Date Posted:19:02:40 09/26/07 Wed Author:Tee Subject: On Chesil Beach - Comments
I finished OCB last night, and it has left such an impression. The "surprise" ending was so shocking, so unexpected -- the last two pages were so beautiful. I respect McEwan for taking what I saw was a real chance with this book - surely some would find this story unbelievable, particularly in light of the pages devoted to their adoration for one another, but I found that I actually related to it - to the misgivings, the close proximity of love and hate, the misunderstandings. The only real criticisms I have are as follows: 1) I was so invested in whether these two would actually have sex, that I found myself bored with some of the abrupt background narrative that forestalled the ineveitable; and 2)Given their very different family/socioeconomic backgrounds, I found it curious that they chose to be together, much more that Flo's family supported her choice of a rather unsophisticated, undirected fellow.
