Ten of the best failed couplings in fiction

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best failed couplings in fiction.

One book on the list:

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

Edward is keen; Florence is terrified; both are virgins. No detail of the first (which is also the last) night of the honeymoon is spared. His premature ejaculation proves to be "a calamity". "If his jugular had burst, it could not have seemed more terrible."

Read about another book on Mullan's list.

On Chesil Beach also appears on Mullan's list of ten of the best marital rows in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue