters in words. I'm finding that I can see the various people in the book and that I know them, which comes from the author's ability to flesh them out so well.

I finally finished the book last night, and all I can say is "Wow!" Here are my thoughts (there are spoilers, so if you haven't read it yet, stop here):

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The use of different perspectives in identical situations is very interesting. If anyone has seen the film "Rashomon," it's sort of got that feel to it.

The gift for language that McEwan has is something that I as a writer can only dream to achieve. Lisa said that he paints his characters in words, and I love that description. There were so many amazing sequences that I re-read simply because the words were like music and I wanted to experience them again.

There was one thing that didn't ring true. One whole chapter is devoted to how quiet the house is - Emily can barely hear her own sighs), but in a prior chapter, when she's suffering a migraine, she can hear the murmurs from the playroom. This, however, is a *tiny* quibble.

Perceptions again: Briony sees herself as Cecilia's rescuer, but Robbie is sure that she did what she did because he chose Cecilia over her. And Cecilia's perspective? We get Robbie's and we get Briony's, but not Cecilia's - not really.

Briony is a storyteller with a huge imagination - why does no one think of this when she tells her story? What about Lola's previous, strange encounter with the real culprit?

I love the idea that the old house is now a hotel. When my husband and I were married in Scotland last year, we had our reception at, and spent our honeymoon night in, The Ardoe House, just outside Aberdeen. It used to be a family estate and now it is a hotel, just like in Atonement (though the Atonement house is described as ugly, and Ardoe looks like a castle).

The missing bits of everyone's lives intrigued me. Leon's wives and life as a single father, the twins, Briony's father's second marriage, etc. The idea that the story doesn't have to be spelled out in order to exist is a fascinating one.

Now, I have found some "Book Group Discussion Questions" online that I can use here, if anyone is interested. Let me know if that's how you would like to proceed.

It's funny you mentioned that part describing Emily and her perceptions of the house and how she is able to hear everything. I actually read that and thought WOW! It was so bang on to my own experience as a mother listening from my bedroom when I have a migraine. In the same way I am constantly aware of the location of my daughter as well as the intonation of her voice etc. I thought it was uncanny how he got that so accurately. I think he is extremely perceptive.

If you have some good discussion questions...fire away and I for one will participate.

I'm of two minds on the discussion questions. I have found two sets of them, and the first set is rather benign and would probably lead to interesting conversation. The second set makes the reading more like a requirement to provide a "book report" as we did in high school. The sorts of questions I avoided when I was 16 are coming back to haunt me at 40. ROFL You can see both sets of questions here:

http://askville.amazon.com/Book-club-...

Perhaps readers can pick and choose which, if any question from either list they'd like to discuss. I do urge everyone to read both sets of questions, because even if we don't discuss any of them, they do bring up issues that I was unaware of (the novel's homage to Northanger Abbey, for instance).

Can anyone tell me the correct way to pronounce Briony's name? I didn't see the movie.

Thanks!
Lisa