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The Prince of Tides
"I had a feeling that sainthood was the most frightening and incurable disease on Earth"
"Those empty volumes were an eloquent metaphor of my life as a man. I lived with the terrible knowledge that one day I would be an old man still waiting for my real life to start. Already, I pitied that old man."
"He could not force his century to make sense and he could find no place for himself within it. He had tried to conduct himself as an honorable man, a man who could not be bought or sold, and woke up one morning to find himself with a price on his head."
Atonement
"Was that really all there was in life, indoors or out? Wasn't there somewhere else for people to go?"
"The cost of oblivious daydreaming was always this moment of return, the realignment with what had been before and now seemed a little worse."
"But this first clumsy attempt showed her that the imagination itself was a source of secrets: once she had begun a story, no one could be told. Pretending in words was too tentative, too vulnerable, too embarrassing to let anyone know. Even writing out the she saids, the and thens, made her wince, and she felt foolish, appearing to know about the emotions of an imaginary being. Self-exposure was inevitable the moment she described a character's weakness; the reader was bound to speculate that she was describing herself. What other authority could she have?"
Head-to-Head
Characters: Briony Tallis is both a character and a glimpse into the soul of authors. Tom Wingo is both a character and the embodiment of wasted potential. Both characters are ultimately concerned with and make poor decisions based on self, and are effective and real in this way. They have a strange amount in common, really.
Beyond Cecilia and Robbie, it often feels as though Atonement's other characters are molded from templates of pre-World War II rich white British people—an oddly specific mouthful that you wouldn't think would have such common and entrenched tropes, but it does and we know them.
Conroy could have been similarly vapid with Southern characters in The Prince of Tides, but the book's characters are a series of curveballs with original, sometimes wacky traits that are detailed at length and often unexpected. This advantage of depth tips the scales.
Advantage: The Prince of Tides.
Setting: The Southern US is overdone, and I seldom appreciate it. Conroy defied these odds and painted a beautiful picture of the Carolina coast. McEwan answered with vivid war scenes and a mansion in the British countryside—neither of which are anywhere near unique or fresh. Even though both novels boast fine representations in saturated fields, Conroy succeeded at piquing my interest in his corner of time and space.
Advantage: The Prince of Tides.
Plot: Oh, this is a toughie. Atonement twists and turns in a surprise frame tale, while The Prince of Tides plods along without the same scale of dramatic crests found in its opponent. Still, the artful unraveling of The Prince of Tides makes up for its relative lack of dramatics.
Advantage: Push. Both too good.
Ending: Both were great, fitting endings. The Prince of Tides pulled a final sentence that I found shocking, but my guard may have been down due to the aforementioned dramatic constancy. Atonement pulls a plot twist that's really hard to see coming, and it's done well. I was actually mad when I put it down, but the more time goes on, the more I appreciate what McEwan did there. It's up there with Infinite Jest for taking one of the book's principle themes and really illustrating it.
Advantage: Atonement.
Language/Writing: McEwan writes so darn smoothly, and in a very postmodern fashion that I love (despite the Victorian undertones). Conroy is bloody verbose, and is quite a turnoff for many tastes—but not mine. The deciding factor here for me is the narrative material: I think McEwan's plot would shine regardless of how well it was written. I've read stories like The Prince of Tides and not given them the time of day because they weren't as compellingly told. This elevation is an ever-so-slight tie-breaking strength.
Advantage: The Prince of Tides.
Philosophy: The Prince of Tides is light on outside meditation in favor of character-based self-pity. Atonement is a thoughtful tour de force illustrating that you are what you eat write.
Advantage: Atonement.
Advantage: Atonement.
Winner Winner Turkey Supper
My recent revisit of Atonement's plot, themes and writing has reminded me what a great book it was, and is nudging me towards eventually reading some more McEwan. What's more, its short length is a weekend read rather than a project like The Prince of Tides was. But then, while almost universally more arduous, project reads often reap better rewards, and such was today's case in a close heat.
The Prince of Tides rises into the third round.
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