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On Chesil Beach
Ian McEwan

I have just finished reading this book and loved it! It is a short novel and some reviewers on Amazon described it as a 'novella' rather than a novel but I think Ian McEwan is amazing and can say/portray so much in so few words. He is definitely one of my all time favourite authors. What does anyone else think of On Chesil Beach?

my husband told me not to read it as he thought it was the saddest book ever! I'm not usually keen on sad books but after six months of it sitting by the bed I just couldn't resist. I loved the book too. It was painful to read but that was the skill of the writer portraying the poor couples individual anguish. Oh what a bit of honest communication would have saved!
Did you read Saturday? That is one of my all time favourites.

Yes, I totally agree...it definitely was painful to read and so sad. I didn't want to write too much in case of giving any spoilers. I think Ian McEwan is an incredibly skilled writer. I absolutely loved Saturday too and Atonement is another of my all time favourite novels.

I loved Chesil Beach too. Ian McEwan is just terrific at bringing people and situations to life. I felt emotionally drained whilst reading this. It is such a sad story but totally engrossing and believable.

Definately his best so far

I have to say I prefer Atonement...

me too, but he never writes a book that disappoints.

I think all his books are different in a slight way, but noticeable and this makes them page turners that never disappoint and want me for one coming back for more

Ummm. This is only my second post here, but I'm gonna be slagged off times without number for saying that I'd be pleased, if I suffered from insomnia, to have any McEwan book at my bedside. It's not that his writing is particularly awful - it's certainly not, as it's often relatively good, sometimes passable, occasionally pretty bad, but he's just not the literary star he's made out to be. McEwan is a product of the UEA factory, and like any other mass-produced product will be consumed ad nauseam. I'd prefer to steer clear of the vomit bag, thanks all the same.

If anyone's mystified by the above paragraph, just go to recent American literature for a far fresher look on things.

An example of what I'm talking about came up in Saturday's Guardian Review, where McEwan wrote an end-of-the-decade obituary of Updike. He says: 'The Updike opus is so varied and rich that we will not have its full measure for years to come.' He didn't mean 'opus', which of course refers only to one work, but 'oeuvre', which refers to the total body of work. OK, we all make mistakes, but for a supposedly very good writer, McEwan makes far too many of them. End of rant.

I adore Ian McEwan and On Chesil Beach is possibly my favourite book of his. It's actually painful to read with its constant atmosphere of repression and voyeuristic view of the relationship. Like The Go-Between, it has a perfect opening line, which in this case summarises the whole book: "They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible."
The book reminds me of watching Nick Cave and PJ Harvey in the video of Henry Lee or listening to Chris Rea play slide on Stony Road. Too short, leaves me longing for more, painful but unmissable.

absolutely brilliant moving poignant book.
and much in the same vein as david nicholl's 'one fine day' which i've just finished and thought was astonishing.
PS please excuse all spelling mistakes

One Day
David Nicholls

Quoted from Mrs McGee View Post

absolutely brilliant moving poignant book. and much in the same vein as david nicholl's 'one fine day' which i've just finished and thought was astonishing. PS please excuse all spelling mistakes

I liked On Chesil Beach - had to read it after someone tried to describe it to me. It is sad, but very believable. On the other hand I loathed Atonement - I just couldn't get into it at all! I finished it - but only just!

A bit late coming to this thread... I loved On Chesil Beach and devoured it in a couple of sittings. The length of the book was perfect for the story - much more and it would have been too heartbreaking! Haven't read much McEwan but have read Atonement and although I found it very involving it didn't affect me on an emotional level in the way On Chesil Beach did.

Coming even later to this tread, I think 'Enduring Love' is his best book. Well worth a read. I think there's a film of it as well, but I haven't seen it. I suspect the film would be too formulaic.