On Chesil Beach in Constant Reader

Oct 28, 2018 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, booker-winners-and-listed, theunreadshelfproject2018, read2018

I've been waffling on what I think about this book. It is the story of a wedding night, awkward sex, unfilled expectations, misunderstandings that aren't worked out. Unfortunately I could never read it through the characters' eyes, I was always too aware of the author somehow, his gaze on these people, a sneaking feeling that his emphasis was on the wrong things.

And then there is a hint of something in Florence's past that is unresolved, even for the reader. I had looked forward to this one a wh ...more

31 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2008 Yulia rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: enjoyably-awful, left-unfinished

Again, a book so bad, it's almost enjoyable to read.

To get at the heart of its absurdity, I'd have to do a line-reading, breaking it down word by word. But on a general note, McEwan explores the intricacies of a honeymoon night gone awry because he wants us to see meaning in *every* small detail he provides us. He wants it to be so excruciatingly significant and pungent and accurate and insightful, when he couldn't be more of a foreigner to the human experience. Or if he does know humanity, he ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jan 07, 2008 Jennifer rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. First I must say this about McEwan's writing: it is masterful and simply superb. It is beyond evident that his writing is a painstaking craft which is wrought beautifully and his writing not easily set aside. I read this book in less than a day and I have two small children!

On the other hand, I wanted to enjoy this story. I wanted to see redemption. Set on the cusp of the sexual revolution where the strings of marriage in industrial countries is beginning to be tugged upon thus starting the unr First I must say this about McEwan's writing: it is masterful and simply superb. It is beyond evident that his writing is a painstaking craft which is wrought beautifully and his writing not easily set aside. I read this book in less than a day and I have two small children!

On the other hand, I wanted to enjoy this story. I wanted to see redemption. Set on the cusp of the sexual revolution where the strings of marriage in industrial countries is beginning to be tugged upon thus starting the unraveling of it as an institution that we have come to see today, I truly wanted all to be brought to rights. This young couple who saved themselves for their wedding night, one for reasons of detachment and innocence, the other for his notions of propriety and making a woman honest. Whether it was due to their lack of knowledge or their upbringing and add the popular culture of the time, the "mess" that occurs is hardly anyone's blame, but a complete compilation of it all. Furthermore, this could be seen as an indictment of the pressure and undue importance that is placed upon sex within and outside of marriage. While it certainly has it's place and importance, this whole novel is a build up of it within each of their minds that essentially set themselves up for "the mess".

Also, while I wanted them to return to the room and work it out and move on, I can't say I am completely surprised that they didn't. Their immaturity in this matter is blatant as they simply could not even have a decent honest conversation about it and even if they could not because of their archaic senses of decency, that sense of decency alone, should have held enough to maintain that marriage is not something to be cast aside simply because in hours after the ceremony there is a failure to consummate. What pressure!!

McEwan has layered so much through this short novel: the families, the characters, the time, the setting, it all comes alive as a separate entity playing a role. Is this novel an indictment of the sexual revolution, of marriage itself? The pressures of sex within marriage? Without? That first and/or young love is doomed to fail from the combination of these things? Or is it that all these things make young love going into marriage rendered unnecessary? I love that it makes you think, but I am slightly disappointed.

All in all, his writing is lovely, however. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 19, 2009 Jennifer rated it it was ok

I read Atonement, also by Ian McEwan, and didn't love it the way so many people did. I decided to give McEwan another try. The best part about this book was that it was short - barely 200 pages. It's the story of a young couple's wedding night, with interwoven chapters about their courtship. It feels like your watching a train that you know is going to crash. ...more

Like · see review

Jan 07, 2010 Gail rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2010

I've liked most of what I've read by McEwan. This book was a dreadful disappointment. I didn't like the premise, which seemed silly in the extreme, I didn't like the almost clinical and heavily overdone emphasis on the sex act. It might possibly have worked as a rather odd short story, but stretched very thin to novel length, this book is just a sad waste of talent. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 17, 2008 Kristin rated it liked it

I love the fact that Ian McEwan seems to always focus on one moment in a character's life and how the, usually poor, decision made will affect him for the rest of his life. The only negative is that this is always done so analytically that the reader has to struggle to find an emotional connection to the work. Overall, I enjoy his novels, this one included. ...more

Like · see review

Dec 22, 2007 Clifford rated it it was ok

I didn't love this. The relationship is engaging at first, and I found the results believable, but among other things the last part of the book is rushed and unnecessary. I really didn't care what happened to them in later years. ...more

Like · see review