Sarah's review
On Chesil Beach: A Novel
by Ian McEwan
Cool review, great to read a positive opinion of a book I didn't enjoy. I can't say the act of revelation really occurred to me while reading, perhaps because, as you point out, it was executed well. Maybe I'll give another book of his a try with that in mind.
Hmmm ... the event in the book that you describe in such horrified terms (I don't want to giveaway) is one that occurs all the time. It has a quasi medical name. Wow, what's your problem?
Which event? the incest, brain damage, erectile dysfunction, or the 30,000 word sex scene? come to think of it, i can't think of anything with a quasi-medical name.
please do enlighten me - as happens quite often, i have no idea what my problem is.
Well, I assume you were referring to the premature ejaculation scene, but if I was wrong I apologize (!)
ah. no harm done. what a book! i do think that's a medical term, not a quasi-medical one (and a common one, especially on wedding nights, i would guess).
no problem.
Sarah's review
On Chesil Beach: A Novel by Ian McEwan
Sarah's review
rating:
recommended for: students of literature, dirty old men
The first thing you should know about this book is that, like the other Ian McEwan books I’ve read, it is about the most uncomfortable, awkward, and squirmy thing you’ll ever read. Don’t believe me? What if I told you that the book – which is 200 pages long – only covers about two hours of time: the first two hours of a newlywed couple’s honeymoon in which they fumble to consummate their marriage? And that both of them have very embarrassing sexual dysfunctions?
Well, that’s what the book is about. The reader looks on helplessly and squirmingly as two virgins, Edward and Florence, sit in a hotel room on the beach embarrassed out of their minds. It’s 1962, on the cusp of the sexual revolution, and the pair have neither the presence of mind or even the vocabulary to communicate openly with each other. There is only a handful of words spoken until the very last chapter of the book (it was tough for me not to use the word climax here, but I try to stay classy).
For ...more
Well, that’s what the book is about. The reader looks on helplessly and squirmingly as two virgins, Edward and Florence, sit in a hotel room on the beach embarrassed out of their minds. It’s 1962, on the cusp of the sexual revolution, and the pair have neither the presence of mind or even the vocabulary to communicate openly with each other. There is only a handful of words spoken until the very last chapter of the book (it was tough for me not to use the word climax here, but I try to stay classy).
For ...more
Cool review, great to read a positive opinion of a book I didn't enjoy. I can't say the act of revelation really occurred to me while reading, perhaps because, as you point out, it was executed well. Maybe I'll give another book of his a try with that in mind.
Hmmm ... the event in the book that you describe in such horrified terms (I don't want to giveaway) is one that occurs all the time. It has a quasi medical name. Wow, what's your problem?
Which event? the incest, brain damage, erectile dysfunction, or the 30,000 word sex scene? come to think of it, i can't think of anything with a quasi-medical name.
please do enlighten me - as happens quite often, i have no idea what my problem is.
Well, I assume you were referring to the premature ejaculation scene, but if I was wrong I apologize (!)
ah. no harm done. what a book! i do think that's a medical term, not a quasi-medical one (and a common one, especially on wedding nights, i would guess). no problem.