I'll be happy to join in.

It just so happens that Ian McEwan will be here for Adelaide Writers' Week in March...

I read 'On Chesil Beach' recently and would be keen to join in a discussion of the book.

I read this some time ago, when it first came out. I might join in the discussion if I can find the novel, re-read it, and refresh my memory.

I just read this over Christmas. I'd be interested in discussing it.

I would be happy to join in assuming that I get it at the library. I'm going there tomorrow so will see then.

Sounds like we have a quorum, let's give it a go -

Anyone else? This book is quite short and should be easy to obtain. It's quite readable (it's not Ulysses), so give it some thought!

Have just finished this short read and thought if I don't put down some ideas my copy will have gone back to the library and I wont remember enough about it.
At first I couldn't decide whether McEwan was writing a sex-manual or a paper on the English class/cultural differences of the early '60's adding a mix of the flora and fauna of the Chiltern Hills for good measure.
Of the characters I found Edward the easier to understand and felt McEwarn has given us a well-rounded believable young man 'of his time'.
I had more trouble with Florence. So artistic, talented and musically dedicated yet she is the half of the couple shown to be emotionally 'disabled'.
I did have some trouble with the main premise of the book . . .that the rest of two people's lives could be ruined by a single incident on the wedding night.
Did you find that rather far-fetched even allowing for the time in which it was set?

I am glad to hear someone else's opinion of this book - I had the same thoughts. Yes, I found it quite unbelievable.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I couldn't help but think, even given the times, that after the young woman went running home, her mother would sit down with her and tell her a thing or two about husbands and wedding nights. Sheesh. Maybe even especially given the times, when divorce was not nearly as accepted as it is now.

Vee and Siobhan, you echo my sentiments exactly. I read On Chesil Beach when it was first released, and this is what I said about it in a thread on RP last year:

SPOILERS:
What bothered me about the ending premise of the book is probably a result of my own upbringing and may be a difference in culture or socio-economic status during the 1960's. McEwan made the effort to let the reader know that this event happened before the sexual revolution, when unmarried couples were expected to be chaste and modest. It didn't make sense to me that pre-marital sex was taboo and not even discussed, and yet, when things didn't go according to plan on the wedding night, the outcome was to immediately abandon the marriage (on the wedding night, no less)and run home to file for divorce. That seemed like a very contemporary solution. It was my thought that it wasn't until the sexual revolution of the 1960's that divorce was more accepted and utilized. The idea that a couple was so morally "upright" (sorry, I couldn't think of a beter word) that they didn't even really talk about sex before the wedding would automatically consider divorce after a rather unfortunate sexual experience on the wedding night didn't seem logical to me. Maybe that's a misunderstanding on my part of the mores and expectations during that time.

I thought McEwen's writing was beautiful, but I still have trouble accepting the outcome as a plausible one.

I entirely agree with the sentiments above - beautifully written, but unconvincing. The last few pages had the feel of an epilogue, where we find out what happened; I thought it was very weak - and all that just so that we could find out that if only the guy had called after her, she'd have gone back to him.

I think John Crace's digested reads in the Guardian are a little unkind on occasion, but I think he got this one spot on.

"It's over," he gasped.

"Don't you think we're being rather melodramatic and that even in 1962 a couple might get over a crap shag on their wedding night?" she cried.

"Of course, but if we don't split up, the whole book's pointless."

Here is a link that might be useful: On Chesil Beach - digested read.

I laughed very hard reading that digested version! I am so relieved to find that I am not the only one who found the plot unbelievable. I finished the book because it was, after all, quite short and so beautifully written. But I laughed at bits that were supposed to be serious, or tragic, or moving, or something. And I found the epilogue completely ridiculous and contrived.

I posted before about this book, saying I thought I was probably born on the wrong side of the sexual revolution to really get it. That being said, the innocence and naivete of Florence in regard to sexual matters was not believable. As far as I can tell, premarital sex was taboo and not discussed, here in the States anyway, but who doesn't think it was happening regularly? As a kid, I can remember sitting with friends and calculating parents' wedding dates against the oldest child's birth date to figure out who "had" to get married. The point being, children and young adults figure it out, albeit not always accurately, and it wasn't just the boys doing the figuring. Perhaps if McEwan had set his book in Victorian England and Florence had little contact outside her family the premise may not have been so far-reaching.

I do like the condensed version! My favorite McEwan book is Saturday which I found much better than this one.

bookmom, I am 'much of an age' with McEwan and feel some of his facts are off-target which may not be obvious to someone brought up later or from another country.
For eg about halfway through the book he suddenly mentions Edward's fiery temper . . . I'm sure so he can later justify E's angry reaction to Florence when on Chesil beach . . . he describes how E and a friend are walking though London, when a 'rocker' punches the friend. It is only a small point but there were no 'rockers' in late '50's England Teddy Boys were the baddies of that era.
And Florence's mother was certainly well ahead of her time feeding her family on mangetouts, ratatouille and tarama salata; even baguettes and croissants must have been rare imports into the Oxford shops.
Siobhan, I think if my Mother had sat me down and given me a little talk about the birds and the bees on my wedding night we would both have been totally overcome with embarrassment!
I don't know what things were like in pre-70's US but in the UK the generations had always been very buttoned-up about s.e.x.
As for those 'having to get married' the men were treated with much laughter by their pals and as for the women . . . the least said the better. I even knew of parents who would not allow their children to mix/play with the children of divorced couples.
I've just reread the ending and notice it is concentrated solely on Edward. It is just mentioned that Florence goes on with her music and if only he had called to her on the beach all would have been well.

