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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Saturday by Ian McEwan, and Thoughts about Atonement

I am enjoying the cerebral qualities of the neurosurgeon Henry Perowne's mind in Saturday, although I admit I became bogged down following his thoughts as he makes his way through the crowds to the fishmonger's. This part of the novel coincided with some unwelcome distractions at home, which ground my reading to a halt lasting for several days. Back again, I hope. So hopefully, Henry will finally get his fish and shellfish for the evening meal...

I have also read McEwan's On Chesil Beach and Atonement, both of which I found to be top-notch, for different reasons. I was disappointed that the word atonement was chosen for the title. I'm afraid I considered it a flaw, still do, perhaps because by using this title, I thought the author?? publicist?? publisher?? was shoving forth its theme. I can't believe McEwan would do that. If he named it Atonement, perhaps it was done in irony, and wouldn't that be complicated to pull apart? I'm not certain, but I may have hit on a topic that could generate discussion among ardent readers of the novel.

1 comment:

  1. I didn't care for the title Atonement either. I liked the book a lot. I found Saturday a few weeks back on a stack of abandoned books at work. One of our expats moved back and left books. All the Grisham's and Harry Potter's were gone, only Saturday and Joan Didion's book of grief were left. I took them.
    I haven't started it yet. I didn't like The Comfort of Strangers. Well written but disgusting.

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