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On Chesil Beach


~Andrea~

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It's 1962 and Edward and Florence's wedding night. Two virgins who can't talk about sex flounder their way through an awkward evening, having never discussed their own anxieties and expectations of the encounter to come.

 

McEwan writes exquisite prose, and brings vividly to life the moments and actions and internal agonies of these two lovers. The book focuses on the first day of their honeymoon in a hotel overlooking Chesil beach, occasionally switching back to the story that brought them here, how they met and the development of their relationship thus far. The book is full of delicious tension, suspense and comedy and sympathetically shines a light on the most private thoughts and anxieties of two imperfect humans as well as commenting on a society of changing attitudes and on the human condition.

 

I loved this and read it in just a few sittings. I am now desperate to read some more by McEwan.

 

Edited by ~Andrea~
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I have not read On Chesil Beach, but I have read several of his others. I quite liked Solar and The Innocent. I thought they were very well researched. I was not sure about Amsterdam. I thought it was too slight to win the Booker. I am not sure I really liked Atonement. I think I read Saturday, but I cannot remember much about it.

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I absolutely loved this one, for me it's McEwan at his best, lean, concise, beautiful  prose which was why I started reading him from when he first wrote the Cement Garden (which I remember as being very grim).

I'm in the didn't like Atonement camp, I felt it was bloated as if he were writing to impress rather than using his words to convey his meaning as succincty as possible. What could have been a terrific story was sumerged under a torrent of long sentences involving cosulatations of the dictionary.

I know I'm in the minority here so don't slaughter me!

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5 hours ago, France said:

I absolutely loved this one, for me it's McEwan at his best, lean, concise, beautiful  prose

 

That conveys it perfectly.

 

Quote

I'm in the didn't like Atonement camp, I felt it was bloated as if he were writing to impress rather than using his words to convey his meaning as succincty as possible. What could have been a terrific story was sumerged under a torrent of long sentences involving cosulatations of the dictionary.

I know I'm in the minority here so don't slaughter me!

 

Well there must have been a reason why I gave up on Atonement. So perhaps I'm in the minority too! :)

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12 hours ago, poppy said:

My main complaint about Atonement was Briony. She annoyed me so much as a character, it put me off the whole book. I did like McEwan's writing though.

I actually felt the same way, she was very annoying, but I still remember enjoying it overall. I was at least impressed by the ending!

 

On Chesil Beach sounds quite different to what I usually read but so many people have given it brilliant reviews it’s made me want to try it! 

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16 hours ago, Hayley said:

I actually felt the same way, she was very annoying, but I still remember enjoying it overall. I was at least impressed by the ending!

 

On Chesil Beach sounds quite different to what I usually read but so many people have given it brilliant reviews it’s made me want to try it! 

I definitely recommend it Hayley. It's a bit graphic and cringy in places (intentionally) but in a good way, like a beautifully described car crash. It's pretty short too which makes it worth a punt.

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7 hours ago, ~Andrea~ said:

I definitely recommend it Hayley. It's a bit graphic and cringy in places (intentionally) but in a good way, like a beautifully described car crash. It's pretty short too which makes it worth a punt.

I will keep an eye out for it :)

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