Ian Mcalister answers “Has anyone actually noticed that the girl...”

Sean Redding asked this question about On Chesil Beach:

Has anyone actually noticed that the girl is actually asexual? I seriously feel like everyone has overlooked that.

Ian Mcalister The sexual attraction Florence had with her father is the crux of this story. The understated, almost off-handed, references to the trips on the boat …moreThe sexual attraction Florence had with her father is the crux of this story. The understated, almost off-handed, references to the trips on the boat were telling us something important and they are key passage to the structure of the book.

The wedding night was a bad night all round, for the readers as well as for Edward and Florence. I was expecting something very different from what I read. What I did read confirmed my own opinion that the crux of the story was actually Florence's relationship with her father and that that's where her sexuality was deflowered. It's not an uncommon story, I'm afraid.

The post-coital descriptions of the wedding night parallel the sense of frustrations that played out in all the other scenes as the story itself unfolded.

He's a master story-teller and has inspired me to read more.(less)

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