the thoughts of an avid reader

***Spoiler alert***

Though there have only been two posts thus far, I have just finished a novel titled Atonement by Ian McKewan that raised some questions as the the purpose of writing fiction.

This question was posed at the end of the novel, “How can a novelist achievement atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God?”

A partial answer, “There is no one, no entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God, or novelists, even if they are athiests. It was always an impossible task, and was precisely the point. The attempt was all.”

Though the book was not my favorite. In fact, I had to put it down for a little over a week because the narrative hit a major road block between Parts. However, as the novel came to a close and the narrator revealed herself and the truth, it became apparent to me that this is another perfect example of the power of process. The narrator obviously created a product, and if you read Atonement, then you will see how the product is created. But in the end, the process of writing, thinking, admitting, and doing are what provide some kind of fulfillment. In the case of this book, the fulfillment was not a reward but a renewal from years of guilt and sadness. Atonement is an example of one of the ways we as humans deal with our emotions, our understanding of the world, and our understanding of each other. The characters in this book are complex, yet we see them doing mundane tasks. Most of them are so absorbed in their own lives, especially the narrator, that they fail to create lasting relationships with those closest to them.

In the end I am glad that I do not write for “atonement.” I have not figured out how to explain this in the correct words yet. Maybe after our book club this week I will have a better answer.