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Out of the Book, Volume 1: Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach (Full Screen)

Out of the Book, Volume 1: Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach (Full Screen) Cover

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On Chesil Beach book and DVD comboBuy the set! Order On Chesil Beach now and receive the acclaimed 28-minute film about Ian McEwan for only $4 more.

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Out of the Book's first edition features bestselling British author Ian McEwan and his novel, On Chesil Beach.

It is July 1962. Edward and Florence, young innocents, married that morning, arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their room, they struggle to suppress their private fears of the wedding night to come.

From Ian McEwan, winner of the Whitbread Best Novel Award (The Child in Time), the Booker Prize (for Amsterdam), and the National Book Critics Circle Award (Atonement), comes a story of lives transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

It is 2007. An American bookseller and filmmaker spend the day with McEwan in London. Directed by Doug Biro (Herbie Hancock: Possibilities) and shot over four days in England and the United States, the 30-minute film includes interviews with McEwan in London, on-location footage from Chesil Beach, an original soundtrack, commentary from peers and critics, and more. By film's end, a press kerfuffle has been averted, Kafka has come up in conversation twice, and the natural balance of England's beaches has been restored.

Review:

"A nifty little flick... We shan't spoil the story — buy the book! See the movie! — but we will say it's worth the hyperbole. And the hype....This is McEwan, face-to-face." John Hood, Miami SunPost

Review:

"The film may be part of a beachhead of change in the way readers and authors connect." Bob Thompson, Washington Post

Review:

"If someone were to explain the concept to me, it would sound so simultaneously populist and intellectual that I'd swear it was a European fancy... A very smart and engaging little film." Chas Bowie, The Portland Mercury

Review:

"Tightly and carefully done." Ian McEwan, New York Magazine

About the Author

Ian McEwan was born on June 21, 1948 in Aldershot, England. He studied at the University of Sussex, where he received a BA degree in English Literature in 1970. While completing his MA degree in English Literature at the University of East Anglia, he took a creative writing course taught by the novelists Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson.

McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. Among them are the Somerset Maugham Award in 1976 for his first collection of short stories First Love, Last Rites; Whitbread Novel Award (1987) and Prix Fémina Etranger (1993) for The Child in Time; and Germany's Shakespeare Prize in 1999. He has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction three times, winning the award for Amsterdam in 1998. His novel Atonement received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award (2003), Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). In 2006, he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Saturday.

McEwan visited Portland, Oregon, on April 1, 2004, for the Portland Arts and Lectures series, sponsored in part by Powell's Books. Prior to the event, he sat down for an extensive interview with Powell's.

Series Description

A groundbreaking series of compelling short films about authors. Out of the Book films deliver engaging portraits of writers and their work. More expansive than traditional readings, the project aims to generate spirited discussion about great new books and their impact on readers' lives.

What Our Viewers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
Deborah Montuori, August 2, 2007 (view all comments by Deborah Montuori)
From the reviews I had read, I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this book, although I am a big fan of McEwan's work. How much can one really say about a failed wedding night? But On Chesil Beach is so much more than that. It's a study of a moment in time--not just Edward and Frances's wedding night, but the more innocent (or more restrictive, depending on your point of view) world of the 1960s. It's about love, expectations, dreams, what we feel and what we cannot say, and our penchant for lingering over what might have been. I can't say that this is my favorite McEwan novel, but I was surprised by how it kept me engaged--and by how long it stayed with me once I had finished reading.
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(33 of 61 readers found this comment helpful)
Abigail Johnson, June 13, 2007 (view all comments by Abigail Johnson)
Boring......it is the kind of book you could put down, walk away, never finish it, and not regret it.
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(47 of 94 readers found this comment helpful)
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Product Details

UPC:
9781135733308
Credits:
Powell's Books and Douglas Biro
Studio:
Out of the Book
Author:
Biro, Powell's Books and Douglas
Copyright:
Series:
Out of the Book
Series Volume:
1
Publication Date:
June 13, 2007
Binding:
DVD
Language:
English
Media Run Time:
27 minutes
Region:
US and Canada

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