Am I the only person who read this McEwan piece as a short story in the New Yorker in September, 2006?

I thought it was a brilliant short story. However, when it was published as a new hardback, I forgot I had seen that title before. The book was what it was, a short story force-fed into becoming a publishable, hard-back book. The additional pages written by the author added nothing, except royalties.

The short story contained every thing necessary to convey what I thought was an interesting, tense and surprising story.

Authors and publishers should reveal somewhere on the cover of the "book" it has been previously published in another form. I was disappointed in this little charade.

In "On Chesil Beach" Ian McEwan, as usually, delivers what expected of him. Exeptionally good literature, exceptionally good character study and background.
Florence, a violinist, and Edward, a historian, young college graduates and, what is more important, newlyweds, are about to spend their first night together. The honeymoon started well, they are in a hotel suite overlooking the beach, but none of them is happy - they fear what happens when they attempt intercourse., And, although they fear for totally different reasons (or maybe partly because of this?) it leads them to the tragic misunderstanding and puts the end to their marriage.

McEwan, like in his previous novel, "Saturday", connects the central conflict between the pair of protagonists with the place and time of their life, and their social status. Again, he comes back to his point that we are trapped in our era and culture and most of us cannot find the way out. This new novel is very precisely set in 1962, a year before the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles' first LP. The young people still live according to old rules, but long for something new, something undefined and tempting, and at the same time are afraid of it. The tale told here belongs to the epoch, but at the same time is as universal and timeless as we can only imagine. It is a simple story about two people, very much in love and seemingly at the beginning of a very happy, successful married life, who shatter everything because of their assumptions, inability to communicate and to open to each other's feelings, and lack of understanding. The spoken and unspoken words change their lives without a chance for a change. The tragedy is not only their view of each other, but - and this is essential - their ignorance of their own feelings and characters, which they do not know themselves (example: Florence's own belief in her frigidity) - and when they learn who they really are, it is too late.

McEwans language is, as usual, crystal clear and precise. The narrative is disciplined and transparent. There are just enough words for this short (but not too short) novel to be perfect. The dialogues flow and there is nothing superfluous, nothing redundant, every word is accounted for. The story is perfectly constructed, flawless - but not without some winks towards the reader, like a temptation after the climax to read on to the end... hoping for a change, although knowing what the end will be. Superb.

It seems as though each time you check his website, Ian McEwan has collected another award, and with the success of Atonement he has to be considered one of the great living novelists in English. Although On Chesil Beach (Nan A. Talese, 2007) lacks the scope of Atonement, it is clearly a product of the same artistic sensibility.

The recent novel is set in 1962, on the eve (ironically) of the decade that brought fundamental changes in lifestyles, especially in regard to sexual mores. McEwan's young newly weds are both products of older times, virgins who have never spoken to one another about such things. Florence assumes that Edward has the required minimal sexual experience, and he assumes that she is eager for a sex life within the sacrament of marriage. Neither is correct. The central event of the novel is the wedding night in a hotel at Chesil Beach, where things come apart miserably as a result of his extreme performance anxiety and her irrepressible sexual loathing.

Throughout the novel, McEwan shifts from one point of view to the other, allowing the reader to experience first hand each character's flawed perceptions of the other. The technique is especially effective after the failed wedding night, when they fabricate defensive cases against one another. Atonement and On Chesil Beach are both about communication and how its failure can alter a life. In the first novel, the failed communication was the telling of an untrue tale by a child who dreamed of being a storyteller. In the later novel, the sexual failure was the result of things left unsaid. Both novels end with glimpses of the future lives that resulted from the communication failures.

On Chesile Beach is really a novella, stretched to book length with the use of small pages and a lot of white space. Personally, I think short is good, and this one is definitely vintage McEwan.

I have to give this "book-ette" two stars because it is very well written, but the story is truly dreadful and, in the end, uninteresting. This is my first McEwan book, and despite stellar reviews of his other works, I will have a difficult time trying them.

I'm sorry but this story stank! It was far too rambling, considering how short it was. I skipped huge parts just to get to the end, only to find out they'd called it quits before the end of their wedding night? It also didn't ring true that they wouldn't have confided in each other it was their first time. I don't know, I'm not too keen to read more by this author based on this book.

In short, this is 190 pages of how the husband is frustrated after waiting so long to have sex with his wife, "prematurely releases" and is therefore disappointed. His wife is disgusted by his private parts and he shouts and loses her on the day of his wedding. In the last 10 pages of the book, he is suddenly 50 years old and reminisces of his time with her and how he should've been more patient. This is not intellectually challenging, nor is this book entertaining. Would you find that fun to read? Not me.

