“And what stood in their way? Their personalities and pasts, their ignorance and fear, timidity, squeamishness, lack of entitlement or experience or easy manners, then the tail end of a religious prohibition, their Englishness and class, and history itself. Nothing much at all.”
Didn’t care for it. I liked Atonement only marginally better. I read On Chesil Beach because it was short and I could use it for the Novella and Notable Books challenges. I also wanted to give Ian McEwan another chance.
Edward and Florence are both novices to s*x on their wedding night, and the experience doesn’t turn out too well for them. The consequences of this event have serious repercussions for the couple, even life-changing ones. I enjoyed the back-stories of the couple, but the wedding night scene was too graphic for my taste. Really, can’t the same thing be said in a more understated, tasteful way? I realize I’m in the minority on things like this, but certain language and descriptions just really don’t do it for me. Your mileage probably varies.
2007, 203 pp.
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