bubbles1208's review against another edition
2.0
A well written book but for me a little on the depressive side
steenie's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
edilund's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
genegenegenevieve's review against another edition
4.25
ian McEwan's writing is so lovely I am a new fan. the ending was a bit of a letdown though everything else was so gorgeously detailed in its slowness but the last chapter just felt like a run-through of events and come on Ian!! unleash the full emo power of the regret and nostalgia!! but unfortunately it didn't peak otherwise this would have been a favourite.
niccoyong's review against another edition
3.0
ok i kind of didn't love this SNSNFNF
i do enjoy his writing - it's very precise and evocative, especially when descibing nature, which was one of the things that drew me so strongly to atonement (among other strengths) that i continued to enjoy in this book. in particular, i liked his writing on music as well - it's a personal enjoyment of mine to read about music (like alex ross' the rest is noise), and mcewan did evoke florence's strength and beauty through the richness and power of her violin playing, it was a pleasure to read about it.
thematically, the central dichotomy of restraint / passion did come through - the strength of passion and vigour in edward's internal life and florence's music set against the tentative innocence of their love, and later, the stifled, suffocated restraint that's almost tragic in its waste and loss of opportunity. i did appreciate this, i suppose.
however, the story just felt too slight, too inconsequential to me... perhaps in the same way as the sense of an ending, it felt like a story that could be richer or bigger but just... was not (as opposed to something like ghost wall, that was similarly brief but the story felt more suited to being a short sharp knife of a book).
also i didn't really buy the ending. i actually was quite enjoying this up until 60% through maybe. 1) i didn't like the botched sex scene it was just kind of gross (sorry edward) 2) the final confrontation on the beach was actually quite moving and quite incisive in the conflicting emotions and the shifting dynamics of wilful cruelty belied by vulnerability, pain, and love but i just could not understand the conclusion of the argument where edward was so cruel and vehement in rejecting her offer of a 'platonic' marriage. i think the most likely explanation is that the spur of the moment emotion was indeed senseless and foregrounds the tragedy of their failed romance well into the future of his wasted life. but i guess i just didn't think it was set up very well to suggest such a vehement outburst, especially in response to florence's very self-effacing, timid final proposal
finally this is more my own fault but i saw the wikipedia summary for the movie and it had quite a poignant (beautiful?) ending but then the actual ending of the book was less poetic / romantic and i was disappointed lol. i suppose it suggests the waste of it all (the disappointment was probably the point) but i was kind of more like damn that's it? :/ rather than damn... that's it :(
in all i probably won't remember this much but props to the beauty of his prose which i continued to enjoy and will likely continue to seek out in his other works
i do enjoy his writing - it's very precise and evocative, especially when descibing nature, which was one of the things that drew me so strongly to atonement (among other strengths) that i continued to enjoy in this book. in particular, i liked his writing on music as well - it's a personal enjoyment of mine to read about music (like alex ross' the rest is noise), and mcewan did evoke florence's strength and beauty through the richness and power of her violin playing, it was a pleasure to read about it.
thematically, the central dichotomy of restraint / passion did come through - the strength of passion and vigour in edward's internal life and florence's music set against the tentative innocence of their love, and later, the stifled, suffocated restraint that's almost tragic in its waste and loss of opportunity. i did appreciate this, i suppose.
however, the story just felt too slight, too inconsequential to me... perhaps in the same way as the sense of an ending, it felt like a story that could be richer or bigger but just... was not (as opposed to something like ghost wall, that was similarly brief but the story felt more suited to being a short sharp knife of a book).
also i didn't really buy the ending. i actually was quite enjoying this up until 60% through maybe. 1) i didn't like the botched sex scene it was just kind of gross (sorry edward) 2) the final confrontation on the beach was actually quite moving and quite incisive in the conflicting emotions and the shifting dynamics of wilful cruelty belied by vulnerability, pain, and love but i just could not understand the conclusion of the argument where edward was so cruel and vehement in rejecting her offer of a 'platonic' marriage. i think the most likely explanation is that the spur of the moment emotion was indeed senseless and foregrounds the tragedy of their failed romance well into the future of his wasted life. but i guess i just didn't think it was set up very well to suggest such a vehement outburst, especially in response to florence's very self-effacing, timid final proposal
finally this is more my own fault but i saw the wikipedia summary for the movie and it had quite a poignant (beautiful?) ending but then the actual ending of the book was less poetic / romantic and i was disappointed lol. i suppose it suggests the waste of it all (the disappointment was probably the point) but i was kind of more like damn that's it? :/ rather than damn... that's it :(
in all i probably won't remember this much but props to the beauty of his prose which i continued to enjoy and will likely continue to seek out in his other works
iamthecampion's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I blew through this book, I love McEwan’s writing and his ability to put so much in the unsaid.
