On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

A short novel of quite remarkable depth, power and poignancy by a writer at the height of his powers.

It is July 1962. Edward and Florence, young innocents married that morning, arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their rooms they struggle to suppress their private fears of the wedding night to come....

On Chesil Beach is another masterwork from Ian McEwan - a story of lives transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

I'm going to give you fair warning - there is going to be a lot of intro to explain what I am doing with this review. I actually wasn't intending to write this review just yet - there are numerous other books that I was going to do first, but then last night I made a small discovery that I thought I might share.

First, a bit of an introduction. The First Tuesday Book Club is a book review show that is shown on the ABC (our public broadcaster - think the BBC without the funding) on the first Tuesday of each month. The regular reviewers are Marieke Hardy (grand daughter of a famous Australian author and actress, screenwriter and blogger in her own right), Jason Steger (book editor of The Age and The Sunday Age) and Jennifer Byrne (journalist and presenter), and they are joined each month by two guest reviewers. The two guest reviewers in this clip were Robyn Butler who is a comedian who just did a comedy series called The Librarians for the ABC, and Geoffrey Robertson (business man as far as I can tell).

My small discovery was that you can view all the reviews online, and that there is one there for On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. So by clicking on the link below you will be taken to the First Tuesday Book Club site, and will be able to watch just under 10 minutes of discussion (warning - lots of spoilers!)


On Chesil Beach discussion


So which of the reviewers did I agree with?

Well, I didn't weep buckets, but I didn't hate it to the point that I would take the risk alienate my spouse (if I had one), so I guess that I am with Jason. There were definitely some good parts of the book, but it did have problems! The set up of the story was excellent, and the ending was moving in a 'my goodness how did these people just let life pass them by' kind of way. The biggest problem for me is that the lack of communication between two people who are seemingly so in love just didn't work for me.


Other Blogger's Thoughts:

So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Caribou's Mom
The Bluestocking Society
1 More Chapter
An Adventure in Reading
Thoughts of Joy
Leafing Through Life

Atonement by Ian McEwan

On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge.

By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

This is a book that I was always going to read, for a number of reasons. The first was the "there's a movie" coming hype, where I think that a movie sounds interesting but I really want to read the book first. The second reason was that there was a LOT of Atonement love happening over at one of the forums I am a member of (rather I should say IS a lot of love) and the third reason was that having read On Chesil Beach not too long ago and not minding it, I was curious as to whether I really would like to read more of McEwans books. The answer to that question, having read this book, is a definite yes. Of course, the fact that I liked this is no guarantee that I will like the others, but it's a good sign.

It is more difficult than usual for me to write about this book, because even to try to give basic explanations of plots will be to spoil. What I would say is that the love story that is contained within this book is very strong, thriving in spite of huge difficulties that are placed in its path, and has a star-crossed lovers feel to it.

There are three main setting in the novel - one the country estate that the Tallis' call home, where events take an unforeseen turn that very nearly destroys both one individual and a whole family. We also found ourselves in the desperate days just before the evacuation of the British troops at Dunkirk, and then again later in the hospitals of London as they try to cope with the influx of wounded. McEwan does a great job at giving each of these locations very distinct atmosphere and emotional charge without losing any of the emotional depth associated with the events that happen in each of these places.

As to whether the main character atones or not...well....I'm not sure she does, but she is definitely a character about whom it is not possible to be ambivalent.

Overall, a very satisfying read, and I am looking forward to seeing the novel now that I have finished the book!

Other Blogger's Thoughts

A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore
Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Rhinoa's Ramblings