What a joy it is to read a book that shocks one into remembering just how high one's literary standards should be. . . . a tour de force by one of England's best novelists. . . . Atonement is a spectacular book; as good a novel - and more satisfying. . . - than anything McEwan has written. . . . sublimely written narrative. . . . The Dunkirk passage is a stupendous piece of writing, a set piece that could easily stand on its own.
A society will be judged by how it treats its weakest members