Book Review | On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan

On Chesil Beach

by Ian McEwan

My Book Review Rating:

Synopsis

From these new heights they could see clearly, but they could not describe to each other certain contradictory feelings: they separately worried about the moment, sometime soon after dinner, when their new maturity would be tested, when they would lie down together on the four-poster bed and reveal themselves fully to each other.

Review

*SPOILER ALERT*

As part of this 50 book Challenge I want to read books by some *new* authors – and also some *proper fiction* I picked up On Chesil Beach as it fits both of those categories. I know it made some of the Bestseller lists in 2007 – but didn’t really know a lot about the story line or what to expect.

The back cover description suggests a tale of a newlywed couple on their wedding night and that pretty much sums it up – what it didn’t warn me about was the graphic detail McEwan uses to describe events of the evening… well I considered it graphic anyway and am not sure I needed that much detail to understand the point he was trying to make!

The book is short – I got through it in one sitting of two to three hours – but it’s one of those books that you just can’t take at face value. I’m still not sure whether I enjoyed reading it – but I did find myself thinking about the characters and their histories and trying to work out why McEwan wrote the book.

The short of it is this – following a 12 month courtship Edward and Florence find themselves alone in the honeymoon suite of a hotel on Chesil beach, what follows is a *mishap* which leaves Florence heading for the beach in embarrassment and disgust and Edward alone in the room feeling angry and humiliated. Their joint inability to discuss their feelings leaves the marriage in tatters and the two never see or speak to each other again.

All quite sad really.

But throughout the novel McEwan shares snippets of their earlier lives, how Edward’s mother became brain-damaged when he was five, and the lengths his family went to to pretend that she was a normal loving mother. How Florence’s family were much better off, but her parents showed her no affection – well I say no affection but I got the distinct feeling she had been sexually abused by her father as a child – perhaps the source of her discomfort with intimacy.

I was intrigued by the fact that following their divorce Florence went on to pursue her dreams while Edward followed a completely different path. I did wonder what happened to Florence relationship wise – since we were told that Edward was married again, if only for a short time.

But that’s as far as I got…

I have to admit this lost me along the way, and while I’m sure some of the things I just mentioned are part of the point McEwan was trying to make I wasn’t interested enough in the characters to try and unravel it all. I think perhaps McEwan could have made much more of this tale and turned it into one worth reading rather than glossing over so many details and leaving us guessing.

In fact – I think I should have just read the last page and I may have walked away happy.

Buy On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan from Amazon

Here at Blue Archipelago Reviews we work in association with Amazon.com to help you order the best books at great prices from the comfort of your armchair. Clicking on the "order now" buttons below will take you to Amazon.com where you can complete your order securely. Blue Archipelgo Reviews never has sight of your Amazon details or your payment details. If you are based in the UK please click the banner below to visit Amazon.co.uk instead. Thanks for visiting us today :)

