Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

[Lucky]

Since this is going to be difficult to discuss without a litany of spoiler boxes. Enter at your own risk.

[Lucky]

So my Vertigo comparison seems more intentional than I had originally thought. Amy's faux Facebook profile is Madeliene Elster.

[Mara]

Where are you exactly in the story? I don't want to accidentally spoil you.

[Lucky]

Amy admitted the first half of the novel was a huge scam, she's planning on killing herself, and she's not actually pregnant. The woman at the bungalow might be on to her.

Nick has realized Amy is trying to frame him but can't seem to convince his lawyer. Breaking things off with the mistress did not go well.

[Mara]

Breaking things off with the mistress did not go well.

You know, in a book full of really unpleasant people, I kind of wanted to hit her the hardest?

[Lucky]

What is wrong with this Hilary girl? Let's harass my friend's parents because she asked me to?

"It was just dumb stuff girls do. Back before cell phones and cyberbullying. A way to kill time."

What? ...no.

71%

[Mara]

What is wrong with this Hilary girl? Let's harass my friend's parents because she asked me to?


I think we're supposed to see Amy as a master manipulator, but I agree this is a little far-fetched. Much more realistic to me is the bit about Amy and the guy who cut her off in traffic-- that, to me, was a realistic and telling story that showed exactly how sociopathic she is.

In fact, I would argue that one of the book's weakest points is how far it pushes the suspension of disbelief in the last bit of the book. It's strong enough that I forgive those moments, but I can't say that I 100% bought everything that goes down.

[Lucky]

Yes, the truck driver and faux rape scene were better examples of her extreme behavior.

Another point still bugging me is Nick having visions of his bloody wife. I was hoping he was more involved in this whole scheme, but they truly seem like red herrings now. Easy, sloppy red herrings. I'm open to being proven wrong, though.

[Lucky]

I had a feeling Desi would play a role later on, but I wasn't expecting that. Geez.

91%. I don't think both of them are making it out of this book alive.

[Mara]

I had a feeling Desi would play a role later on, but I wasn't expecting that. Geez.


For a character we barely see, I find Desi's mother terrifying.

[Kurosawa Fan]

My wife bought this last night. I'll pick it up when she's finished.

[Mara]

My wife bought this last night. I'll pick it up when she's finished.

If she starts screaming in the middle of reading, don't ask why.

[ledfloyd]

I almost got this at the library today. George Saunders won out.

[Mara]

I almost got this at the library today. George Saunders won out.

It's worth reading. It's not a book without its faults, but it is worth reading.

[Lucky]

And done. What a horrifying character Amy is. The actress who just got cast in this role has her work cut out for her. It will be difficult to pull this off without turning the character into a campy monster. The book kind of lost its edge in all the twisting and turning, but the gender politics of the first half were razor sharp. During the second half it became a plot heavy endeavor. Entertaining, unquestionably, but a somewhat empty calorie consumption. This is essentially the twisted faceoff of the hyperbolic essence of men and women. Granted, the female side is presented as more extreme. Perhaps because the author is more comfortable in those depths.

[Lucky]

Imdb.com trivia tells me Charlize Theron was considered. She would have nailed this.

[Ezee E]

AHHH. Thanks for mentioning the possibility of spoilers.

Also, thanks for making a complete separate thread. Without it, I may not have even gotten the book. I was wanting to read something, and this came to mind.

100 pages later and I'm really digging it... I'm also hoping that a few things DO NOT HAPPEN:

PLEASE... do not let her stage it and run away.

PLEASE... do not let him be behind it.

PLEASE... do not let the "clues" lead to her location.

That is all... for now.

Oh, yeah, SEMI-PLEASE... do not let him hook up with the 40-something ditzy lady.

I'm definitely supporting Amy at this point between the two discussions.

More to continue, without reading any post in here.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Hmm. Val finished this and said she doesn't think I'll like it. She's usually pretty intuitive when it comes to my likes/dislikes. I'm on the fence.

[EyesWideOpen]

Imdb.com trivia tells me Charlize Theron was considered. She would have nailed this.

Agreed. Rosamund Pike from what little I've seen of her doesn't fill me with confidence that she can pull it off. She was the worst part of Jack Reacher.

[Ezee E]

Page 144 -- That motherfucking douchebag!

Is this what ladies do in bookclubs??

[Mara]

Is this what ladies do in bookclubs??

In my book club, it generally devolves into praising/complaining about husbands, and gross stories of childbirth.

Sometimes we talk about books.

[Mara]

Hmm. Val finished this and said she doesn't think I'll like it. She's usually pretty intuitive when it comes to my likes/dislikes. I'm on the fence.

Oddly enough, I'm not entirely sure I loved it, either. It is certainly an imperfect novel.

But, at the same time, completely gripping. It's one of those books that you really want to talk about.

[Ezee E]

Oh wow...

So that happened.

[Lucky]

Desi?

[Ezee E]

Finished it today. It nailed on all cylinders to me. Both as pure entertainment, and great comments on gender roles. I almost wonder if some of the past "manipulations" from Amy might even be embellished from the side of the 'victim' so that they don't look as bad. I'd have to reread those passages.

