Ian McEwan 07年的新书On Chesil Beach，使他再度入围英国布克奖。这本只有二百页的小书，就规模而言，更似novella（中篇小说），McEwan 把语言的细腻玩出了一种喜剧的幽默，别具谐趣。 英国诗人Philip Larkin’s Annus Mirabilis开头第一段这么写道： Sexual intercourse began In nineteen sixty-three (which was rather late for me) - Between the end of the Chatterley ban And the Beatles’ first LP. On Chesil Beach的故事便是发生在性解禁的前一年1962年的七月，两个二十二岁的年轻人，天资不凡的小提琴手Florence与踌躇满志的历史系学生Edward，小说开门见山第一句话描写他们，“青春、受过良好的教育、都还是处子之身”，新婚之夜，两人在Chesil海滨酒店的蜜月套房，发生了一场不可思议的性战。Edward对初夜的兴奋期待，紧张的害怕自己表现不好，来得太快，相反，同样紧张不安的Florence，明知这样一种身体关系是夫妻间不可避免的正常之事，却仍无法克服对此的厌恶与排斥，灵与肉的交战，纠缠着Florence挣扎的内心，也像一块不祥的乌云，笼罩着她与Edward甜蜜浪漫的爱情。 Florence与Edward的爱情，将如何化为精神与肉体的（被迫）结合，McEwan如一位希区柯克式的悬念大师，吊足读者的胃口。小说前四分之三的笔墨集中在新婚初夜的几个小时里，对Florence和Edwarn说不出口的心理交战、及所表现出的身体悸动，描画细致得好像电影的慢动作镜头，不厌其烦中越见张力，而在最后不到四分之一的结尾，却以几年、十年的大跨度，流水般的概述Edward此后的一生，这般两极化的剪辑速度，读完全书，有一种预感，这个小说其实很适合改编成电影。

Ian McEwan 07年的新书On Chesil Beach，使他再度入围英国布克奖。这本只有二百页的小书，就规模而言，更似novella（中篇小说），McEwan 把语言的细腻玩出了一种喜剧的幽默，别具谐趣。 英国诗人Philip Larkin’s Annus Mirabilis开头第一段这么写道： Sexual intercourse began In nineteen sixty-three (which was rather late for me) - Between the end of the Chatterley ban And the Beatles’ first LP. On Chesil Beach的故事便是发生在性解禁的前一年1962年的七月，两个二十二岁的年轻人，天资不凡的小提琴手Florence与踌躇满志的历史系学生Edward，小说开门见山第一句话描写他们，“青春、受过良好的教育、都还是处子之身”，新婚之夜，两人在Chesil海滨酒店的蜜月套房，发生了一场不可思议的性战。Edward对初夜的兴奋期待，紧张的害怕自己表现不好，来得太快，相反，同样紧张不安的Florence，明知这样一种身体关系是夫妻间不可避免的正常之事，却仍无法克服对此的厌恶与排斥，灵与肉的交战，纠缠着Florence挣扎的内心，也像一块不祥的乌云，笼罩着她与Edward甜蜜浪漫的爱情。 Florence与Edward的爱情，将如何化为精神与肉体的（被迫）结合，McEwan如一位希区柯克式的悬念大师，吊足读者的胃口。小说前四分之三的笔墨集中在新婚初夜的几个小时里，对Florence和Edwarn说不出口的心理交战、及所表现出的身体悸动，描画细致得好像电影的慢动作镜头，不厌其烦中越见张力，而在最后不到四分之一的结尾，却以几年、十年的大跨度，流水般的概述Edward此后的一生，这般两极化的剪辑速度，读完全书，有一种预感，这个小说其实很适合改编成电影。

On a windy spring day in the Chilterns, the calm, organized life of science writer Joe Rose is shattered when he witnesses a tragic accident: a hot-air balloon with a boy trapped in its basket is being tossed by the wind, and in the attempt to save the child, a man is killed. A stranger named Jed Parry joins Rose in helping to bring the balloon to safety. But unknown to Rose, something passes between Parry and himself on that day--something that gives birth to an obsession in Parry so powerful that it will test the limits of Rose's beloved rationalism, threaten the love of his wife, Clarissa, and drive him to the brink of murder and madness. Brilliant and compassionate, this is a novel of love, faith, and suspense, and of how life can change in an instant.

On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

《时间中的孩子》是一个非凡的成就,形式与内容、理论与实践如此巧妙而紧密地交织在一起,使得这部小说成为它所讨论的主题的最好证明。我发现它如此动人,结局是如此的美妙。 ——席拉·麦克利奥德,《卫报》 这部小说写得太棒了,严肃、动人,极具有可读性,它汲取了伟大英国作家们不断在重温的那种天真,而这是比经验更难得的东西。如果你想体验