How Do I Know What I Think Until I See What I Say?

As a voracious consumer of pop culture, it's strange when I find myself at odds with the zeitgeist - when a bunch of people think something is cool or fun or awesome that I myself think is dumb, or uninteresting, or over. Grey's Anatomy is one such example of this. The book Atonement is another. Atonement is book by Ian McEwan, that was widely praised by critics and readers alike, and that I did not particularly care for. It's out in film form, now, and it may make a better film than a book. I probably won't see it, mostly because I don't see how it's fatal flaw, for me, can be resolved. (I know, I know, I shouldn't be talking smack about Atonement , but I'm going somewhere with this and I need an example. Plus, I'm pretty sure the Ian McEwan isn't going to be hurt by my critique, you know? He's a finalist for the Booker Prize, for Pete's sake, and I'm a wannabe YA writer.) Here's the rundown on the plot (and, by the way,