By: Ian Mcewan Publisher: Anchor Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Anchor Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 224 Publication Date: June 10, 2008 Release Date: June 10, 2008
Product Description: In 1962, Florence and Edward celebrate their wedding in a hotel on the Dorset coast. Yet as they dine, the expectation of their marital duties weighs over them. And unbeknownst to both, the decisions they make this night will resonate throughout their lives. With exquisite prose, Ian McEwan creates in On Chesil Beach a story of lives transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.
Amazon.com Review: Such is Ian McEwan's genius that, despite rambling nature walks and the naming of birds, his subject matter remains hermetically sealed in the hearts of two people.
It is 1962 when Edward and Florence, 23 and 22 respectively, marry and repair to a hotel on the Dorset coast for their honeymoon. They are both virgins, both apprehensive about what's next and in Florence's case, utterly and blindly terrified and repelled by the little she knows. Through a tense dinner in their room, because Florence has decided that the weather is not fine enough to dine on the terrace, they are attended by two local boys acting as waiters. The cameo appearances of the boys and Edward and Florence's parents and siblings serve only to underline the emotional isolation of the two principals. Florence says of herself: "...she lacked some simple mental trick that everyone else had, a mechanism so ordinary that no one ever mentioned it, an immediate sensual connection to people and events, and to her own needs and desires...."
They are on the cusp of a rather ordinary marital undertaking in differing states of readiness, willingness and ardor. McEwan says: "Where he merely suffered conventional first-night nerves, she experienced a visceral dread, a helpless disgust as palpable as seasickness." Edward, having denied himself even the release of self-pleasuring for a week, in order to be tip-top for Florence, is mentally pawing the ground. His sensitivity keeps him from being obvious, but he is getting anxious. Florence, on the other hand, knows that she is not capable of the kind of arousal that will make any of this easy. She has held Edward off for a year, and now the reckoning is upon her.
McEwan is the master of the defining moment, that place and time when, once it has taken place, nothing will ever be the same after it. It does not go well and Florence flees the room. "As she understood it, there were no words to name what had happened, there existed no shared language in which two sane adults could describe such events to each other." Edward eventually follows her and they have a poignant and painful conversation where accusations are made, ugly things are said and roads are taken from which, in the case of these two, the way back cannot be found. Late in Edward's life he realizes: "Love and patience--if only he had them both at once--would surely have seen them both through." This beautifully told sad story could have been conceived and written only by Ian McEwan. --Valerie Ryan
Tight With Emotional Suspense As in his previous book SATURDAY, Ian McEwan expands a short amount of time into book length through an intense exploration of the emotions of the characters. This time around, the time frame is even shorter, a mere evening between Edward and Florence, on their honeymoon the night of their wedding. Although we begin in a small room where the newlyweds are dining, it is the next room, with the four poster bed waiting, that brings the tension to the fore. You see, our new husband and wife have, to put it simply, seriously divergent attitudes and expectations about the consummation of their relationship.
Edward can barely hold himself back from pouncing on his beautiful wife, who only hours ago had vowed, in front of numerous witnesses - and in a church, no less - that `with my body, I thee worship.' Florence, however, is a different matter. She is a true character study whose feelings on the matter go way, way beyond wedding night jitters. The thought of the act of penetration is not merely repulsive physically, but repulses and terrifies her at the deepest core of her being. If she did not exactly lie at the altar, she simply lacked the willpower to be more honest with herself long before the two ever got there.
McEwan's writing is captivating, drawing the reader into the intricacies of the relationship between Edward and Florence, as well as their backgrounds and personalities that provide the context of it. The action unfolds at an agonizingly slow pace, with McEwan drawing very narrow margins for emotional error. As in SATURDAY, one cannot help but be struck at how even a small decision has such large emotional consequences.
ON CHESIL BEACH takes place in 1962, prior to the sexual revolution. Yet it is difficult to imagine how that revolution would have produced a different outcome. Yes, Edward and Florence could not communicate, both wound tight within the cultural expectations of the time. Yet the problem obviously goes much deeper, to the issue of exactly what is not being communicated. Perhaps at a later date, the events of the book would never have taken place, as their incompatibility would have come to light long before it reached this point. Setting the book at a later date would have made it more unrealistic. And although painful to read at times, ON CHESIL BEACH's realism is all too stark. I highly recommend it.
Also recommended: Saturday
Terrific if Misunderstood This book, which centers on a disastrous wedding night of two endearing characters, is a splendid read, which, unfortunately (and typically), a lot of American critics have misinterpreted.
It is NOT an attack on the sexual repression of the world before 1965. It is rather a reflection on what followed. Like all couples, Edward and Florence have to adjust to adulthood, to sharing, to a new life together. In the bad old days, they would have adjusted, society's norms forcing them to surrender a portion of themselves to accept the other, just as their parents have done (Edward's mother is "brain damaged" and Florences parents live in different professional worlds).
