Bought this book today on the basis of a review in The Age and because I like Ian McEwan's books (plus I had a book voucher for this shop, which meant I got the hard copy for half price, and that's not all -- it also came with a promotional calico bag. How does it get better than that!)

Depending on my thoughts on the book, I may offer it as a bookring.

This book is a nice quick read, and quite an engaging novella. It's well written, but on the whole it didn't really do a lot for me, as I found the characters, although well developed to be slightly implausible, although not improbable. But given the time in which it was set (early 1960s) perhaps the stiltedness was part of the mis en scene.

Book lost in transit to the Netherlands.

First copy lost in transit to the Netherlands. First book ring cancelled. I've been given another copy by the publisher, and it's now set to be part of [drumroll!]
The Booker shortlist challenge

Participants

DrCris
star-light
FreePages
goodthinkingmax
jubby
Fleebo
tqd [has her own copy]
frangipani08
cat207
lakelady2282
ukcanaus
crimson-tide

Back with livrecache

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending this book on its way as part of the Booker shortlist challenge.

Arrived safely and onto TBR. I feel pretty bad - I have two bookrings waiting at the moment, and they are both livrecache's! It is quite a short book, so I will try to read this one first.

My dear husband arranged for me to go and have lunch out and a cup of coffee by myself yesterday, so I managed to finish this novella relatively quickly.

This is an engaging book, but the second of McEwan's that I wasn't blown away by (and I have only read two). It is an intense exploration of a couple of hours of interaction between two people. It also explores what brought them to that point in time, and what implications their wedding night has on the rest of their lives. I can see the literary worth in it, but it was a bit too intensely described for me. I warmed to neither of the main characters. However, since finishing it, I have been mulling over the events, so it has had an impact on me mind in some way. It does contain a lot in its short length.

I have PMed the next person for their address.

I put this in the mail yesterday, so it should arrive soon.

Book arrived safely today. I'll start reading it soon and do my best to keep the ring moving along swiftly.

Like DrCris I could see the literary worth in this and why it's on the Booker shortlist, but personally this wasn't for me. There was too much character analysis which I found boring, and the issue of the wedding night and events surrounding it was not a subject that interested me. I suppose I just don't relate to 1962 very well. However I did feel the loss and regret keenly in the last section of the book, so that kind of 'saved' it for me.

I have the address for FreePages here so I'll post it as soon as I can get to the post office.

Posted to FreePages today. Thanks livrecache for sharing this book.

cauhgt. try to get to it soon. thx

Not my usual sort of read, but I persevered to the end with this one....and I'm glad I did... the ending made it for me.
I dont want to say too much because a "spoiler warning" just wouldnt work for the rest of the ring readers.
It is the first Ian McEwan I've read and I think I'll try more of his writing, if i am in the mood for indepth character development.

On to "Goodthinking Max" after I've pmed her for her address.

Received today. Thanks FreePages and for the lovely postcard. The reviews here aren't too encouraging but Saturday was one of the few books I did enjoy in the 2004 Booker challenge! It is the only bookring in my possession so there is no excuse for not reading it soon.

Like most of the others here, I agree this short book has "literary worth" and think Ian Mckewan's writing is wonderful. I was absorbed by the characters at the time of reading but it's certainly not a book I will think about again and I don't think I took much from it apart from an enjoyment of the language and descriptions. Sorry FreePages, I found the end a bit sappy!

I will either post or hand this to Jubby, according to whether the crazy Christmas season allows a quick catch up!

Received from the ever lovely Goodthinkingmax over lunch today.

Thank you.

It really did take me 8 days to read 'On Chesil Beach', it just annoyed me that much - I think! My opinion was heavily coloured by the First Tuesday bookclub on ABC TV, where they discussed this book last year, and most of the panel didn't think this was the author's best work.




***Spoiler coming***





I just found it (initially) unbelievable that two 22 year olds, married, in a hotel room could not get 'excited'. The female character is flawed, and I kept thinking that Ian McEwan had not gotten her character right.
In the last passages (I apologise if I am spoiling the book for you), McEwan writes:

All she had needed was the certainty of his love, and his reassurance that there was no hurry when a lifetime lay ahead of them. Love and patience - if only he had had them both at once - would surely have seen them both through.

And I agree in essence with this, but if a young woman had such misgivings about sex... is it possible? I asked my husband this, and he thought that it was quite valid. He thinks that sex is such a problem for many people, and our prisons are filled with people with varied and multiple problems, but many dealing with poor communication skills, and have trouble fully expressing them self and gaining sexual gratification. I think he's been watching a little too much of 'Criminal minds'.

Or maybe it was the time - the early 1960s. But I just can't get my head around the fact that the main female character (Florence) didn't have any sexual desires, or the support/friendship network to speak to others about it. She came from an educated and middle classed family in Oxford, and her mother was a Don! It's not like she was bought up in a secluded religious family.

I've tried asking my mother, etc. if she thought it was likely a young woman would have been like this, but she didn't think it was likely. But, then again, she is an Essex girl.

Maybe Australia was different too.

Anyway, after that long ramble, I've come to the conclusion that Florence was just screwed up some how, and the male character Edward, just didn't know how to respond to this.

I kept thinking that perhaps Florence had been interfered with by her father, and I went back and read those passages about the sailing trip she made with him when she was 12 years old, but I am sure that there is not anything there.

But, I just had the idea, perhaps she was a lesbian? And didn't know it? But, wouldn't she still have sexual desires and feel attracted to at least someone?

Oh, I give up. Suffice it to say that this was a thought provoking book.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to Fleebo.

