On Chesil Beach; Love Lies Bleeding – review
Sat, April 12, 2008 9 Comments
Oh, and I forgot to mention two other novels I’ve recently read.
On Chesil Beach was a beautifully moving story of the wedding night of a young, innocent, virginal couple. He was trying to be brave and masterful in the face of his fear, and she was trying anything she could to escape the inevitable consummation of their wedding vows. In the end, they both walked away from something magical, without really trying to fix it. It broke my heart. The novel was set in Oxford which made it even more wonderful for me, as I watched this young and perfect couple walk through the places I’ve walked a hundred times. I really disliked the first McEwan novel I read – Enduring Love – but he certainly redeemed himself with Chesil Beach.
Then I read DeLillo’s Love Lies Bleeding. It’s touch and go whether or not I understand a word that comes out of DeLillo’s mouth, and this was one of the times that I didn’t. A dying man, his son and his former and current wives explore death or something. The dying man doesn’t actually say anything. It’s Very Very Deep. I’m Very Very Bored.
I’m think that’s all of them.
About tenderhooligan
I’ve been wondering whether to get this book .. I think I may well now …. I’ve been to Chesil Beach .. but only passed through Oxford! but then again a broken heart is not something I need right now!
eugh. I hate Ian wotsit. eugh. I hated Atonement and i tried another one of his books (something about Saturday) and hated that too. And i never hate books.
No, this wouldn’t be the book for you right now, Cat!
And Pinky, I didn’t like him either until before Chesil Beach but I reconsidered my opinion then.
Am a fan of Ian McEwan, will probably read Chesil Beach soon enough. (Am an even bigger fan of Peter Temple and just last week i was trying to decide between Chesil Beach or one of Temple’s novels. It was the third Temple in a row!)
Don’t get DeLillo. At. All.
Jaded, you should read Chesil Beach. I really loved it.
I’m with you about DeLillo, sometimes. I either get him from the very start of a book or the whole thing’s lost on me.
The hardback version of On Chesil Beach has a howler in it; mentions The Beatles and The Stones covering Chuck Berry records at a point in time when neither group was recording.
Apart from that it’s OK.
Seriously, Brennig? That’s excellent!
Aye. As also mentioned on Radio 4′s The Write Stuff (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/thewritestuff/pip/rtvss/) yesterday.
Thanks for the link, Brennig.