On Chesil Beach

Product Details

Author : Ian Mcewan
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9780676978827
Number of Pages : 176
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2008-04-08
Publisher : Vintage Canada
Release Date : 2008-04-08

ASIN : 0676978827

Customers who bought this goods also bought.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.ca

As powerful as it is slender, Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach--a gripping rumination on what the pact of marriage really means--is proof that even in this electronic age, few things are as captivating as a good story that's told well.

Laid across five slight chapters, On Chesil Beach begins in the honeymoon suite of Florence and Edward as they hover at the edge of the first-time intimacy that will corroborate, legally and spiritually, the vows they have already exchanged.

But simple sex is not so simple--unknown to Edward, who is delirious with lust, his bride harbors absolute revulsion for the act. Naturally, this is not news to Florence, who nevertheless pledged, before family and community, "With my body I thee worship! That's what you promised today," Edward reminds her at the book's paralyzing climax. "In front of everybody. Don't you realize how disgusting and ridiculous your idea is? And what an insult it is?"

Yet that idea--Florence's preconceived response to the inevitable mess she finds herself in on her wedding night--forms the tale's central question: when we wed, how much of ourselves are we obliged to reveal to our prospective mates?

If that sounds straightforward enough, you can bet a master novelist like McEwan spins it off in a million complex directions, tapping every available emotion. The plight of Florence and Edward resonates deeply long after readers have zoomed through the book's scant 166 pages.

Ironically, part of what makes the book so powerful is McEwan's delicate touch. As he tiptoes through Florence and Edward's respective back stories, we forget he's there, instead focusing on the almost palpable scenes he lays before us. This is storytelling at its most dynamic--vivid, persuasive and completely fluid. Though rendered in figurative watercolors, On Chesil Beach is a tiny, perfect masterpiece as lasting as a canvas infused with oils. --Kim Hughes

Customer Reviews

McEwan's weakest book (2008-04-27)

Every author is allowed to strike out once in a while.With Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan chose description over dramatization and preaching over provoking thought. He actually tells us what to think, as if we had never considered the negative impact of sexual repression on relationships and marriage, and nothing had happened since the 1950s.Read Black Dogs, Atonement, Saturday, or just about anything else by Mr McEwan, but this is only for those who want to read his complete works.

Ending makes the novel (2008-04-20)

The novel comes to a slow boil and its ending is quietly devastating in how acutely it paints the haphazard ways our lives turn and how we will never be able to judge if we did the right thing. What literature should be.

Unimpressive (2008-04-11)

Despite the shortness of this novel, I still found this a difficult book to finish (though the fact that it's not as lengthy as the majority of his novels is the only reason that I did manage to get through the whole book). Holding true with my previous experiences of McEwan's writing, I found the storyline plodding and weighed down with an overabundance of adjectives. It felt as though there was an excess of unnecessary scenes that were included merely to pad the story out as it takes place in the course of one night. Each moment is experienced with excruciating slowness, and then re-tread several times more. I have simply come to the conclusion that I will never understand why McEwan seems to be such a popular writer, I've found nothing in his books that would warrant the praise that I've heard given to him.

What a difference a decade makes (2007-11-21)

Was anyone ever as naive and blundering as Florence and Edward? These two young people in their early twenties demonstrate a depth of ignorance that dooms their wedding night. Ian McEwan's novella ON CHESIL BEACH covers the few hours in 1962 during which Florence and Edward eat a mediocre wedding dinner in a hotel suite, move to the bedroom where they botch the whole thing badly, and fail to say the one thing, offer the one reconciliaton that could have saved them.The overriding gift of this little book is McEwan's beautiful writing, which truly takes center stage. The plot is closely contained within Florence and Edward's relationship and the events of their wedding night, and there is barely enough supporting documentation to justify his clumsiness and her terror.The point is universally made by reviewers that all this was before the Sexual Revolution of the sixties and early seventies. It hardly seems enough to explain the complete lack of communication between these two, and especially Florence's fear of sex. McEwan throws out a few clues about the relationship between Florence and her father but chooses not to develop them, and it's a noticeable choice in such a short book.Another choice McEwan made was to define the story so closely. ON CHESIL BEACH is unusual in this regard: it's a book that could have been longer. After the fine dissection of the wedding night, the last section pelts through several decades, as if the only thing about these two worth discussing was over and done with. The harsh last minutes of the wedding night, on the beach, might have been a fulcrum point for a longer story. That was not McEwans' choice, however.As a character study and an exquisitely disciplined exercise, ON CHESIL BEACH comes through beautifully and is a strong contender for another Booker Prize for McEwan. Yes, there are questions unanswered, but you have to suppose that was McEwan's intent all along. This is a book to be remembered and mused over for a long time.

Lacking Plot (2007-10-25)

This novel was completely lacking in plot. I believe the author tried to make up for it by creating a long drawn out history of events leading up to the climax (or lack there of). As well, the story was hard to follow as I am Canadian and the story was mainly about England's politics, places, people, etc. I wouldn't recommend this novel. Thankfully it was short.

Look for similar items by category

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( M )
• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Canadian

Related Link