The Nonvirgin Suicide

I think I'm going to have to kill myself.

Spoiler alert if you haven't seen "Atonement." I actually really liked the movie. The jumps in time and narrator were interesting and kept you on your toes. The ending was so sad, but in a way, completely fitting. I don't wish for a happy ending. A bit dramatic? Sure. But it made for a great movie and the actors were great. Keira Knightly's green dress should have won an Oscar.

I decided I'd give Ian McEwan a try as I hadn't read any of his books. I had one sitting on my self, Amsterdam, which has won awards. But I happened to be at the library recently and spotted his latest on the shelf. So I picked up Chesil Beach and gave it a go.

I should have known. "Atonement" was a truly tragic movie and I don't think more deaths or ruined lives could have been fit in if Shakespeare had penned it. Chesil Beach is the story of two virgins who are celebrating their wedding night and trying to work through their first time in bed. The story jumps back and forth between the present, where wife is terrified and disgusted at the thought of sex and husband is an eager beaver, and the past as their relationship builds into an engagement. They blunder their way through the steps and things seem to be going OK, looking like they may work out when . . . (another spoiler alert) Bam! She's filing for divorce on grounds of nonconsummation and he's floating through life alone. The last 30 pages and it was so pathetic and awful I was hard pressed to actually finish it. Again, death after death, ruined life after ruined life. Come on, Ian McEwan! Can't you write anything that ends happy?

Now I know life isn't all roses, but not everything ends sadly. I totally support the (movie) ending of Atonement. (I add the disclaimer because I haven't read the book, but I would guess it's similar to the movie's plot line.) And while lots of people hated the way the movie "The Break-up" ended, I was OK with it. You kind of know it's going that direction and everyone goes their own merry ways. But do we really have to kill the budding romance of two young people and ruin their wedding night, not even allowing the pleasure of sex?

To add insult to injury, Ian McEwan is truly creepy looking. And he was staring at me through the last 40 pages of the novel. Yuck, McEwan. I'm not reading another of your pathetic stories.

Needless to say, I immediately got rid of "Amsterdam" and do not plan to read another of his books. Back to my serial killer mystery.