I cannot possibly believe anyone was so insulated in the 60's, unless they lived on a mountaintop in Tibet! I remember the times quite well, & tho perhaps slightly more buttoned up at that point, it was the beginning of the Pill era. Working in an OB/Gyn office, I know many single women were using the Pill, and it certainly was not just for regulating their periods. I, too, felt I was reading a fairy tale with that book.

Oh I dunno - I can imagine being raised in certain cultures and climates, they would be. Not everyone was part of the sexual revolution, after all.

Given that - I did not read the book because once I saw the premise, I completly discounted the book. I read House of Sand and Fog even tho the premise was ridiculous and wish I had those hours back.

Oh yes, I agree, Vee - even in my era - the 70's - I would not have talked with my mom about "the wedding night" although by that time it was common. I was thinking more along the lines of after she came running home from the wedding night fiasco her mother would at least say something oblique, maybe the classic "close your eyes and think of England." (Sorry, can't resist.) I was a bit surprised when the divorce occurred with the parents at least not attempting reconciliation. It seemed very out of sync.

I also thought McEwan mixed up his eras. Looking back, it is common for people to think of the 60's as peace signs, hippies, etc., when in fact that didn't really occur until the late 60's and into the 70's.

I remember doing the math regarding my grandparents marriage and giggling over the result. When I brought it up to my mother, I was firmly reprimanded!

I remember mentally attributing the strait-laced attitude towards sex in the book as the differences between our cultures. I was in the UK in the early Sixties, but not before. I don't think this is McEwan's best book....

Let's put it this way: having grown up & still living in the Metropolitan NY area, I knew where babies came from when I was 5, having been told by the local 10 year old sophisticate. It only got better from there!

For whatever reason, I am still thinking about this book. Maybe because I wanted to like it so much, as McEwan is one of my fave authors. I wonder now why in the world McEwan did not place the book earlier than the "Swinging Sixties"? It's premise would have made far more sense to me had it been set in the Thirties, or even the Forties. A lot of memories came flooding back to me this morning, of the time I spent in the UK in 1961-62. The young people I met then had not the faintest ressemblance to the reticence and naivety of the couple in this novel. Indeed, quite the opposite!

Sorry to be so late to the discussion, but I just finished reading On Chesil Beach.

I wonder if any of the UK RPers have ever been to Chesil Beach? I took a look at it online - very beautiful, but rocky and austere. Possibly a geographical expression of the situation described in the book?

Also, I wonder if anyone else got the impression that Florence might have been abused by her father on their sailing trips? If this did happen, then her inability to relate sexually to Edward, or anyone, is much more plausible, and gives far more weight to the book, IMO. In the book, Florence inwardly struggles with her abhorrence of sex, and says this is something she has no 'language' for, even for her own understanding. Often, sexually abused people have to overcome tremendous hurdles in order to speak to any one about their experiences; the first hurdle is being able to admit to oneself what has happened. If her mother was aware of the abuse, it would also help explain why she was no help to her daughter as an adviser about sexual things. I don't know if the subject of sexual child abuse, in this case, incest, was open for discussion in the 1960's in the UK, but it certainly wasn't talked about in the US.

thrykas, the same thoughts re paternal abuse did cross my mind, as I read the novel. I wonder if the author was deliberately hinting at such a past. I think your impressions make perfect sense, in terms of possible explanation of her behavior.

thyrkas, we visited the Dorset coast last summer and stayed at Lyme Regis just a very few miles from Chesil Beach.
The beach is a very long spit made up of a variety of gravels ranging from very fine sand to quite large pebbles.
I've included a link which might take a little while to load up.

Re Florence and possible childhood sexual abuse. I didn't get the 'feeling' that anything untoward had happened to her when young. And I'm sure McEwan, who's early works positively leaked sex, would have given us chapter and verse if this had been the case.
As you say subjects such as incest would have been totally taboo in the 60's and still aren't in everyday conversation today in the UK. It used to be said that the 'perversion' came to an end in remote areas after the introduction of the bicycle, but, of course, it still occurs across all stratas of society and causes terrible trauma/distress to those on the receiving end.

Here is a link that might be useful: A Panorama View of Chesil Beach

Vee- Wow! Thanks for the link. That is a great panoramic image of the area. Seventeen miles of gravel beach - that would be amazing to see in person. I wonder if it is difficult to walk upon?

woodnypmh - I do think McEwan is hinting at an abuse situation. He is much too savvy a writer, I believe, to create a character that is so sexually repressed without giving us some idea why she is that way - at least in part.

Edward's mother is quite a troubling figure, too, I think. That the explanation for her behavior was not revealed to Edward until he was an adolescent seems astonishing! This is likely another example of how the disturbing things of life were kept quiet in previous generations. The children show their family loyalty and love by not acknowledging the reality of the situation. In this way they believe they are both protecting their mother and obeying their father. 'The high cost of keeping up appearances while keeping your mouth shut about personal problems' might be a theme of the book, perhaps?