On Chesil Beach in Reading with Style

Nov 27, 2015 Alex rated it really liked it

Set in the pre-Beatles sixties, On Chesil Beach explores the minds and hearts of a young couple on their wedding night. Both are virgins and innocents in a time when sex for some (many?)had the weight of death. It would soon become just another dance, but on this night for this couple, sex is an undetonated bomb and Florence and Edward a couple of hapless sappers on their first assignment. McEwan meticulously, tenderly and evocatively unfolds each life, the rituals that brought the two together, ...more

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Apr 01, 2009 Bucket rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, communication, literary, sex

For the bulk of the story it's 1962, but whenever something came up that reminded me of that (mention of the Beatles, of nuclear protest, etc) I was surprised all over again. Edward's and Florence's relationship felt like something out of a much earlier era to me. My brain kept imagining it must be about 50 years earlier.

The story is essentially a description of a marriage gone wrong very quickly, due to a lack of communication between the characters about fears and sexual matters. Some of this For the bulk of the story it's 1962, but whenever something came up that reminded me of that (mention of the Beatles, of nuclear protest, etc) I was surprised all over again. Edward's and Florence's relationship felt like something out of a much earlier era to me. My brain kept imagining it must be about 50 years earlier.

The story is essentially a description of a marriage gone wrong very quickly, due to a lack of communication between the characters about fears and sexual matters. Some of this lack of communication is part of the era, the last vestiges of silent, obedient women and controlling, bread-winning men as the ideal in Western society. But a lot of it is due to the characters themselves. Both are virgins, both are terrified, and neither is willing to speak the truth about what feels good, what doesn't, and what they want to happen. With better communication, the whole story could have been avoided.

That said, McEwan is a better writer than for the story to be just that simple. The plot is thickened by his focus on the tiny moments and decisions the characters make - the words chosen, the phsyical actions, that make all the difference. The stories of their pasts are also full of these tiny moments that change everything - Edward's mother's accident, the day Edward and Florence meet.

McEwan writes: "This is how the entire course of a life can be changed -- by doing nothing." This reminds the reader that the silence and lack of action means as much or more as the events that do take place.

McEwan also has a little bit to say about love with this story: "He was discovering that being in love was not a steady state, but a matter of fresh surges or waves, and he was experiencing one now."

As dysfunctional as their communication is, Florence and Edward love each other. It's the communication that destroys them, not a lack of feeling. In fact, it may be that they love each other too much to be honest or assertive, and risk argument.

As Florence wonders while they finally begin to be angry on the beach: "His anger stirred her own and she suddenly thought she understood their problem: they were too polite, too constrained, too timorous, they went around each other on tiptoes, murmuring, whispering, deferring, agreeing. They barely knew each other, and never could because of the blanket of companionable near-silence that smothered their differences and blinded them as much as it bound them." ...more

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Nov 14, 2007 Joanna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book was terribly sad. Heartbreaking. Thoughtful. Gut-wrenching. And I highly recommend it. The tiny book is smaller in size than most paperbacks and only about 200 pages of spare prose. But the characters are played out so beautifully. I'm not sure I've ever read a moment captured more precisely. I adored this book. ...more

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Aug 31, 2009 Juniper rated it did not like it

Shelves: effing-awful

wow -- did i ever dislike this novel. i found it all too fraught and sort-of silly. i felt as though the writing created detachment which caused me to not be invested in the story. which was weird since it's such a personal situation going on in the novel. ...more

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Jul 22, 2008 Mary Beth rated it liked it

This is a good, well-written story about how are social conventions and expectations can truly effect our lives. However, I felt a bit depressed when I finished.

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