Really well-written, but there was something so uncomfortable about it that I can't say I enjoyed reading this novella. The miscommunication between the couple was palpable and understandable, but I got so angry with the guy for giving up on her like that when all she wanted was not to be pressured...

Sublime, sexy, funny, technically and musically superb, wise, and heartbreaking. I will read anything Ian McEwan writes.

Beautifully written. Desperately sad. It left me sitting in a haze of emotions that felt tangibly real.

No puedo negar que me ha gustado mucho conocer a Florence. Su seriedad, su natural bondadoso y su sensibilidad comprometida, tan encantadoras a los ojos de Edward, me inspiran una especie de amistad admirativa. Con compasión de tintes maternos he observado, además, las aristas de nuestra poliédrica protagonista: la honestidad asexuada, la carne sin fiebre, el perfeccionismo implacable, lo oscuro de sí...
Creo que el autor consigue desvelar con acierto las claves de la adoración distante que Florence le profesa a su hombre, y con inteligencia nos convence de que no debemos precipitarnos al juzgar la extraña forma de elocuencia de su amor, tan distinta a la norma. Así, McEwan analiza con perspicacia el temor al sexo de una criatura "desmañada y frágil"; temor que, en un estrato profundo, comparte sustancia con otros miedos mayormente difusos y de mejor reputación. Y expone, también con acierto, el deseo de contrarrestar esos mismos temores haciéndose violencia a uno mismo. No se habla aquí, por tanto, de mera repugnancia, sino del archiconocido terror (a veces irracional) al daño, a la instrumentalización, al devenir un mero objeto al servicio de la voracidad del otro. Chesil Beach es un espléndido acercamiento, en definitiva, a la parte de misterio y riesgo que encierra la compleja y ultra-preciosa sexualidad humana.
Las conclusiones de la última página son singularmente valiosas y lúcidas, y noto que en estas últimas veinticuatro horas me las llevo a cuestas a todas partes, como un dulce mantra que me recuerda que "con amor y paciencia" podemos atrevernos a optar a la condición de animales dichosos. Muchos sabios lo han dicho de mil formas distintas: hay más amor en el perdón que en la fusión. A mí me ha encantado la forma en que lo dice McEwan.

I have a First Edition of this small hardcopy book. I read it in 2007.
There are other passionate 5 star reviews..
but I was incredibly disappointed.
I felt it could have been a short story -
I was angry that I paid full price for it.

However ..I may re- read this book soon ( it only takes a few hours) with an open mind to see if my thoughts have changed.

I’m guessing people today didn’t pay $30 for this as I had. Funny how the price bothered me so much.. and it did at the time.

UPDATED: May 24, 2018, after watching the new film:

This is my second viewing of the film. I first saw it last September during the Toronto film festival. I read the book a month ago. And I rescreened the film a few days ago to review before its theatrical release. I prefer the novel, especially for the witty, all-knowing narrator. The flashbacks are handled much more subtly in the book than they are in the movie.

But the film (McEwan wrote the screenplay) captures the same tone of light comedy and tragedy. Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle are beautifully cast (as are Samuel West and Emily Watson as Florence's parents), and it's quite something to see the actual Chesil Beach. In the film you understand that if you walk all the way out on the beach, there's only one way to come back... which is an intriguing metaphor for the central decision in the book.

The biggest difference in the movie, apart from the abuse being much clearer, is the ending. As I point out in my review of the movie, film and literature are different mediums. I think we want to see certain things play out in a movie that we don't necessarily need in a book. So the ending in the film has a certain power. (I cried both times I saw it.) I love the book's ending – it's quiet, subtle and more believable than what we're given in the movie. But even though it doesn't all work the old age-y makeup, especially for Edward, is a bit much, it's still very effective.

***

A note-perfect novella

On their wedding night in a seaside hotel room in 1962, a young British couple, both virgins, have a disagreement, and it has lasting implications.

On the surface, that doesn’t sound very interesting, but McEwan manages to suggest so much. There’s obviously lots of humour in the young couple’s awkward fumblings: waiters barge in and out of the room serving them their bland, proper meal (although they’re not hungry); neither the man (Edward) nor the woman (Florence) knows who should make the first move; and when they eventually start to get intimate, things like zippers don’t behave...

Furthermore, Edward desperately wants to have sex (he’s refrained from masturbating – or “self pleasure,” as the euphemism goes – all week), while Florence, intimidated by having read a dry sex manual, is dreading it. But there’s something deeper at play in their inability to say what’s bothering them – and why.

This is, remember, Britain before the sexual revolution of the late 60s and early 70s, before people talked openly about their wants and feelings to friends and therapists or on TV. And the couple’s separate backgrounds, skillfully interwoven through flashbacks from the main narrative, also play a key role.

McEwan’s omniscient, all-knowing narrator is a delight, finding just the right tone between comedy and tragedy. At one point he’ll have you chuckling about the little insecurities that bond us all, and then he’ll leave you crying at things not said, not expressed.

Plus: there's lots of subtlety in the way that McEwan describes a bit of Florence’s history that absolutely affects her attitude to sex. (Surprisingly, many of the 1 and 2 star reviews of this book fail to mention this… perhaps they missed it?)

Early on we’re introduced to the idea of fate; Edward recently graduated university with a degree in history, and he had a theory that great people determined their destinies. This becomes an intriguing theme as we’re shown how the two met, and, if we dig deeper (as we’re meant to, with McEwan), see the links that perhaps drew them together. Edward has a bit of a temper, much like Florence’s wealthy industrialist father; and Edward’s mother, who suffered brain damage from a life-altering accident at a train station, is also something of a musician, like Florence (a violinist who dreams of being in a professional string quartet).

