I bought this book 2 years ago when I accidentally stumbled on a small bookstore in Melbourne (I totally forgot the bookstore name!). I wasn't looking for books, I was just walking around with my friend, Diane, we were trying to find a dim sum place that has a good review on Yelp. We did not find the place but I'm glad I found this book. I'm not sure what happened back then, cause I never finished it for some reasons.
On Chesil Beach is a very unique book, just like Ian McEwan's other works. It is 200 pages long – only covers about two hours of time: the first two hours of a newlywed couple’s honeymoon in which they fumble to consummate their marriage and that both of them have very embarrassing sexual dysfunctions.
The main characters, Edward and Florence, sitting in a hotel room on the beach embarrassed out of their minds. It’s 1962, on the cusp of the sexual revolution, and the pair have neither the presence of mind nor even the vocabulary to communicate openly with each other. There is only a handful of words spoken until the very last chapter of the book.
If you can imagine, this is such an awkward but interesting book to read. By awkward, I mean, we can feel how strange it was for both Edward and Florence - they're trying to rule their own dysfunctions, they want their first night as a married couple to be as special as they imagined. It's hard to explain without spoiling tho. I'd say just give it a go ;)
