Review: Atonement

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Briony is just the age to be confused about a lot of things. As a precocious preteen, she wants to be noticed by the adults, maybe even treated as an equal. She especially idolizes her older sister, who is just now realizing she may have deeper feelings for Robbie, the housekeeper’s son. Briony’s spot as both the budding young woman and the cute little one are usurped by her cousins, an older girl and younger twins. When the twins run away, everyone goes out to search, and Briony makes a huge moral blunder. The rest of the book deals with the ramifications of this choice, stretching into World War II and the adulthood of everyone present.

This book is on a number of “great novels” lists, but I wasn’t impressed. There are three main “episodes” in the book: the opening, set when Briony is very young; Robbie in WWII France, and Briony as a student nurse during the war. Of these, only the last held my attention; the first moved way too slow, and the second seemed pointless in terms of the plot of the novel. The characters weren’t at all sympathetic either. Briony was too spoiled and selfish for me to want to spend page time with her, and Robbie was (understandably) messed up and bitter. 3/5*

Review: Corelli's Mandolin

Author: Louis de Bernieres

Title: Corelli’s Mandolin

Description: This book was made into the movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, so it’s sometimes sold under that title as well. The setting is WWII Greece; although Greece is hoping for their English allies to step in, they are occupied by the Italians, and later, the Nazis. An Italian regiment is stationed in Cephallonia; its captain is quartered at the home of the village doctor and his daughter, Pelagia. Captain Corelli is a musician, not a soldier, and he and Pelagia fall in love, but the forces of history conspire to keep them apart.

Review source: This book is on several “best book” lists that I’m reading through.

Plot: This is one of those sweeping historical novels where the action ranges from the global (Mussolini is a character) to the very local in an attempt to show how worldwide events affected people in one spot at one point in time.

Characters: Pelagia, the doctor’s daughter, has two suitors, one from her village before the war, and of course, Captain Corelli. She would also like to leave her small village and become a doctor herself, but that is unheard of in 1930’s Greece. Berniers has populated the book with major and secondary characters who bring history to life.

Writing style: Berniers is known for magical realism, and while this book doesn’t have too much of that (I’d not classify it in that genre), it does have the tone—which I’d describe as one of acceptance of whatever comes about.

Audience: Anyone who enjoys historical or literary fiction should enjoy this book.

Wrap-up: The book was sad on multiple levels, not the least of which was the recognition that a certain simple way of life was forever lost. I’m not necessarily out to be sad when I read, so I didn’t give the book as many stars as it probably deserves, but this is my review, so 3/5*.

Review: In the Garden of Beasts

Author: Erik Larson

Title: In the Garden of Beasts:  Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin                                      

Description: Roosevelt needs an ambassador to pre-WWII Germany. When several other choices turn him down, he appoints William Dodd, a history professor at the University of Chicago. Already out of his element, he arrived in Germany to find Hitler rising in power and various groups competing for his approval. As he began to realize that war was a distinct possibility, he realized that no one in the U.S. took him seriously. Meanwhile, his reckless daughter was making conquests of Nazis, spies, and pretty much anything else that wore pants.   

Source: This was a book group read.

Writing style: This book was straight, documentary history, not my typical reading material.

Audience: People who are interested in WWII and diplomatic history.

Major ideas: There might have been something the U.S. could have done to avoid war, had Dodd’s warnings been heeded.

Wrap-up: Although I believe that everything in the book was found in primary documents, Larson put the facts together in a way that was utterly fascinating.  Some surprises for me: the U.S. agreed that there was a “Jewish problem.” Hitler’s henchmen hated each other (I always figured they were a happy gang of evildoers). Germany had a president when Hitler rose to power. Anyway, it was a gripping story. 5/5*