On Chesil Beach
by Ian McEwan
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Book Reviews of On Chesil Beach
Book Review: Romantic Chance Lost
Summary: 3 Stars
Ian McEwan writes a love story in "On Chesil Beach." Taking his time to bring us firmly into the wedding night anticipated by both Florence and Edward (Florence with fearful disgust of what is in store, and Edward in ecstatic longing), McEwan also carries us back into their courtship and into their own histories, so that by the time the wedding bed is reached, we are hoping so much for the young couple that it will not be the disaster it portends to be.
It is McEwan's ease with us, his taking the time to unfold slowly and easily, yet never dully or unnecessarily, the peculiar and unique circumstances of the two young people, that makes us complicit partners in the outcome. Florence and Edward are as well known to us as they are to themselves, and certainly better known to us than to each other. What is left unsaid between them -- what they do not know about each other -- is in the end the reason for great pain. Because we know so much, we feel anguish; we feel real discomfort that we cannot reach across the pages and shake them each, just a little.
Florence and Edward are not stock characters, one a musician of a privileged family, the other a historian from a thwarted family. They are much more than their circumstances: they are unique responses to the facts of their background, and education, their choice in love and marriage, and their placement in time, just before a freeing up of sexual expression and frank talk. But this is not a book about sex and one's appetite ( or not) for it. It is a book about why these two people, in love and married, cannot talk about, or do, the things that will bring them together. There is always a chasm of (mis)understanding between two people, always things we do not know or fully understand about the people we love so much. It is the act of going across that chasm, with a gesture or a word, that creates a connection. The understanding and the knowledge will never be complete, but our efforts at connection can make up for our failures.
McEwan is deeply romantic and I would argue that his deep romanticism is his only flaw, in that it leads him to write situations that do not resonate as truth. After the whole book leads us willingly along because of its deep truthfulness -- we know and believe these characters completely -- we find ourselves suddenly jarred and shocked by the one act of omission that throws entire lives out of whack. It just seems a bit much. McEwan states: "This is how the entire course of a life can be changed -- by doing nothing." Yes, that's true; but in reality, between people in love (and not just romantic love), there is never just the one failure: most of us will try again and again to connect with one we love. We will let our loved one back in, perhaps too many times, to try again for a state of grace and understanding. And as a realist, even a romantic realist, I argue that we have many chances to make good on our failures; not as many as we would wish for and maybe not as many as we need, but certainly we have more than just one try to get it right. But maybe I am the deep romantic here, and McEwan the harsh realist.
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Book Review: Outstanding
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: On Chesil Beach-A short novel which is on target to capture the love of its readers
Summary: 5 Stars
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!
Book Review: hilarious and beautiful depiction of human emotions
Summary: 4 Stars
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 1960's 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.
Book Review: Horny virgin Edward marries frigid virgin Florence: a recipe for disaster.
Summary: 3 Stars
Two dysfunctional 22 year olds share their honeymoon night in a hotel. Despite his repeated declarations of love, Edward seems to have been led into the marriage more by his gonads than his heart. He desperately wants to bone Florence. She resists up to the wedding night. Then she assists, precipitating a gooey mess. She flees in horror, leaving him feeling cheated and frustrated.
They meet later in the night on the beach. But both Edward and Florence lack communications skills and are unable to resolve the conflict which arises. Edward takes the high and mighty position, feeling that he was cheated out of his marital right to a bonk. (In fact he would have had his prize if he could have controlled himself and in any case, being a 22 year old, he could probably have recharged within the hour - so no big deal really.) He is content to let Florence run away. They never see eachother again despite the fact that they each consider, years later, that they each lost the love of their life.
What is the moral of the tale? Perhaps it is that true love comes but once in a life time and should not be squandered. Or might it be an example of the tragedy of lovers who fail because they cannot communicate effectively. Maybe the story is an example of the destructiveness of pride.
But how credible is the novel? Can we really believe that after Florence runs away she and Edward never contact eachother again? No letter from either party a week or two later, after cooling down? Or was Edward insincere in his protestations of love, deciding that the prospect of a bonk was remote, he lost interest?
Was it such a tragedy that they did break up and never saw eachother again? The author tells us that neither party ever loved another person again as much as they did eachother. Does that mean to say that they would have been happier if they worked out their differences and stayed together? It would be fair to say they were doomed to a bad relationship from the start, so different were they from one another. Cutting loss on the wedding night might have been the optimal solution. Edward felt remorse in his sixties, when his testosterone level was no doubt lower. But how much is that sentimentality? He couldn't have been satisfied with her. Or could he, if he was a bit more patient?
Indeed, the novel claims merit in being provocative. The characters are interesting if not entirely credible. On the other hand, the author's prose style is often prolix. He dwells. He labours, intoxicated with his own philological exhibitionism. Whether you enjoy his style or not is a matter of taste. I'm not sure it's to mine.