On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

On Chesil Beach

by Ian McEwan
published 2007
completed September 2010

Florence and Edward, having married earlier in the day, are in their hotel room eating dinner together.  The story takes place in 1962.  The narrative switches between the bride and groom, both virgins, and the tension is high as they explore their fear and apprehension towards consummating their marriage.

On Chesil Beach is more of a novella; you could definitely read it in one sitting.  Not surprisingly, it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as many of his novels have been.  McEwan's writing is superb, as usual.  His prose is beautifully descriptive but serves a purpose, and it never crosses into self-indulgence.  Throughout the book, there are glimpses into the past that detail Florence and Edward's backgrounds.  Some of the most beautiful passages were describing their period of courtship.  This couple truly loved each other.  The descriptions of their passion for their work--Florence as a violinist and Edward as a historian--were fantastic.

Although I loved the writing, early on in the book I was frustrated with the characters.  I understand that at the time sex was something that people didn't talk about openly, but the lack of communication caused so many difficulties.  Both Florence and Edward were incredibly selfish.  I felt Florence was especially deceitful.  There is a great quote in the book that sums up my grievance with the characters.  "This is how the entire course of life can be changed--by doing nothing."

I have mixed feelings about this book.  I have had the same difficulty with several of McEwan's novels.  I love the writing, but I don't care for the characters.  I loved Atonement but hated Briony (Cecilia and Robbie were enough to keep me from hating it though).  I loved the first half of Amsterdam but the characters turned horrid in the second half, and it ruined the book for me.  My frustration with the characters choices keeps me from wholeheartedly recommending it.  I think McEwan fans will love it, but, in my opinion, this isn't his best.

This book was read as a bonus for the Classics Challenge.  It was recommended as a future classic by one of the challenge participants.  I don't know if I agree that it will be a future classic, but then again, I don't love all of the current classics.  Everyone has different taste in books so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The Odyssey

I'm joining The Odyssey Read-along!  I'm a little nervous, but I'm going to do it.  It's being hosted by Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity.  I remember reading parts of it in ninth grade, but it has been quite a while since then!  I'm really looking forward to this, and I love the idea of the read-along so that I have that extra push to keep with it.

edited:  Oops!  I must have hit publish twice.  There are two identical posts but there are comments on both so I feel bad deleting one.  Forgive me for the error but I'm going to leave them both up.

The Odyssey

I'm joining The Odyssey Read-along!  I'm a little nervous, but I'm going to do it.  It's being hosted by Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity.  I remember reading parts of it in ninth grade, but it has been quite a while since then!  I'm really looking forward to this, and I love the idea of the read-along so that I have that extra push to keep with it.

Publish Post

Slam by Nick Hornby

Slam

by Nick Hornby
published 2007
completed September 2010


Slam is narrated by Sam, as an eighteen year old.  He is looking back on the past couple of  years to tell you his story.  At  fifteen things finally seemed to be going well.  He was a skater (skateboarder, not to be confused with ice skater) on the path to college, things seemed to be going well with his single mother, and he had a beautiful girlfriend Alicia.  One poor decision results in a pregnant girlfriend and a life changed forever.

Hornby nails the male teenage voice.  It is the perfect mix of naïveté, self-centeredness, and arrogance.  Sam is a trustworthy narrator and you get a glimpse into what it feels like for the boy who gets a teen girl pregnant.  It’s not a common perspective and it really opened my eyes.

This book is not preachy and for that I applaud Hornby.  It is not melodramatic, but realistic and extremely effective.  It doesn’t get into the options of abortion, adoption or keeping the baby.  It is briefly mentioned but the characters make the decisions and I never felt like Hornby had an agenda.  It simply made me think of the affects of teen pregnancy on the mother, father, the child, and the extended family.  It is a mess for everyone.

Slam is not an emotional book as you would expect of a book with this subject matter.  I found myself laughing at times, at times uncomfortable with Sam’s choices, and a little sad of what he had to deal with, but I was never near tears.  As a mother, it made me reflect on my own children.  I would never want them to have to deal with issues like these as teenagers.

I really enjoyed Slam.  It was a quick read.  If you enjoy Hornby, I would recommend it.  I’ve heard this is one of his least popular books, and if that is true, I’m looking forward to reading more of his works.

Behind

I'm very behind on reviews and I've only been posting about one a week.  Since moving into our home, we still don't have our broadband internet.  We ordered it on August 22 and we are still waiting.  We just got our phone line installed last week.  So weird!  I don't know why it takes so long here, but I'm working off of a mobile broadband card and I only have 2GB for the entire month and it is almost gone so I'm trying to conserve.  I'm hoping to be posting more regularly once my home internet is installed.