Enjoyable short (200 pp) read. Well written. A good plane ride.
Not, of course, a classic. sad ending.

Anyone who has read a novel by Ian McEwan will not be surprised to discover that the language the author adopted to craft On Chesil Beach is flawless. Even as the prose urges the story forward, the reader is compelled to linger over the beautiful passages, the taut, lovely sentences and the crisp dialogue that mark McEwan as one of the master writers of our time. And, while each novel develops its own unique and curious plot, (consider the shocking end of Amsterdam or the bittersweet lesson at the heart of Atonement), each also shares a universal theme. McEwan's stories are all driven by the human desire to ponder the imponderable: "If only."

On Chesil Beach is no exception. The two main characters, Edward and Florence, are celebrating the evening of their marriage. The story begins on the night of their honeymoon, two virgins, each insecure in the knowledge of what will soon happen. Much of the novel lingers over their thoughts and anxieties, their memories and anticipation. By alternating their two perspectives, McEwan deftly captures the way our spoken words do not always accurately represent what it is we are struggling to communicate. While much of the book concerns this dance between meaning and misunderstanding, there is also action-action that has serious consequences. We glimpse the couples' past, present, and future, perfectly balanced on one moment of consummation.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of McEwan's writing is his ability to capture the nature of time. Like Proust, McEwan can examine a single moment, filling as many pages as a description of events that have passed over a period of twenty years. It is brilliant prose that conveys a poignant, heart-wrenching love story.

Armchair Interviews says: Read McEwan for both his wonderful stories and superb storytelling.

Author Ian McEwan has the skill of a masterful miniaturist. With exquisite delicacy, his unblinking eye and steady hand can reveal a universe illustrated by an instant in time (a single day in "Saturday", a few hours in "On Chesil Beach"). This story is, on the face of it, a simple one of wedding night panic, but behind it lurk numerous knots of emotion and experience which McEwan slowly unravels. Here is writing at its finest.
Having said that, I was disappointed with the conclusion of "On Chesil Beach". Perhaps it can be put down to a basic dissatisfaction with the novella form, but I found it all a bit too abrupt at the end. The narrative proceeds at an almost elegaic pace through a huge build-up to a crisis, and suddenly it's all over. With almost indecent haste, the last few pages "fast forward" to provide a tidy ending.
But this is a minor quibble about a couple of hours of sheer reading pleasure.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RCPN3ZPML5N68 A 7 minute video review of On Chesil Beach from 'Book Award Tragic'.


On Chesil Beach

Romantic, thought-provoking, melancholic, heartbreaking...These are the words I would use to describe this novella...At first, it took me awhile to really "get into" this book (in fact, I would probably give it about four and a half stars, but I round up...), but once I appreciated McEwan's beautiful writing and strong characters, I fell so vividly in the book...I do have to say that at first I wanted more of a plot until I appreciated that McEwan takes a small moment and just goes with it...You'll think about this book after you put it down. (By the way, I felt that the book was not unrealistic. Florence's response/feelings may be very uncommon but not impossible.)

Having enjoyed other works by Ian McEwan I was annoyed no end by this book. I felt I had read it all before. Is this an intellectual exercise? As for being on the short list for the Booker Prize....well I can't believe it. Better luck next time.

I had never read Ian McEwan's work before. I did see the film Atonement and really enjoyed it. After reading this short novel, I came away with several observations: (1) McEwan has a terrific simplistic style that invites the reader in. I was very impressed with his writing ability. (2) His description was very vivid in the telling, but not in showing me WHY for example Florence had such disdain for sex. Was it because her mother never showed her affection? Was it because something happened with her father, which was barely hinted at? It's 1962, not 1902. The setup was not believable to me. (3) When the couple finally have it out on Chesil Beach, I couldn't help but roll my eyes and state, "Give me a freakin' break!" The whole ending was not believable at all. Actually, it was preposterous, ridiculous and laughable.

In my view if a first time novelist wrote this, he or she would have a very difficult time finding a literary agent to represent the work, let alone having a publishing house publish this nonsense.

I'm giving McEwan's book 3 stars, because he is a very fine writer. If I had the opportunity to hand out stars or no stars for plot and story, I would have given this a NEGATIVE ONE.

In the future, I may read some of his earlier work in that many here seem to have high regard for it.

As to this book, I can only imagine that it's a bestseller, because of the preceding work and not because this book deserves any merit whatsoever.

A mediocre attempt by an otherwise great author.

