On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan

A slim volume with the first night of a honeymoon in the early 1960s at its centre. Florence and

Edward are innocents in this book about life before the arrival of the permissive society. Like many people they have ended up married and aren't quite sure what is awaiting them. Of course after 1970 couples withour experience were increasingly rare and so the events described in the few hours following their wedding are much less likely. Ian McEwan has written another book describing the minutae of one event and the consequences - how seemingly irrelevant tiny things lead inexorably to an unintended result. He did it almost obsessively in Saturday but tends to do it in all his books. I have several problems with Ian McEwan's writing - I get the impression he thinks and selects each word over carefully, simplicity of language is not his style. His characters, although over described and analysed never seem terribly real. The over obssessive attention to details - in this case, the contents of the food in their meal, details of the rooms in which they are staying, do not really create the atmosphere or conjure the picture of being there - other authors can describe in few words and still bring the image to mind. Rating 7/10