7 /10 1 Votes
Cover artist Chris Frazer Smith Language English Media type Print (Hardback) Originally published 2007 Genre Fiction Publisher Jonathan Cape | 3.5/5 Goodreads Country United Kingdom Publication date 2007 Pages 166 Page count 166 Adaptations On Chesil Beach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Works by Ian McEwan, London books, Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ian mcewan on chesil beach part one
On Chesil Beach is a 2007 novel/novella by the Booker Prize-winning British writer Ian McEwan. The novel was selected for the 2007 Booker Prize shortlist.
Contents
The Washington Post and Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Jonathan Yardley placed On Chesil Beach on his top ten for 2007, praising McEwan's writing and saying that "even when he's in a minor mode, as he is here, he is nothing short of amazing".
Plot summary
In July 1962, Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting have just been married and are spending their honeymoon in a small hotel on the Dorset seashore, at Chesil Beach. The couple is very much in love despite being from drastically different backgrounds.
During the course of an evening, both reflect upon their upbringing and the prospect of their futures. Edward is sexually motivated and though intelligent has a taste for rash behaviour, while Florence, bound by the social code of another era and perhaps having been sexually abused by her father, is terrified of sexual intimacy. Eventually this leads to an experience that will change their relationship irrevocably.
Controversy
In a BBC Radio 4 interview, McEwan admitted to taking a few pebbles from Chesil Beach and keeping them on his desk while he wrote the novel. Protests by conservationists and a threat by Weymouth and Portland borough council to fine him £2,000 led the author to return the pebbles. "I was not aware of having committed a crime," he said. "Chesil Beach is beautiful and I'm delighted to return the shingle to it."
After it was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2007, the book also generated some controversy for its length. At 166 pages and fewer than 40,000 words, even the author declared it to be a novella. The book was allowed onto the shortlist of novels by the panel, however. It did not win the prize, which went to The Gathering.
Translations
The book has been translated to Chinese as 在切瑟尔海滩上 (ISBN 978-7-5327-5689-6), into Greek as Στην ακτή (978-960-1626192), into Turkish as Sahilde, into Finnish as Rannalla, into Dutch as Aan Chesil Beach, into German as Am Strand, into Hebrew as על חוף צ'זיל and into Czech as Na Chesilské pláži, and into Russian as "На берегу".
The book has been translated into Chinese as two versions by different translators; both of them published in 2008, one in Mainland China and another in Taiwan. Spanish version edited by Anagrama ISBN 9 788433973368
Film adaptation
On 17 February 2016, it was announced that Saoirse Ronan, who previously played Briony Tallis in the film adaptation of McEwan's Atonement, will be starring in On Chesil Beach. On 22 August 2016, Billy Howle was announced to play the role of Edward Mayhew. Dominic Cooke will be making his film directorial debut. Production on the film will begin this fall, and is set to be released in 2017.