Atonement
The movie adaptation of this book came out in high school, at a time when my friends and I were all obsessed with Keira Knightley. (Or at least one friend in particular was, and the rest of us got dragged into the obsession.) Naturally, we watched it, and then several friends read the book (possibly as an AP English assignment). Their consensus was that it left them feeling like they'd never be happy again. I was pretty entrenched in fantasy and fan-fiction at the time, so I never sought it out.
Fast forward to last year when someone in my book club nominated it. We didn't end up choosing it, but it reminded me that I'd always half meant to read it. I liked the movie, and it seemed worth picking up the book. So even though my book club ultimately chose not to read it, I bought it at the next used book sale I went to.
So maybe it's just that my expectations were too high. Or maybe I'm too stressed out at the moment to find enjoyment in what promises to be a deeply sad book. But I couldn't make it past the first fifty pages. I found the style to be incredibly tedious, like a long summer afternoon that just won't end. Which is appropriate since the first fifty pages are all about a long summer filled with deeply bored characters looking for some excitement. And then I flipped ahead and realized that the big betrayal doesn't happen for nearly 200 pages, I lost interest entirely.
Maybe I'll give this book another try someday, years from now, when my life has settled down and I want more than simple escapism from my books. Maybe I just need another fifteen years to really be ready for it. Or maybe it's just too boring to ever contemplate reading again. Either way, it was surprisingly easy to abandon this book and move on to the next one.
Fast forward to last year when someone in my book club nominated it. We didn't end up choosing it, but it reminded me that I'd always half meant to read it. I liked the movie, and it seemed worth picking up the book. So even though my book club ultimately chose not to read it, I bought it at the next used book sale I went to.
So maybe it's just that my expectations were too high. Or maybe I'm too stressed out at the moment to find enjoyment in what promises to be a deeply sad book. But I couldn't make it past the first fifty pages. I found the style to be incredibly tedious, like a long summer afternoon that just won't end. Which is appropriate since the first fifty pages are all about a long summer filled with deeply bored characters looking for some excitement. And then I flipped ahead and realized that the big betrayal doesn't happen for nearly 200 pages, I lost interest entirely.
Maybe I'll give this book another try someday, years from now, when my life has settled down and I want more than simple escapism from my books. Maybe I just need another fifteen years to really be ready for it. Or maybe it's just too boring to ever contemplate reading again. Either way, it was surprisingly easy to abandon this book and move on to the next one.
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