The Sad Story of Edward and Florence

One of the best writers of our time is Ian McEwan, who has written books like Atonement, Saturday, and his latest, On Chesil Beach, which I just finished listening to (remember, I like recorded books). The reason McEwan is so good is that he has great insight into the nuances of human nature that motivate our behavior. Through his use of language, he captures, in a manner of speaking, the “what if” thinking that we all engage in, almost unconsciously that leads us to do one thing or another. That a writer can so richly delve into the emotional/rational inner world of his characters is almost awe inspiring and provides us with more than a little insight into our own inner lives.

In On Chesil Beach, his two main characters are a just-married couple, both virgins, approaching their wedding night. The action takes place in 1962. Edward, 22, is the more conventional of the two, a man who looks forward to what the blurb on the book calls the promised rapture of the honeymoon, while Florence, 23, his new wife, is completely dismayed by this prospect. All during their courtship, Florence loves the companionship of Edward, a budding historian who is an afficianado of rock and roll. Florence, though, is a far more sensitive person and the founder of a string quartet. Every time Edward tries to take a step in the physical expression of their affection, Florence resists and withdraws in one way or another.

Still, Edward remains hopeful and attentive to Florence despite the fact that she barely gives him any reason beyond the platonic to feel this way. As they finish their meal at the Chesil Beach hotel where they are staying, he is getting more and more excited about what awaits him when they go to their room, while she, on the other hand, is resigned to but also dreading what's to come. The story, which is only about 4 hours long on tape, plays out from here. It's fair to say that, as often happens in human experience, things don't end up as we might wish or they might wish. Their emotions come destructively pouring out, and because they've have both repressed their feelings during the courtship, they just have no way to resolve their differences.

In a manner of speaking I think we can call this a novel of “wishful thinking,” where these two young people projected onto each other what each hoped the other would be like. And when neither, for whatever personal reasons, is able to live up to these expectations, the relationship, literally, dies, and they end up leading uneventful, and perhaps, especially for Edward, unfulfilled, lives.

McEwan has written a sad story but one so well crafted and so true to human weakness that it is a pleasure to read or listen to. In the end, it becomes a memorable lesson in the folly that too often characterizes human interaction, behavior that ultimately results in the sacrifice of happiness at the altar of emotional and intellectual dishonesty—when it doesn't have to be that way.

—John Woods, July 16, 2007