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On Chesil Beach

By Ian McEwan

(358)

| Paperback | 9780307386175

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Book Description

A novel of remarkable depth and poignancy from one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.

It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student at University ColContinue

A novel of remarkable depth and poignancy from one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.

It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student at University College of London, who unexpectedly wooed and won her heart. Newly married that morning, both virgins, Edward and Florence arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their rooms they struggle to suppress their worries about the wedding night to come. Edward, eager for rapture, frets over Florence’s response to his advances and nurses a private fear of failure, while Florence’s anxieties run deeper: she is overcome by sheer disgust at the idea of physical contact, but dreads disappointing her husband when they finally lie down together in the honeymoon suite.

Ian McEwan has caught with understanding and compassion the innocence of Edward and Florence at a time when marriage was presumed to be the outward sign of maturity and independence. On Chesil Beach is another masterwork from McEwan—a story of lives transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

Critics

  • 'On Chesil Beach' by Ian McEwan

    This is one of those delightfully languid books that should be read in one sitting -- and at just 176 pages you can comfortably achieve this without frittering half your life away. Set in England in 1962, it tells the story of two young, some might s ... (read full critics)

    readingmatters published on Tue, 28 Sep 2010

  • Innocents abroad

    On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan Cape £12.99, pp242 THERE IS no epigraph to this short, elegantly realised novel, but if there were it would surely be the celebrated opening couple of stanzas from Philip Larkin's 'Annus Mirabilis': Sexual intercourse be ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

28 Reviews

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  • 8 people find this helpful

    Reading On Chesil Beach

    Ian McEwan remains one of my favorite writers working today, and On Chesil Beach provides testament as to why. As with his previous books, detail is key. McEwan places the reader so solidly in the story that it feels as though you're standing right alongside the main characters.

    The novella c ... (continue)

    Ian McEwan remains one of my favorite writers working today, and On Chesil Beach provides testament as to why. As with his previous books, detail is key. McEwan places the reader so solidly in the story that it feels as though you're standing right alongside the main characters.

    The novella centers around a brand new married couple and the events of their wedding night. The story is set in the late 50s, when sexual mores were obviously significantly different than they are today. Both husband and wife have serious hangups and fears going into the big night, and we flash forward and backward to see the evolution of their relationship. The story is brutally realistic, but beautifully told. McEwan is able to write sentences so sublime that they require reading and re-reading. As with all McEwan novels on my list, this one is highly recommended.

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    moogle said on Apr 21, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 2 people find this helpful

    Ian McEwan's writing is really very 'crisp'. He just writes to the point. The characters are so real and believable. The plot and the flashbacks are nicely put together.

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    hermia said on Mar 16, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Beautifully written and interesting plot and dynamics. However I found the end quite depressing.

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    Mati said on Oct 10, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    One of my favourite books

    Loved the novela format, read it in a weekend and was totally engrossed.

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    Danielle said on Jun 15, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • I really cannot understand the reason why it's called a masterpiece. And neither I can find a reason why it should be read. Or have been written.

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    Kay said on Feb 27, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • Nice

    This book is about two young and quite selfish people on their wedding first night. Both of them are worried about what's going to happen, but for different reasons. So while he spend the whole dinner excited and thinking about the moment when he can finally have her, she almost feels sick in his mo ... (continue)

    This book is about two young and quite selfish people on their wedding first night. Both of them are worried about what's going to happen, but for different reasons. So while he spend the whole dinner excited and thinking about the moment when he can finally have her, she almost feels sick in his mouth during a passionate (for him - disgusting for her) kiss. The events of the night are alternate with bits of their past and their families.
    It's a kind of book that makes you think, but I didn't find it, as written on the cover, wonderful and devastating. I would rather say nice and readable, but this is just my own opinion.

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    AnnaMi said on Feb 17, 2011 | Add your feedback

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ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780307386175 Paperback $13.95 $10.04 bn.com
-- $9.99 ebooks.com
$14.00 $10.49 The Book Depository
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