On Chesil Beach
Claim to Fame:
Claim to Fame:
- Ian McEwan has written more than 12 -14 novels which have been nominated for various awards.
- His novel 'Amsterdam' has won the Man Booker prize in the year 1998
Review
The sweet fears of a wedding night! That’s the central plot of the story. Did it bring a smile on your face…hmmm!!
The sweet fears of a wedding night! That’s the central plot of the story. Did it bring a smile on your face…hmmm!!
Well,
Edward and Florence
At
the wedding night, he, like all normal males, expects what should be expected.
But with her, things are not easy. So he has to measure his moves and play in a
calculative manner. She, on the other hand, dreads the very act. She wants to
escape it, run away already. She hates SEX itself; he doesn’t know it yet. All
she wants is companionship and support. She wants to live her life playing the
violin and be successful. A lot of ‘She’, isn't it?
What
he wants is simple and less demanding and just as normal as breathing or eating
or drinking or peeing should be. What else would you want on your wedding
night, ha? The fact that they have courted each other for quite some time
before has not helped. Even his inserting his tongue while kissing had
offended her and she had felt dirty.
Things
get really worse and go all wrong when he ejaculates all over in excitement at the
mere touch of her hand right there. She finds it really disgusting and probably
worse than an acid attack. She makes him feel unfit, insults him by cleaning
fastidiously and running away from the room without uttering a word. She thinks
he has wronged. A small part of her thinks it’s her mistake.
When
he comes searching for her, things get awry and all the hatred oozes out from
both of them. She says she is even okay for him to be with other females.
That’s her cover and alibi for avoiding sex!
They
get divorced without consummating the marriage.
The
author, in the last pages of the book has expressed extensively how sorry the
male character becomes, how he should have shown patience and all that he
writes about the female protagonist is her success…hmmm.
Well here’s my take and I take the leap at the risk of being called a chauvinist. Was it Edwards’ problem that
Also,
if they would have sweet talked and reconciled on that day in spite of what
happened; what then? Would it have never happened again? No my boy, it would
happen each single day and when the dirt and hatred creeps deep in the crevices
of your emotions, it becomes very difficult to make a fresh start, next to
impossible. You live together, but only for the namesake. Mental deficiencies
like this should be discussed in advance, not kept for being discovered on the
wedding night!
To
be very frank, the book caught my attention only after the actual incident of
their wedding night. The initial part, I felt was dragging. The characters and
their minds, their emotions have been portrayed with a transparency that is the
lineament of a writer of Ian McEwan’s stature. The hilarity of the plot is its
gloominess. The severance of the protagonists has been dealt tactfully and with
much needed subtlety. Though, it’s easier said than done, sometimes it becomes
very difficult to hold back, to not take for granted; at other times it becomes
difficult to utter a single correct sentence or a word – and the author has
handled this very craftily.
It
takes a great effort to cross that thin line between ego and self respect. And
at the end of each day, you think, was it/is it worth it?
My rating : * * * * * * * * * * 6/10
My rating : * * * * * * * * * * 6/10
 |
| Ian McEwan |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you or your comments.