mothling's review against another edition
3.75
listen, i know McEwan didn't write this intentionally aiming for asexual representation but i'm claiming it anyways.
knlesiak7's review against another edition
3.0
"It was too interesting, too new, too flattering, too deeply comforting to resist, it was a liberation to be in love and say so, and she could only let herself go deeper."
Hmm. I am a bit torn of this little novella, so much so that I waffled between a rating of 3 and 4 stars. If only Goodreads would allow the half-star vote, I'd have given this a solid 3.5. It was good, it was. But it simply could not compare to my only other reference point for Ian McEwan: Atonement. Perhaps I made a mistake in reading that one first. I loved it so much that I am not sure any of the author's other works can compare.
Still, On Chesil Beach has its own subtle beauty. McEwan, without a doubt, is an exceptional literary voice. This work was nominated for the Booker, and it is fairly easy to see why. McEwan makes it look almost easy to capture just a single day in the span of a novel. In fact, the events of the book take place over a period of just a few hours, as a pair of honeymooners attempt to consummate their marriage along Chesil Beach's shores.
The books two protagonists, Edward and Florence, are a young couple for whom marriage serves as an escape, from their fraught home lives and their dysfunctional families as well as from the larger society's cripplingly tight constraints on the young. Coming of age right on the brink of a new era, the couple finds itself trapped between the sexual restrictions of the past and the sexual liberation and freedom that is just around the corner. On that fateful night in question, Edward is desperate to have sex and physical connection, while Florence is plagued by fear and anxiety. Weighed down by buried trauma, Florence is unable to put into words the truth of her feelings, and Edward, not being a mindreader, is unable to perceive them.
The result, of course, is disastrous, culminating in an explosive fight between the couple on the beach. As their union begins to crumble before it has even really begun, McEwan uses flashbacks to reveal the different shades of each character. It a subtle and haunting portrait of two lives, and the lasting impact of the short period in which those lives intertwined. All should have been lovely and romantic and well out on Chesil Beach. And yet. That is the haunting beauty of the book: it's agony exists in its simplicity. The words not said, the actions not taken, can change the course of a life.
McEwan, as I mentioned, did a lovely job at portraying the nuances of human instinct and human error. I thought the ways in which he conveyed Florence's trauma were deeply effective. On the one hand, she is a fearless and ambitious girl leading her own quartet and building a future with the man she truly loves. On the other, she floats outside of herself, looking down at her life and particularly, her relationship, as if she were an observer but not a participant. The evidence of her abuse is blink-and-you'll-miss-it (which some reviewers definitely seem to), but it is critical to understanding her character, and in my opinion, whether or not you catch it definitely determines the impact the book will have on you. Edward, with a mother who has suffered from permanent brain damage nearly all his life, leaving his father to face poverty and raise three children alone, is similarly complex. Their respective backgrounds impact every action they take that night on Chesil Beach.
It is an evening that haunts them for the rest of their lives, for it was easier to walk away, to live out an entire lifetime, than to call out to one another that night on the beach, to turn around. It was definitely a devastating book in this scene, and I will admit to shedding a tear at the subtle impact of one of the book's final scenes, when Florence finally plays a debut with the quartet. Despite these highlights and McEwan's undeniable skill, I also must admit that the book was missing something for me. The characters were well painted, but I didn't entirely connect with their relationship, which certainly skewed my perception of and interest in the relationship's end. And, because McEwan did such a marvelous job at highlighting both Edward and Florence's perspectives for most of the book, I found it a little jarring that the final narration seemed to revolve almost entirely around Edward. We learned much more about his aftermath than Florence's, which felt odd since the rest of the book was so balanced between the two of them.
