‘On Chesil Beach’ (2007),
by Ian McEwan
by Ian McEwan
A stunning ‘novella’…
It is July 1961. Edward and Florence, young Innocents married that morning, arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their room they struggle to suppress their private fears of the wedding night to come, and – unknown to them both – the events of the aborted evening will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
We (Maria, Sandra, Sonja, Susie, and Andrew) discuss the plot, how the characters interact, and especially the relationship between Florence and her father, the structure of the book – like a 5-act drama, and the literary style of this long short story….or is it a short novel…?
Music played:
- Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ Symphony
- Chuck Berry’s ‘Roll over Beethoven’
- Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ Quartet.