I read this novel during a three hour layover in the Atlanta airport, and I can't help but feel McEwan didn't spend any more time than that writing it. I'm astonished I made it through the whole thing, and if my flight hadn't been delayed I probably would've given up on it and opted instead for the AirTran manual in the seat pocket--it probably would've been more riveting.

Not to mention, there was a HUGE contradiction in the narrative that made the plot absolutely moot and aggravated me so much I complained for a good 15 minutes to the person sitting next to me in the terminal. It just felt sloppy and also lacked any conclusion whatsoever for the female lead character.

I have enjoyed this author for years, but Chesil Beach didn't live up to his previous works.

The book itself is rather small in stature but when the story started my attention was instantly saturated with powerful intensity for it. I found this novel to be quite extraordinary and read it in one sitting - right after having oysters for brunch; I left ready and pounced on it ferociously and enjoyed it until dusk arrived. This was my first time reading McEwan and I found his language, ideas and wording very easy to slip into. Some authors requite an adjustment, sometimes it feels like a change of latitude and climate, even gravity but not with Ian, it's hard for me to imagine anyone who's not curios about life that would not enjoy this.

It's a brief novel set in the 1960's, all I knew about it before I read it was that I spotted it on the New York Times Saturday Book Review ( my favorite) bestsellers section and the simple mention of a wedding night going horribly wrong hooked me. This indeed was a mess slowly unraveling, making me read on nervously knowing that something ugly is about to perspire. The story starts of gently enough but pretty soon the reader gets a real glimpse of Florence, the young bride, and her revulsion of all things having to do with the secrets of the flesh. Even before she married Edward her love for him was warm and pleasant, almost maternal but a few hours after the wedding during their supper, being able to see the freshly made bed in the next room of their honeymoon suite was making her nauseous and fearful of disappointing her new husband with her true feelings concerning the dreaded wedding night.

The acting between Florence and Edward that takes place, the restrained talk and emotions when Edward can barely stand not pouncing on his bride while eating, the dance like charade skillfully played by almost petrified Florence and the glimpses back on how they met set up a heck of a story, the reader knows that things are about to go badly for both of them. Either the bride goes with the flow and makes the best of her situation or she offends Edward and shows him her true feelings. The energy generated by minimal dialogue, sensitive writing and skillful psychology made for an incredibly alluring and mesmerizing book. This isn't only about committing the act, it was more about human errs and not being true and honest with one self, trying to act according to the times and not engaging in close contact with your partner, not understanding who he is until marriage. One can easily see how this type of a scenario can make for hair rising fiction (even scarier, it was probably true back then).

Living in different times makes it easy for me to judge, through out the book I kept thinking "I would never do that" or " I can't even imagine feeling like this woman" but I still connected with her, feeling sorry for her and being angry at her at the same time. This is a treat not to be missed, skillfully written and well told, a story that truly feeds the soul.

- Kasia S.

This was my first foray into McEwan's work and I am glad to report that this novel was absolutely striking. It had many elements I did not expect but the prose was consistently vivid. There aren't many events in the novel (indeed, not much happens at all) but we are transported back throughout the year before the novel's present. This is done in a concise way that is maximized by the quality of the description. I found the novel to be a perfect length for what it was attempting to achieve.

This book explores a relationship between newlyweds where communication problems lead to a sad result (I don't want to spoil it for you). The woman seems to be abnormally fearful of sex and in fact, revolted by the idea of it. There are hints that perhaps she was abused. The book details a painfully awkward wedding night and the fallout its unhappy outcome. The book is beautifully written, moving seamlessly between the present and past. The book shows how a moment in life can lead one down a path from which there is no turning back. A few pages near the end quickly recount what becomes of these young people and though their lives are not tragic, the reader does wonder what might have been. It's a good read though soon after I closed the book, it slipped from mind.

Some 46 years ago (good Lord, I was alive then), we spoke so little about sex and ardor. Ian McEwan chooses this time to open up what is little more than an elongated story about lost love. Like much of his writing, "On Chesil Beach" brings us to a turning point... as one reviewer characterized it, a defining moment, upon which two lives turn.

In an awkward, painful pastiche of two young people on their honeymoon, McEwan takes the reader through the same experience from two different viewpoints. The span time of the core story is about three hours, and in those three hours, in this short vignette which starts with love and hope and ends with pain and hopelessness, McEwan once more, and beautifully, changes the way we think about sexuality. And because he needs so few words, and so little time to plant the seeds of "what might have been?" in the reader's mind, there is only one way to define this tale... it is masterful.

And painful. Keep that in mind if you decide to read it.