First take on Chesil Beach

Well, I've finished about as much of On Chesil Beach as I can handle. I should probably wait to post something, so that I can ruminate on my thoughts and compose something eloquent. Except the way I feel about posting is the same as I felt about the story: I have no patience for it.

I feel awkward in saying this, since I apparently don't (anymore?) understand great literature or great writers, but there's something about Ian McEwan's writing that makes me want to skip entire chunks, to turn the page, no pages without reading. Maybe I haven't given it the college try, and I should try to read a few more books, but I'm afraid that I'll have a similar experience of picking it up and finding it a dreadful chore to turn pages. I started Atonement several times and just couldn't get into it so I put it down each time, and I had a similar experience with Chesil Beach.

I actually did find the first chapter engaging, and sort of wanted to find out the backstory about these people and their connection. But as I started chapter 2 I found myself very quickly progressively less interested in the characters or their story at all. I skipped to the end and read the last chapter. And then I felt like I had cheated, so I went back looking for juicy parts. Just now I tried to make myself read the rest of it - the middle chunk - but I found myself again skipping whole paragraphs and then pages. So, given that I gave the middle a slightly light reading, here's what I got.....

Firstly, I agree with Paulio's second comment about the believability of Florence's fears. I found Florence's character development to be the most engaging thing about the story. I found her inner dialogues, her small movements, her rationalizations to be so real. I agree that all of Florence's thoughts and actions, and the events of their wedding night seemed entirely within the realms of normal human experience -- especially given two relatively inexperienced (in ways of deep intimacy) young people who seemed to have some real lack of communication at some level (which was probably also part of the times and also totally normal).

I did find it sad that Edward has his realization about his losing what was potentially the best relationship with another person in his whole life in such a brief moment of lack of communication. I can only speculate about what may have happened with Florence -- Would she have become more comfortable with intimacy? Would he have had flings on the side and would she have been content? I don't think I got enough about her to really guess.

I haven't fully worked out yet what I think about their lack of/communication prior to and on the wedding night. I need more time to think about it. I'm ruminating on....Did Florence really "deceive" Edward by not revealing more of her issues with intimacy prior to the marriage -- should she have said more or voiced her concerns prior? Does Florence get points for her (fairly straightforward) explanation on the beach that sex just isn't her gig and that she understands he'll need it and can pursue it if he wants? Edward certainly feels that she deceived him by not telling him about her lack of desire for sexual intimacy, but at the same time, he didn't do a good job of explaining his own anxieties on the wedding night or explaining himself on the beach after the blunder that occurred. I saw that they both played a role in the disastrous (but possibly totally normal and probably to be expected) wedding night blunder -- but Edward didn't really take responsibility for his role in it, or communicate his own fears before or after -- so isn't he a bit hypocritical to judge that she's deceived him and that everything is her fault? I guess therein lies the tragedy at the end.

Again, my opinion may be tainted by the fact that I didn't exactly read the "entire" thing, but I found Edward to be thin, shallow, boring, and annoying.

Where was the allusion to past sexual abuse?