Why don't I read more tiny novels? I mean, there's totally something to be said for that thrill of being only a third of the way through a book that is shaping up nicely - two-thirds more great book! And then that deep satisfaction of having been a part of something epic that comes when you turn the last page of a chunker, it's like you're saying goodbye to old friends. But tiny novels! Wee novellas! 166 pages! You can read them before your coffee gets cold! On Chesil Beach is short, and oh so bitter-sweet. I really just want to type out the blurb on the inside flap for you so that I don't ruin it, but it contains the word 'poignancy' and that's a word Paper Cuts says I'm not allowed to use.
So, Edward and Florence, newlyweds, both awkward on this their wedding night but for different reasons. One of them is awkwardly excited, and the other is awkwardly reticent. I'll let you guess. H'anyvays, in between scenes of this one evening McEwan intersperses clips of their respective childhoods, their eventual meeting, their courtship.
With only 166 pages to work with, McEwan provides just enough snatches of information. Any less, and I wouldn't have cared about their issues because I didn't know them. Any more, and I probably would have gotten sick of their various foibles. And I don't want to ruin it for you by telling you how it ends, but it is either heart-rendingly sad or touchingly happy, and it made me feel so...so much the way it wanted me to feel.
AND I can totally and cheerfully recommend this baby-novel, because if you hate it, I won't have wasted several days of your life, which is ultimately my biggest fear. So read it! Love it or hate it, I don't care. And then go have some scotch.
Eight caterpillars.
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10 comments:
What a great funny review! I'm putting this on hold RIGHT NOW. Because it's on my list and I didn't realize it was short. I need one more for the novella challenge! Thanks
I think I'll look into this one. Thanks!
Great review! It is nice to read a short one once in a while and sometimes they can be very powerful because they get to the point!
Loved this book :D Any other of McEwan's stuff you liked? (can't decide what else to read, i have "black dogs" on hold, but i kinda need a push or something :P)
That Paper Cuts article made me crazy. Did you see the words the commenters hated?
OK...you are responsible. I am taking this off the shelf and putting it in my to-be-read pile. I started reading it and it didn't grab me, but you have sufficient standing now to insist that I revisit a book. Congratulations...my BF Amy had to work about 15 years to get to that status!
So it's POIGNANT? Haha, I know, I'm all paranoid now. Okay, I was already paranoid but now I'm afraid to be compelled or intrigued too. (I know, I know - I read that article too. Just don't read all the comments or you'll have no review words left at all!)
I've been wanting to read a McEwan and haven't done it yet. This sounds like my kind of book.
Awesome review!! I can invest enough time to read 166 pages, and even if I hate it, who cares? It's not like I spent days wasting my time on something that sucks, right??
I refuse to read that Paper Cuts bit only because I love the word "poignant" and will be rendered mute if I am forced to push it out of my vocabulary.
Poignant, or not, I loved your review and really love the way your reviews make me want to read the books.
I had to follow that link. I agree with "Poignant" though I'm guilty of "Intriguing" and "Compelling" myself. I'd throw "Heart-warming" and "page-turning" in their place.
As for McEwan, I've been meaning to read something by him. You had me at "novella."
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