Playing with the Grown-ups by Sophie Dahl

Playing with the Grown-ups

by Sophie Dahl
published 2007
completed September 2010

Playing with the Grown-ups begins with Kitty as an adult.  She is pregnant and living with her husband in New York when she receives a phone call and leaves immediately for London.  The reader is then taken back to when Kitty was 11, living with her grandparents, aunts, twin half-siblings, and her mother Marina.  Her mother is a gorgeous, young painter and Kitty idolizes her.  Marina finds a new religion and on a whim, moves out of her parents home.  From that point forward, Kitty’s world seems to unravel.

I enjoyed the first half of this book, but about halfway through, it went downhill for me.  The writing itself, was done well, but the development of the book as a whole was lacking.  The pacing of the story was very disruptive.  Several times, something would happen, then a few line breaks, and then it’s suddenly a month later and an unrelated plot point was introduced.  The book kept switching between past and present tense, but sometimes it was unclear which time frame I was reading.

It’s difficult to explain my feelings about this book without spoilers, so skip the next two paragraphs if you intend to read it.

The relationship with Kitty and Marina was frustrating.  I have a difficult time reading about bad mothers and Marina is one of them.  Her children should have been taken away.  What mother gets angry with her daughter for taking ecstasy at a party by telling her that she should have done coke instead?  Her mother gave her coke.  She also let her hang around older men that she knew would take advantage of her daughter.  I know this is just fiction but it disturbs me to read about neglectful parents.

My other frustration was that the narrative ends with Kitty at 15.  At 15, Kitty has seen and done so much, and seems to be on a destructive path.  The next glimpse of Kitty is when she is an adult, married and pregnant, and living in New York.  How did she get there?  It was quite a leap from screwed up teenager to well-adjusted adult.

I have a low tolerance for the particular issues that were portrayed in this novel, so I wouldn’t recommend this book to any friends.  Despite that, I’m sure that there are other readers who have enjoyed it.

I picked this up so that I could fulfill part of the “All in the Family” part of the Take Another Chance Challenge.  Sophie Dahl is Roald Dahl’s granddaughter.  I am reading a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl for the other half of this challenge.  Hopefully I’ll post my review early next week.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes

by Jodi Picoult
published 2007
completed September 2010

I picked up Nineteen Minutes as part of the Take Another Chance Challenge hosted by Jenners.  This particular challenge was to break a prejudice.  I became aware of Jodi Picoult when the movie My Sister’s Keeper came out in theaters.  I read the reviews and learned that it was weepy and melodramatic, so I avoided it.  I assumed that all of her books were similar and that type of book doesn’t appeal to me.  For the challenge only, I gave Picoult a chance.

Nineteen Minutes centers on a school shooting.  The title comes from the length of time the rampage of Peter Houghton lasts.  This takes place in a small and seemingly safe town.  Peter had been a victim of bullying from the time he began kindergarten.  The narrative changes points of view between several characters, and jumps back and forth between the present and the past. 

Picoult tries to lay out both sides of the argument.  Is the shooter responsible, or was this a direct result of more than a decade of bullying?  I appreciate the attempt that she made to humanize the shooter, but I didn’t buy it.  There was a disconnect between how she described Peter and the way that he acted during the shooting.  He seems cold and calculating during those nineteen minutes, but incredibly sensitive and caring before and after the shooting.

This is my first Picoult novel, but I have heard from others that there is always a twist at the end, so I wasn’t surprised when it happened.  The twist at the end really ruined it.  It was so implausible and out of character.  The writing isn’t terrible, but some of the descriptive passages made me feel like she was trying too hard with the similes.  The melodrama of all of their personal lives seemed to manipulative in trying to force an emotional response.  I can’t believe that all of those people’s lives could be that screwed up.  There was so much tragedy.

I don’t know how realistic it was in depicting high school bullying.   I never witnessed anything that extreme, but I guess it is possible.  As a mother, it was helpful to remind me of some things that I can be doing to help my children so they don’t bully or allow themselves to become victims.

Overall, it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great.  I probably won’t pick up another Picoult novel, so it didn’t really break my prejudice, but at least I gave the author a chance.  I wouldn’t recommend this book, but there are many who have enjoyed it.  If you are interested in the topic of school shootings, it might be worth a read.