The climax, set on the eponymous Chesil Beach, is heart-stopping. Think of the setting: a narrow stretch of shingly land surrounded by water on either side… meaning if you go down it, you have to come back the same way.

And the final few pages, which flash forward a year or two and then decades, are simply devastating. This is one of those books where, when I eventually pick it up again at a bookstore and reread the final pages, I know I’ll tear up again. (See also: The Goldfinch and Middlemarch)

As McEwan demonstrated in the more ambitious but no less affecting Atonement, lives can change in an instant: over a lie, something misunderstood or perhaps even words simply unsaid.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to listen to Mozart’s String Quintet in D major (K. 593). You’ll want to too, after reading this exquisite, note-perfect book.

I recently finished a rather extensive personal reading challenge, so now I am selecting books and authors only because that is what I want to read next. Reading more by Ian McEwan has been and now will continue to be a priority. I have read four of his novels and they have all been excellent. This short novel makes quite an impression.

It is Edward’s and Florence’s wedding night, 1962. They are both virgins and have concerns and fears of the sex they are to have that night. For Edward, it is his performance he worries about. In Florence’s case, she knows she loves Edward, but everything about sex fills her with trepidation and dread. The emotions that flow through this novel are strong, in the characters and in what I found myself feeling as the reader. How many of us have not shared something in common with Edward, Florence or both? It is what makes the story so relevant. And yet, it is not the sex and but the failure to talk to one another about what they are feeling that creates the biggest problem. We even get to see where at times their thoughts, feelings and love for one another are very similar, but they don’t recognize that shared perspective.

I thoroughly enjoy McEwan’s prose. It feels like it comes organically from a great storyteller, not heavily planned or crafted. He integrates backstory beautifully. I found myself having to flip back a page to see how he moved into a backstory because he did it so seamlessly that I hadn't noticed what he was doing.

Luckily for me McEwan has been quite prolific as an author, so I have much more of his work to experience.

Inghilterra , siamo in un contesto storico in cui sul sesso gravano pesanti pregiudizi e inconsapevolmente siamo ad un passo dall’esplosione della libertà sessuale che arriverà con la fine degli anni sessanta.
La prima notte di nozze di una coppia di ventenni inglesi degli anni Sessanta diventa una sorta di commedia drammatica , legata soprattutto al passato, rafforzata da gustosi inevitabili equivoci.
Lui, Edward, giovane con ambizioni letterarie, ha poca esperienza con le donne in generale e con la neosposa di cui è innamorato.
Lei, Florence, violinista non meno ambiziosa, nutre un'inconfessata e patologica repulsione per il sesso, forse a causa dell'educazione ricevuta, o perché la sua passione totalizzante è per la musica .
Fulcro della vicenda è il rapporto tra genitori e figli e le conseguenze inesorabili sulla personalità e sulle scelte di questi ultimi, condannati a scontare in una spirale viziosa, traumi infantili e adolescenziali. E così Mcewan riesce a descrivere la loro prima notte di nozze come un capolavoro fatto di immagini, cose non dette e inconfessabili, pensieri che vorticano nelle teste dei due amanti, emozioni travolgenti sia come forza del desiderio di Edward che come forza del disgusto di Florence..... “Le occorreva soltanto essere certa che lui l'amasse, sentirsi rassicurare sul fatto che non esisteva nessuna fretta, avendo un'intera vita davanti. ... “Amore e pazienza. Se lui avesse detto...se lei avesse fatto...ma non sempre accade ciò che vorremmo: “ecco come il corso di tutta una vita può dipendere ... dal non fare qualcosa” e condannarci ad una esistenza di rimpianti.

Ian Mc Ewan is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

This is a short, simple story about a newly married couple called Florence and Edward and how " You can ruin everything by not speaking up"

I listened to this book which was narrated by Ian McEwan and what a wonderful experience that was.
This is one of those books that is full of hidden depth. On the surface the story may seem quite straight forward and yet there is so much depth to the characters and situations than first appears.

McEwan has a gift as a writer and he pays amazing attention to detail, his prose is beautiful and not one word is wasted in the perfectly paced novel. I love how vivid he can create characters in such a short novel . Florence and Edward are just wonderfully developed and I found myself sympathising with both of them and the tragic situation they find themselves in. Like them or not you just can't help being drawn into this story.



A great read and a book that would make for wonderful discussion in a book club.

Second book I read by McEwan. A haunting story about embarrassing sexual dysfunctions, lack of communication, love, social barriers.

''Έτσι μπορεί να αλλάξει η πορεία μιας ολόκληρης ζωής - μένοντας αδρανής.''

The English language is failing me at this moment. I am trying to find the words to appropriately describe how & why this slim little work has affected me so, but it may take a moment....

Mesmerizing. Breathtaking, really. Such control from Ian McEwan I cannot stand it. Seriously. I was losing patience reading, in a way, wanting to see what was going to happen next. But, of course, on the other hand, so absorbed by his beautiful, melodious words I wanted it to go on forever. The way he writes with such detail, such insight, such patience to see the minutiae of individual thoughts, feelings, scenes, through. As an aspiring writer, I can only wish for the tenacity, the ability, the mastery to write anywhere close to this level. That comment itself is probably laughable.

The entire novel is set during one evening, the couple's wedding day, right after they have taken their vows. Both virgins, Edward & Florence are living in times were propriety is at its height. Communication? Nearly non-existent where sexual interactions are concerned. I have always believed the level of communication, both in quality + quantity, is far from ideal in this generation's relationships. Their level is not even close to that. I cannot imagine how any relationship, especially a marriage, can be expected to prevail with such limited communication. And this little masterpiece is a wonderful Exhibit #A for my case in point.