complaints, praise, nerdy wishful thinking? thoughts as I read Gone Girl
I've only just reached page 258 of the 415 page novel that is Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and I already have Things I Want to Say about it, things that defy the 140-character increment limitations of Twitter, even.
This is to the novel's credit. I can easily see why it is a #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. It is an easily accessible page-turner that will incite discussion. A water cooler book. Personally, I have some problems with it. Some of the snark is a bit too on the nose for my taste, the references too easy - "Oh haha, I remember Game of Life!" And certainly everyone will be able to recognize the real life unyielding tv personality Nancy Grace with her guilty until proven innocent philosophy in the character of Ellen Abbott. Nearly all of the players in Gone Girl are inherently unlikeable, though I suspect that might be the point. This is a psychological thriller, and human beings are complex. There is no one here to root for, save perhaps Bleecker the cat. (Is he named for the New York City street or the Simon & Garfunkel song named for the New York City street? Either way, I imagine him as plump and nonchalant, padding about with a cartoon bubble over his fuzzy head that reads "Bitches be crazy.")
Finally, I'm inclined to give what I think is meant to be the feminist commentary in the book some major side-eye, but I think I'll wait until I've finished reading the entire novel to properly form my arguments with regards to that matter. Maybe I'm being unfair.
All that being said, I can't seem to put the damn book down. I admit I was up late and then early reading it, eager to find out what was in the woodshed. The story has crawled under my skin a bit, given my dreams a nervous soundtrack. I think David Fincher will do wonderful, disturbing things with Gone Girl if he decides to go forward with directing the film version as this source suggests he might. I'll admit, also, that I harbour a not-so-secret mythology nerd hope that Gillian Flynn chose to set the main action in Carthage, Missouri as a nod to the Carthage of ancient times, where - in Virgil's version of the story, at least - Aeneas abandoned Dido, who then cursed her departing former love before throwing herself upon his sword on a funeral pyre. Bitches be crazy.
This is to the novel's credit. I can easily see why it is a #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. It is an easily accessible page-turner that will incite discussion. A water cooler book. Personally, I have some problems with it. Some of the snark is a bit too on the nose for my taste, the references too easy - "Oh haha, I remember Game of Life!" And certainly everyone will be able to recognize the real life unyielding tv personality Nancy Grace with her guilty until proven innocent philosophy in the character of Ellen Abbott. Nearly all of the players in Gone Girl are inherently unlikeable, though I suspect that might be the point. This is a psychological thriller, and human beings are complex. There is no one here to root for, save perhaps Bleecker the cat. (Is he named for the New York City street or the Simon & Garfunkel song named for the New York City street? Either way, I imagine him as plump and nonchalant, padding about with a cartoon bubble over his fuzzy head that reads "Bitches be crazy.")
Finally, I'm inclined to give what I think is meant to be the feminist commentary in the book some major side-eye, but I think I'll wait until I've finished reading the entire novel to properly form my arguments with regards to that matter. Maybe I'm being unfair.
All that being said, I can't seem to put the damn book down. I admit I was up late and then early reading it, eager to find out what was in the woodshed. The story has crawled under my skin a bit, given my dreams a nervous soundtrack. I think David Fincher will do wonderful, disturbing things with Gone Girl if he decides to go forward with directing the film version as this source suggests he might. I'll admit, also, that I harbour a not-so-secret mythology nerd hope that Gillian Flynn chose to set the main action in Carthage, Missouri as a nod to the Carthage of ancient times, where - in Virgil's version of the story, at least - Aeneas abandoned Dido, who then cursed her departing former love before throwing herself upon his sword on a funeral pyre. Bitches be crazy.