I read On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan yesterday. Yes, I read a book in a day. I feel like the Post Pessimist. I confess it’s a very short novel, but still.
Great book. Sad and funny, frustrating and ultimately heart-breaking. I kept saying to the two main characters "oh come on, you two, Communicate! You aren’t communicating and you’re ruining a great thing."
The book is about two virginal 22-year-olds on their wedding night in 1962. It's about Britain just entering the 1960s, with the post-war hardships and the hope of the younger generation. And rock and roll. Here’s a great bit. It involves the young man’s efforts to stop thinking about sex in order not too "arrive too soon".
"Just in time, he thought of the news, of the face of the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, tall, stooping, walrus-like, a war hero, an old buffer - he was everything that was not sex and ideal for the purpose."
7 comments:
but what if walrus-like old buffers are a turn-on?
That's a whole other book! And not one I'm likely to read.
I think Richard & Willie are our guides, here: Girls don't like Tricky Dick when he shoot too quick. Or Harold Macmillan. Same dif.
Richard and Willie - works for me.
But then again, I can say that about almost any situation in life...
ah, richard and willie: cherished wedding-gift memories...
R&W. It's surprising how little they've shown up here on the ole blog. Given that they have a quote for all occasions.
not to mention all the guys in the posse
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