Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Book Review: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Atonement by Ian McEwan

In 1935 England, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis, a young girl gifted with a fertile imagination, witnesses an event involving her sister Cecilia and her childhood friend Robbie Turner. What she sees is not what is really happening as the reader discovers. Unfortunately Briony becomes the victim of her own imagination and her subsequent actions change the lives of these three young people. Wonderfully written novel.

Kathy Carter

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Book Review: Atonement by Ian McEwan

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