On Chesil Beach
by Ian McEwan
Vintage, HK$115
According to the Chinese calendar, 2007 was the year of the pig. In the literary world, it belonged to Ian McEwan, thanks to the film adaptation of Atonement (now Oscar nominated) and the publication of On Chesil Beach, his 13th work of fiction. At 166 pages, this is McEwan working in miniature - the author of The Comfort of Strangers and First Love, Last Rites rather than Enduring Love and Saturday. The story too seems slight as air - at least at first glance.
It is 1962 and a newly married couple are about to embark on their wedding night: they eat, have sex and then face the music. And that is the whole story. Except that it isn't. This is Ian McEwan, after all, and few writers are better at teasing out English unease, or excavating buried social conflicts. The evening unfolds as a sort of silent struggle, the perspective switching fluidly between the 20th-century Adam and Eve as each gives voice to unspoken fears and desires. The prose may be cool, and even wryly aloof, but this quiet elegance only lends poignancy to a tale that evokes a lifetime of love, loss and the things we leave unsaid. Indeed, the final page should bring a tear to the eye. A fine book that will improve with age.