On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of On Chesil Beach
Book Review: Accidents Happen
Summary: 5 Stars
Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach describes what can happen when two young people with little sexual experience and different desires marry without expressing their needs.
Explosively Subtle
- I guess you could call me a McEwan groupie- I adore his subtle, meaningful prose. He says so much without going overboard (but not in an annoying Hemingway-esque type of style).
- McEwan takes one small event, one that is broadcasted on billboards in this day and age, and makes it so meaningful and life-changing.
- If someone were to tell me exactly what this novel is about (issues consummating a marriage, shall we say) I'd think it would have the potential to be crude or silly. McEwan's talent prohibits either.
- You end up feeling for both characters and appreciating the historical context of their situation, just a few years shy of the sexual revolution.
Protect Yourself
- If you're squeamish about sex and it's by-products this may not be for you.
- There is definitely a plot, but it's not plot driven, as the characters' thoughts and feelings really drive the text.
Book Review: After 'Atonement' a let-down
Summary: 3 Stars
I guess even major writers deserve a day off and after the achievements of 'Atonement' and 'Saturday' -- both towering works, Ian McEwan takes one with this slight story.
SPOILER ALERT -- THIS REVIEW WILL REVEAL SOME THINGS ABOUT THE BOOK
It's the early 1960s and a young English couple, both virgins, face their wedding night in a seaside hotel in Dorset with trepidation. For the man, Edward, it is the usual first-night nerves, nothing extraordinary. But the woman, Florence, has a more serious problem -- a real aversion, even loathing, of intimate physical contact. McEwan describes in great detail her reactions when her new husband puts his tongue in her mouth. It's almost as if she is being raped and she clearly understands it's the prelude to a real rape. Why is this? The author hints very subtly at sexual abuse by her father but it's never developed.
We learn something about the backgrounds of these two people and how they met each other and decided to get married. Then we get a very painful chapter as the disaster of their wedding night unfolds. But McEwan cheats his readers badly in the final pages. He tells us exactly what happened to Edward for the rest of his life and how his entire fate hinged on that one night. But he neglects to tell us what happened to Florence.
McEwan is such a significant author that nothing he writes could be bad. But in terms of his own high standards, this is a loss of form. He sets up an intriguing situation and then muffs it.
Book Review: An Intimate and Revealing Novel That is Funny, Sweet, Tender, and Sad...
Summary: 5 Stars
He tells a story about a couple that avoids saying what is on their minds because they simply don't know how to put it into words. Well that is how I feel right now when trying to describe Ian McEwan. I cannot praise him enough. His prose is brilliant. His depth and exploration into human emotion is a work of genius. And his attention to detail is unsurpassed.
When I read Ian McEwan, I think of literary greats from years past. And I think he is one of the best writers today.
Book Review: Another Beautiful McEwan Novel Writ in a Minor Key
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: Anticlimactic
Summary: 2 Stars
This book would have made a good short story. The plot was too weak
and too drawn out for a full length novel. I was disappointed in this
book.