Mads’s Reviews > Atonement > Status Update

Some irony in the closing scene of Part Three.

Things between Briony and Robbie become more complex by this point, in a way that fascinates me.

This books makes great use of dramatic irony alongside the limited perspectives. I am consistently reminded of Briony's revelation that writing isn't so much about what's good and what's evil, but more so about showing different perspectives. I think that bit worked as a subtle instruction to the reader, too.

I wanna put chapter Eight under a microscope and study how it so effectively delivers its tone.

There seems to be an ongoing theme surrounding manipulation, and how that impacts the people in the story. I wonder what this has to say about Christianity? Because that's not lost on me, the consistent references to the 'good, Christian lifestyle'. It's not direct, but it is ever present.

There were some delightful little nuggets about writing as an artform in the third chapter!

The second chapter deals with Cecilia, who is on the surface quite the opposite of Briony. But in the ways that matter, they are much the same. I'll be interested in seeing how this plays out.

Something the first chapter does very well is capture the mentality of a child. The sort of self-centered perspective, the way everything is so Big and Important. This is particularly interesting, because of the way Lola and Briony brush against each other.

I find myself relating very much to Briony's fixation with order and how that translates into what she gets out of writing.