ATONEMENT (Ian McEwan) - August 22/07

I had to breeze through this incredibly dense book in four days in preparation for a film festival screening, and although it was awfully long-winded at times, Atonement is clearly the work of an exceptional writer. Ian McEwan proves to have an undeniable gift for painting an incredibly vivid picture of a given time and place, even if he does occasionally go a little too far in describing things. Still, this is a sporadically riveting book that will probably make a great movie (I'll find out tomorrow morning). *** out of ****