Read more reviews Send this review to a friend
	Title: Publisher: Anchor Average review rating:   List Price: $13.95 Sale Price: $3.40 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Free Shipping Available
Order now from Amazon.com
More reader reviews
hilarious and beautiful depiction of human emotions   Review Date: August 28, 2010 Reviewer: lisa shea, honolulu, hi this was my first shot at a McEwan book and though it wasn't what i was expecting, i really did enjoy it. i honestly don't know what i was expecting, but this wasn't it! but, the crispness of the writing style and his wry and dry sense of humor had me hooked early and i'll definitely be giving his other books a try. set in the early 1960s on the wedding night of Edward and Florence, we follow the split narration of the newlyweds in their growing anxiety regarding the consummation of their wedding. Edward has the expected anticipation of his first performance and Florence is absolutely horrified with the idea, yet willing to try to be the dutiful wife that she knows she must be. at times hilarious and other times aching with the sadness that can only come when you really don't know your partner all that well, this is a rather perverse attempt at sexual education that i'm glad i read. layered throughout, is also the mirroring of postwar Britain, in all its glory. the characters were not likable and i don't think that was ever the intention. they are both entirely self absorbed and by getting to hear their inner monologue, we can see how very little they know about themselves and each other. but, really, isn't this still the case in very young couples? the often graphic descriptions of the impending sexual encounter may be too much for some readers, either disgusting or crude, but i thought it served to provide enough shock factor and entertainment to be highly readable. but, i can see how some might disagree... "All she had needed was the certainty of his love, and his reassurance that there was no hurry when a lifetime lay ahead of them." the writing style was everything i could have hoped for and more. McEwan has a way of making sentences and phrases flow so effortlessly and it's beautiful to read (or listen to, as was my case). i can definitely see how, given a book of more depth, that his writing could be absolutely magnetic and i can't wait to pick up his other books. that being said, i was absolutely amazed at the depth and complexity of this tiny little book and was wholly impressed with McEwan's ability to capture the essence of time and space in such a small space of his own. "But it was too interesting, too new, too flattering, too deeply comforting to resist, it was a liberation to be in love and say so." the audio was wonderful! the production was excellent and hearing the reading in McEwan's own voice really added to the book for me. had i read the book, it would have been in my American voice (obviously) and hearing it in his lovely British accent really added to that essence of time and space that i mentioned earlier. i would definitely recommend this to anyone interested. Artistic writing, intriguing story, but completely laborious to read   Review Date: July 23, 2010 Reviewer: LMNtree Teacher, Denver, CO The concept of this story is interesting, but I felt like I was trudging through mud to get through it. I like a story that keeps me captivated and I read to be entertained and informed. This book, like Atonement, has so much description that, in my opinion, it detracts from the flow of the story. The entire book takes place in less than a single day, if that helps explain what I mean about a lot of description and detail. That being said, however, it does offer a compelling insight into the human psyche. McEwan explores the depths (literally every step from the surface to the bottom) of the human mind and the feelings, fears and thoughts associated with "the" honeymoon night of a newlywed couple. So depending on what you are looking for, you may or may not enjoy this book. If you want a great story, stay away, especially if you are looking for romance. If you are looking for pyschological stimulation and more artistic prose, this may be the book for you. I would say this book is interesting, just not really entertaining. Outstanding   Review Date: July 16, 2010 Reviewer: Olga Bezhanova, Edwardsville, IL After his brilliant novel Atonement(that not even a horrible movie based on it manged to destroy), I was weary of reading anything else by Ian McEwan. You never know if a writer is one of those people who manage to create one great work of literature and then keep trying to feed on its fame. Still, I decided to risk being disappointed with McEwan's On Chesil Beach. It turned out to be one of the best reading decisions I could have made. On Chesil Beach is a fantastic novel. It tells the story of two newlyweds who, on their wedding day in the summer of 1962, are preparing to have sex for the first time in both of their lives. Neither of them knows what sex is like, they are both scared, and the bride finds the idea of having sex with the groom extremely disgusting, in spite of thinking that she "loves" him. The couple's lack of knowledge about sex turns their wedding night into an unmitigated disaster. If it seems surprising to you that in 1962, of all times, anybody would be naive enough to mistake something like this for love and even want to get married on the basis of such an evident lack of physical desire, think about how many people buy into the religious propaganda of abstinence before marriage. Imagine how many people - even today - are going through the following self-torture for the sake of some vaguely defined social requirements: "They whispered their 'I love yous.' It soothed her to be invoking, however quietly, the unfading formula that bound them, and that surely proved their interests were identical. She wondered if perhaps she might even make it through, and be strong enough to pretend convincingly, and on later, successive occasions whittle her anxieties away through sheer familiarity, until she could honestly find and give pleasure." It becomes clear soon enough that where desire is lacking, there can be no love. The struggle to understand the other person, resolve problems, forgive, try to figure things out is fruitless if people do not experience a powerful physical attraction to each other. If this kind of desire is lacking, the motivation to keep trying is just as big as the one a person would have with a neighbor or a simple acquaintance. As a result, Florence and Edward discover that their relationship dies a painful but a very fast death in the first few hours of their marriage. I believe that any sex ed in high schools should begin by an obligatory reading of On Chesil Beach. There are so many people even today who mess up their lives completely because they mistake simple friendship for love and try to force a romantic, physical relationship where there is no foundation for it in actual physical desire. There are many people who, like Florence, force themselves to suffer through sexual acts with people they find repulsive for the sake of this castrated definition of love. As hilarious as this book is, it also raises some very important issues. On Chesil Beach is one of the most insightful things I have read in a long time about the crippling nature of the puritanical understanding of love. A brilliant little book!   Review Date: July 10, 2010 Reviewer: kj, Orlando, Florida, USA Such a brilliant little book. On Chesil Beach captures the heart-felt feelings of Edward and Florence, newlyweds, as they honeymoon on the coast. I would not say this is a happy book, on the contrary. McEwan never misses an opportunity to point out to us how close this couple came to happiness. Instead, we are taken along on their sad path watching as happiness spirals out of their reach forever. How true to life this is for so many of us. On Chesil beach   Review Date: June 13, 2010 Reviewer: Lisa L. Sternberger, The book arrived in the condition stated and in a very short time period. I would purchase from this person again.
Buy Now

Amazon.com Price: $3.40 (as of 2010-09-03 23:02:52 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.