Overall, On Chesil Beach was an impressive effort and I'm glad to have read it, but I can't see myself thinking about this one for any length of time, or returning to it again and again in the future. A good character study and vignette, but not a showstopper.
Hmm. I am a bit torn of this little novella, so much so that I waffled between a rating of 3 and 4 stars. If only Goodreads would allow the half-star vote, I'd have given this a solid 3.5. It was good, it was. But it simply could not compare to my only other reference point for Ian McEwan: Atonement. Perhaps I made a mistake in reading that one first. I loved it so much that I am not sure any of the author's other works can compare.
Still, On Chesil Beach has its own subtle beauty. McEwan, without a doubt, is an exceptional literary voice. This work was nominated for the Booker, and it is fairly easy to see why. McEwan makes it look almost easy to capture just a single day in the span of a novel. In fact, the events of the book take place over a period of just a few hours, as a pair of honeymooners attempt to consummate their marriage along Chesil Beach's shores.
The books two protagonists, Edward and Florence, are a young couple for whom marriage serves as an escape, from their fraught home lives and their dysfunctional families as well as from the larger society's cripplingly tight constraints on the young. Coming of age right on the brink of a new era, the couple finds itself trapped between the sexual restrictions of the past and the sexual liberation and freedom that is just around the corner. On that fateful night in question, Edward is desperate to have sex and physical connection, while Florence is plagued by fear and anxiety. Weighed down by buried trauma, Florence is unable to put into words the truth of her feelings, and Edward, not being a mindreader, is unable to perceive them.
The result, of course, is disastrous, culminating in an explosive fight between the couple on the beach. As their union begins to crumble before it has even really begun, McEwan uses flashbacks to reveal the different shades of each character. It a subtle and haunting portrait of two lives, and the lasting impact of the short period in which those lives intertwined. All should have been lovely and romantic and well out on Chesil Beach. And yet. That is the haunting beauty of the book: it's agony exists in its simplicity. The words not said, the actions not taken, can change the course of a life.
McEwan, as I mentioned, did a lovely job at portraying the nuances of human instinct and human error. I thought the ways in which he conveyed Florence's trauma were deeply effective. On the one hand, she is a fearless and ambitious girl leading her own quartet and building a future with the man she truly loves. On the other, she floats outside of herself, looking down at her life and particularly, her relationship, as if she were an observer but not a participant. The evidence of her abuse is blink-and-you'll-miss-it (which some reviewers definitely seem to), but it is critical to understanding her character, and in my opinion, whether or not you catch it definitely determines the impact the book will have on you. Edward, with a mother who has suffered from permanent brain damage nearly all his life, leaving his father to face poverty and raise three children alone, is similarly complex. Their respective backgrounds impact every action they take that night on Chesil Beach.
It is an evening that haunts them for the rest of their lives, for it was easier to walk away, to live out an entire lifetime, than to call out to one another that night on the beach, to turn around. It was definitely a devastating book in this scene, and I will admit to shedding a tear at the subtle impact of one of the book's final scenes, when Florence finally plays a debut with the quartet. Despite these highlights and McEwan's undeniable skill, I also must admit that the book was missing something for me. The characters were well painted, but I didn't entirely connect with their relationship, which certainly skewed my perception of and interest in the relationship's end. And, because McEwan did such a marvelous job at highlighting both Edward and Florence's perspectives for most of the book, I found it a little jarring that the final narration seemed to revolve almost entirely around Edward. We learned much more about his aftermath than Florence's, which felt odd since the rest of the book was so balanced between the two of them.
Overall, On Chesil Beach was an impressive effort and I'm glad to have read it, but I can't see myself thinking about this one for any length of time, or returning to it again and again in the future. A good character study and vignette, but not a showstopper.
somewherestar's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
librelivre's review against another edition
5.0
Happy belated birthday to Ian McEwan who gave me a new favourite read, a new favourite pair of protagonists and a new favourite ending.
Now what? :'(
I am bereft.
Goodbye, Florence. So long, Edward.
Now what? :'(
I am bereft.
Goodbye, Florence. So long, Edward.