Anyone else here read “On Chesil Beach”, a new novel by Ian McEwan? It’s really more of a novella than a novel. It’s about what happens with two virgins on their wedding night, in the early 1960s. I thought it was a beautiful evocation of that time. The sexual mores have changed so much since then. Possibly a younger reader might think McEwan is exaggerating the naivete of his characters, but believe me, he’s not. Plenty of folks went through the agonies of sexual ignorance that these characters did; fortunately not always with such dire results. McEwan writes wonderfully insightful dialogue. – If you’re looking for a quick but well written read, try this.
I’m a McEwan fan - went looking for a copy of it yesterday, after seeing the review in the New York Times, but couldn’t find it… Amazon shows a release date of June 5th?
Wilson - I Got my copy at the bookstore where I work…guess I did jump the gun. (PS - Did you seen that the movie version of McEwan’s “Atonement” starring Keira Knightley and James McEvoy is due out later this year?)
I read the first chapter of On Chesil Beach when the New Yorker ran it in their holiday issue; you can read it online here.
I thought it was lovely, but didn’t realize there was any more of it. It was so sad I’m not sure I could bear to read the rest of the story.