A review by sophiea_p
On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan
1.0
Read this for my English coursework as a comparison to Great Expectations. Certainly the better of the two novels.
The sections from Florence’s perspective were the most interesting and she was the more interesting of the protagonists. It is a shame McEwan split the narrative between her and Edward and ended the novel on Edward’s perspective, as it felt like McEwan was centring a male perspective on Florence’s trauma (it is implied she was sexually abused by her father, resulting in her aversion and disgust towards sex, something Edward refuses to try and understand then shames her for, calling her frigid and a bitch), treating it as equal to his self consciousness about ejaculation and then, despite some self reflection, still not fully understanding Florence’s feelings, never regretting calling her names or yelling at her. It feels like he just stopped being angry about it, not actually learnt or grew or reflection on how his own actions affected Florence.
The novel’s treatment of Florence is pretty horrific. Her inability to discuss a deeply traumatic experience is treated as deception and freakish, something the narrative doesn’t challenge with Florence calling it the truth, rather than treating her actions as those of a girl who was sexually abused by someone she loved and trusted and having sympathy for how those actions still affect her years later. The novel would have been more interesting and insightful of it had looked more into the affect of childhood trauma, how it affected Florence’s relationships with her family and perhaps multiple romantic partners, how it affected her mental health and her journey in a sexually repressed and sexist society. Instead, it focused on how embarrassed and hurt Edward was by her trauma response.
This book was a disappointment. It lacked any depth, the characters were half baked and irritating and it failed to explore its subject matter beyond the absolute surface level.
The sections from Florence’s perspective were the most interesting and she was the more interesting of the protagonists. It is a shame McEwan split the narrative between her and Edward and ended the novel on Edward’s perspective, as it felt like McEwan was centring a male perspective on Florence’s trauma (it is implied she was sexually abused by her father, resulting in her aversion and disgust towards sex, something Edward refuses to try and understand then shames her for, calling her frigid and a bitch), treating it as equal to his self consciousness about ejaculation and then, despite some self reflection, still not fully understanding Florence’s feelings, never regretting calling her names or yelling at her. It feels like he just stopped being angry about it, not actually learnt or grew or reflection on how his own actions affected Florence.
The novel’s treatment of Florence is pretty horrific. Her inability to discuss a deeply traumatic experience is treated as deception and freakish, something the narrative doesn’t challenge with Florence calling it the truth, rather than treating her actions as those of a girl who was sexually abused by someone she loved and trusted and having sympathy for how those actions still affect her years later. The novel would have been more interesting and insightful of it had looked more into the affect of childhood trauma, how it affected Florence’s relationships with her family and perhaps multiple romantic partners, how it affected her mental health and her journey in a sexually repressed and sexist society. Instead, it focused on how embarrassed and hurt Edward was by her trauma response.
This book was a disappointment. It lacked any depth, the characters were half baked and irritating and it failed to explore its subject matter beyond the absolute surface level.