Mr. McEwan paints a convincing portrait of two young people, self involved as all young people are, but capable of reaching adulthood and a happy life together. In the dramatic confrontation of Chesil Beach, the siren call of the Cult of the Self, and its attendant sense that one is free to do anything one wishes, converts what could have been a minor tiff into an event which dissolves the marriage and ruins both of their lives.
In a coda at the end of the book, it is clear that neither Edward nor Florence have ever grown up and that they are both doomed to live unsatisfactory lives, Edward as somewhat feckless and irresponsible and Florence as professionally successful but alone and brittle. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius has left both of these charming young people in a purgatory of frozen adolescence.
The world today is filled with Edwards and Florences, attractive and accomplished people gradually losing their ability to mature, to grow, to love. And that is what makes this lovely and tragic book so powerful.
Just Say Something! "On Chesil Beach" is pure Ian McEwan and I mean that in a good way. There is so much packed into this short novel with so little of the writing relying on action. McEwan is a master of character study, of coming to terms with the discrepancy between what is in a character's head and what he or she actually does. This is the story of two lovers, Edward and Forence, brought together under censorious circumstances -1960s England. Their wedding night is the point about which the entire story turns, one plagued by embarrassment and misunderstanding that will change their lives forever.
Alright, that sounds a little too much like a movie trailer for a book that is so simple and pure, but that does not make the drama any less true. I opened the front cover with a "let's see how he can possibly follow up Atonement" frame of mind. Perhaps that was not fair, but in some ways this story has some similar elements found in "Atonement," but much more concentrated due to its brevity. McEwan deftly weaves his characters with grace and compassion willing the reader to shout "just say something!" We are moved to frustration and pity in a way that is as wonderful as it is heartbreaking.
On Chesil Beach-A short novel which is on target to capture the love of its readers On Chesil Beach is another short novel by the fine English novelist Ian McEwan. As he has done so often before the novelist has the ability to focus on the defnining moment in a relationship. He does this with lush prose used to tell this poignant tale of lost love, impatience and lost opportunities. This feeling of "what might have been if only..." resonates with this critic and the hoardes of eager McEwan fans who enjoy intellectually sharp tales well told by a master of the craft. Edward is 23 and his longtime fiance Florence is 22. The two are honeymooning at a hotel near Dorset in the English West Country. Both of these bright young people are sexually inexperienced virgins. Edward comes from the home of a dysfunctional familiy. His father is an underpaid schoolmaster; his mother has mental problems; his siblings bore him. Edward gets a first in History and meets Florence in Oxford. He is smitten with her big boned beauty and interest in preventing nuclear warfare. The two decorously begin a prim and proper romantic relationship. Some kissing and fondling occur but no sexual intercourse. Florence is an outstanding musician who graduates from the Royal Academy of Music. Her string quartet is on the way up the musical ladder. She is very prim and straight-laced. She fears intimacy with a man even though she loves him very much. Florence comes from a wealthy family but Edward has no trouble ingratiating himself with her well heeled flock. On Chesil Beach occurs on their first night together as husband and wife. They suffer through a routine meal knowing their initiation in sex awaits in the marital bed. A terrible incident occurs when Florence provokes Edward into an early orgasm. This situation leads to their ultimate estrangement. Years later Edward will look back and realize if he had only been more patient with Florence their lives would have been happier. Edward knows that he has never loved anyone as much as Florence but it is too late to revive his relationship with her. Like all of us we all have regrets as we grow older. The novel is filled with flashbacks to the pasts of Edward and Florence helping the reader to understand what motivates these two characters We also return to the more formal era of the early 1960s which McEwan introduces through the means of hotel guests commenting on the news on the hotel's televison. This era of propriety now seems so distant in our anything goes amoral society. McEwan has a few brief sex scenes but they are tastefully and sensitively presented. He has a keen eye for the beauties of nature and also is keen in his love for and appreciation for classical music. This novel is short but one which will stick in your mind for years to come. Edward and Florence are two of McEwan's best characters. Romeo and Juliet were not the last star-crossed lovers in fiction as this smart novel shows us so well!
Another Beautiful McEwan Novel Writ in a Minor Key McEwan's books are like an Irish Ballad: beautiful, haunting, forlorn and difficult to forget, Chesil Beach is no exception. It is difficult not to finish the novel swiftly after reading the first sentence: "They were young, educated, and both virgins on this their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible." The novel continues with another of McEwan's trademarkes, weaving together unspeakable sexual intimacies with everyday happenings followed by the private thoughts of his characters. If one was disappointed at Atonement's ending I would suggest not reading Chesil Beach. But becoming well acquainted with McEwan's characters and seeing how their tragedy is a product of their time period is a process that will only broaden one's understanding of humanity.
One marvels at McEwan's command of the English language. It is good to see that in this age of haste there is an author who can remind one of life's subtleties; like the nervous tendency to brush aside a hair that isn't there. Somehow, McEwan manages to put into words those tiny moments that we all experience yet never consciously consider, and make them relevant, even central to the novel's theme. For this, McEwan's acuteness to words, I give his novella five stars. It is from these intricacies that the story is built and McEwan's moral of hindsight and failure hopefully help the reader appreciate all the imperfections in their own life.
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