What a bizarre topic for a book. Well written, of course, one expects no less from McEwan, but the whole painful stiltedness of the couple's avoidance of a topic that badly needed talking about in advance made me picture it being set in the 1920s, not the 60s, except for the existence of Florence's informative little book which scared her even more.
Since they both felt so horribly guilty, why on earth didn't either of them say "I'm sorry!"? That, I find a touch implausible - although the book is all about things left unsaid.
I hated the fast-forward future chapter at the end (or was it officially an epilogue?). I found it not at all enlightening, or even interesting really. The story was already over, and it just made the whole thing even more sorry.
I can't even decide whether this was better than "Saturday", a previous Booker contender by the same author, which didn't grab me either. At least more happened in that book...
Altogether, not surprising that it wasn't a winner. Too trite, and probably too explicit for the judges too.

Received from Fleebo today - two parcels from Fleebo in one day!

This is the first of the 2007 Booker list that I have read. I found it a very frustrating read as it never seemed to progress forwards. Like Jubby, I felt that Florence had been "interfered" with by her father. Unlike Jubby, I continue to believe that those trips away with her father are the crux of Florence's problems. I suppose one thing to take away from this book is the importance of communication in relationships. I found the end of the book was just plain depressing, looking back on an empty sounding life of just drifting along. Thanks Livrecache for sharing and I will have it on its way to Lakelady2282 very shortly.

Thanks Frangipani08 and livrecache. Will read soon.

I hope you don't mind, livrecache, but I pinched this one while lakelady2282 wasn't looking. She's in the middle of a big one so won't even know it's gone. I promise I'll get it back to her on the weekend.

Gee I hate relationships. The things said, or left unsaid, that can change a whole lifetime. Maybe we should all be mute!

And having just read jubby's journal entry, I'd like to add:-
I don't know about the 'no desire' bit, but I do know about the 'no knowledge' bit. My Mum has told me of how, when nearly due to give birth to me (in 1959) she couldn't talk to her mother, so asked a same-aged girlfriend, who had recently had a baby, about what would happen. Expecting some helpful information, she was astounded to be told no more than "when the apple's ripe it will fall"! Thank goodness some things have changed for the better.

Thanks for slipping me in, livrecache. I think Deb will get this back after work tomorrow. X

The books is back from its short visit. Thanks for being so prompt Cat and it was nice to see you tonight. Shoal Bay here we come! And London and Greece and the world!!

My only criticism is that I would have preferred more time in the present and less in setting up what was about to go haywire. I loved the description of the walk under the lime trees and that moment at the very end where the bridegroom goes over the whole incident in his mind and comes to a particular conclusion, one that I as a reader and despite being female very much agreed with. An enjoyable read. Thanks so much Helen and Cat for passing it on.

Arrived yesterday. Thanks, lakelady2282, for sending it, and also to livrecache for sharing ...

Not too sure about this one! I think it was the hurried ending that annoyed me. I would have liked to have 'heard' Florence's point of view after the beach conversation and departure, given both characters' backgrounds had been previously described in detail.

I agree with frangipani08 that the trips with her father contributed to Florence's 'problems' and what happened that night, as there seemed to be much emphasis on her relationship with her father ...

Still, it was an interesting read ... thanks, livrecache for sharing this.

Sent to crimson-tide today.

Perfect timing! I can now take this book with me next week to read while on holiday.
Looking forward to it - the book and the holiday.
Thanks ukcanaus.

I found this an interesting read. Not an enjoyable read but an interesting one, and the fact that it is well written is a given. I have enjoyed reading everyone else's comments and love jubby's journal entry
(I always enjoy jubby's journal entries) . . . you can almost hear the cogs turning.

My predominant feeling at the end of the book was sadness. Sad that they hadn't been able to communicate enough to sort things out as they obviously both loved each other very deeply. That is the bit that I find improbable. That even given the disaster of the night, that their love for each other and their intelligence and their general humanity and need couldn't have found a way to work through it and stay together. Maybe I'm too much of a romantic at heart. I don't have the book anymore, so can't look it up or quote the passage, but didn't Florence mention that if only Edward had called her or said something as she was walking away, that she would have been back by his side in a flash (obviously my words and not hers!). And Edward was so bound up at that time with his hurt and his pride and reacting like a man should/does. Once the night was over though, I just can't accept that at least one of them wouldn't have tried.

The rest of it I can accept as possible given the setting of the early 60s and the wide spectrum of human personalities and behaviour. I think it is too easy for us to forget just how repressive the early 60s was in a sexual sense. Probably much more so than the 30s and 40s. I don't think Florence was abnormal or flawed, she was just on the very outer edge of a very broad spectrum. People do exist who are 'asexual' in terms of their sexual needs and their physical responses. The revulsion that Florence felt was perhaps one step on from that and was helped along by her ignorance, the lack of accurate and sympathetic information, and no-one to talk to. Sorry jubby, but her mother was totally hopeless and wouldn't have been any help at all - educated and middle class doesn't necessarily equate to good emotional communication. In fact her mother's genetic influence possibly contributed to her inability to communicate her feelings and fear to Edward prior to the wedding. I'd like to be able to say that she was stupid for not saying something to Edward earlier, but fear is such a powerful force that I guess that that too is possible to believe. There was not the same acceptance then of difference, and women were all expected to behave within fairly narrow confines.

I don't think that there was any evidence of sexual interference by her father, although they certainly did have a very odd relationship. And I also agree with jubby that she was not a lesbian. We had an after-chapter about Edward but not one from Florence, but I reckon that her work was enough for her. It's the regret that's a killer though.

Right, I've blathered on more than enough!


I was able to hand this book back to the lovely livrecache personally last Tuesday night (20th) when we caught up for dinner as I was passing through Melbourne. What a buzz!

Back safe and sound with me, having been returned during a lovely evening with crimson-tide and her partner in Melbourne on 20 May -- how long ago that seems.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this ring.