Pages 1-25
Before I actually start reading the text, I am going to judge the book by its cover. I know totally wrong, but from this cover I think the book is going to be a love story of two forbidden lovers, in two completely different settings, trying to rejoin and live happily ever after.I looked up the word "atonement" and according to dictionary.com it is the satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends. I just got done with the first 25 pages and now I am thoroughly confused. Briony doesn't seem like the girl who wished for a "harmonious and organized world that denied her the reckless possibilities of wrongdoing". (pg 5) The girl just seems like a self-absorbed brat that demands to get her way. Throughout the first pages of the novel, she keeps informing the reader of how wonderful and pure all her intentions are. Briony is also just a weird character to me in general. She is only thirteen and knows complicated words that highschoolers can't even comprehend. On the bottom of page 6 she uses words like "esoteric" and my favorite "shameless auto-exculpation". Again, Briony is showing off, the words are not necessary at all and the whole paragraph is about her skimming of dictionaries and the "narrative spell" she casts over all her family members. I also think it is ironic how her cousins, Pierrot and Jackson, hate poetry because "It's just showing off". (Pg 11) The next line even states her personal agenda. She agrees that the reason she loves plays and especially her own is the adoration of everyone. On an ending note, I really dislike the main character, and if she doesn't change soon then this is going to be a very long book.
"Atonement." amazon.com. Web. 7 Jul 2011. <http://www.amazon.com/Atonement-Ian-McEwan/dp/0307388840>.
"Atonement." amazon.com. Web. 7 Jul 2011. <http://www.amazon.com/Atonement-Ian-McEwan/dp/0307388840>.
I will now have to go back and read the beginning of this book. I never thought that about the main character.She just seemed.....really.....show offy, but not to the point of self absorbing...hmm thank you for making me think. I will return tomorrow with questions and quotes we can discuss.
ReplyDeleteVery creative start by the way. No one else has really engaged the title or the cover. Some might view it as a childish way of starting, but realistically that's how we choose our books and movies, so why not?
You are the frist person to start using visuals by the way so congrats. Have you looked at the alternative cover? I have that one which I think might serve for interesting commentary. Check it out.