Amy's character is quite fascinating once it gets past her diary. Her "Ozark Amy" seemed a little too dumb in my mind. Someone that would never have trusted the two other people, but perhaps because she was never around that type of crowd? I'm not sure. That may be my only critique of it all.

The last few chapters, cat and mouse as they may be, had me guessing and guessing the whole time as to who would truly win. The final sentence is just about perfect.

And I can't think of anyone more perfect for this then David Fincher.

[megladon8]

Just bought this one for Jen. I really want to get her reading again.

[dreamdead]

Started this today when the library finally got in a copy for me; about 60 pages in right now. Technically I'm aware of the narrative switch halfway through since Sarah mentioned it to me when she read the book late last year. Still, I'm intrigued by how Flynn incorporates the MASH theme and the Murakami book, texts that are all about absence and listlessness. Now to see how Nick ends up embroiled in the investigation since the father's linguistic idiosyncrasies are surely gonna play a part soon.

[dreamdead]

So I just got to page 250, past the big reveal. I'm excited because now shit's about to get real and I don't know what's coming.

Flynn has a great control of voice in both the Amy's Diary sequences and in Nick's coverage as well. Hope it lands its third act!

[Mara]

I listened to the book on audio and the voice actors was great. Amy especially had to play at least two different "characters" and really nailed it.

[dreamdead]

Finished this out yesterday. Ultimately, the plotting is some of the best in mainstream fiction, with Flynn developing a credible indictment on how a patriarchal-minded media has instructed women to sublimate their desires, leaving women like Amy existing as such artifice that she feels her whole life is a lie. On some level, that made me wish that Flynn had found a way to engineer the text so that the woman isn't then responsible for the text's transgressions--enabling us to valorize Nick as hero when he's himself culpable--but I have to forego some of the layers of gender representation here.

I like how the text concludes, where fatherhood (after the loss of the father) is what normalizes this couple. The regeneration of a false normalcy is nicely integrated, where we understand what anchors Nick to Amy after all. And yes, she does get the last word. That said, the third act shortchanges Go in ways that I hadn't expected--she felt quite dynamic in the first half and towards the end she is cut out of the main drama. That reduces some of the human element, and leaves me wanting more reaction from the outside circle.

This novel felt more lived-in and fully developed than Flynn's Sharp Objects. Kinda curious to start her second novel, too. Was rather surprised that the bungalow characters never reappeared.

[Ezee E]

Glad you liked it. I lent my copy off to someone else in hopes they dug it a ton. I haven't been enamored by a novel like that for a while.

I really hope Fincher uses the Diary entries as flashbacks in the movie version. I can't think of a better director that suits the book more then him.

[dreamdead]

My biggest fear with any film adaptation is that the denouement needs the proper length to justify the reversals and undercutting of the pregnancy, and I worry that producers will demand that Fincher, et al, compartmentalize the length so that it's "quicker." If that happens, then the naturalness will fade completely away.

This book, incidentally, would teach impeccably well in a gender studies class, analyzing how women perceive themselves and what Amy believes she sacrifices in order to receive male attention. In a more general literature class, sadly, it's a little too barren of themes for its length.

[Lucky]

I completely agree with the gender studies class. It loses a bit of its edge in that regard during the second half though.

[Ezee E]

I completely agree with the gender studies class. It loses a bit of its edge in that regard during the second half though.

I think it switches in that case, and becomes more about how men perceive women's "wants and needs in life."

[amberlita]

Finished this yesterday. Still letting it sink in a bit. Trying to decide how I feel about that ending.


I completely agree with the gender studies class. It loses a bit of its edge in that regard during the second half though.

And this is the most disappointing thing about the book. It is so keen on depicting the quiet sexual warfare that goes on in relationships, in the media, etc. It's by far the most interesting thing about the story and it is ultimately back-burnered in the second half in favor of the thriller twists and turns. There is still social commentary (Desi fulfilling his white night fantasy, Nick with a now valid excuse to let his learned scorn toward women boil to the surface), but any perspective shed on the sexual politics is white-washed when it becomes clear that Amy is a certifiable sociopath. It would have been much more satisfying an ending if it had been difficult for the reader to take a side. Nick is the suffering victim in the end, albeit a spineless simp but there is no impression he has any option but to either acquiesce or kill her. I would have preferred the author depicted Amy not as a woman with a hidden mental illness but as a woman who could be any female who gets pushed to the edge of conformity and decides to say "fuck it" and leap off the edge, selectively pressured to do bad things because of the way she's had to squeeze into a box built by a male-dominated society.

Very engaging book though. Had a lot of fun with it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I completely agree with the gender studies class. It loses a bit of its edge in that regard during the second half though.

Finally read this. I think the second half is what makes it so compelling for a gender studies class. The book was a very fun read. Am I being too blurb-y if I call it deliciously evil? I mean, the narrative is silly and really thin, and some of the themes fall deader than Desi (connecting this particular story to the recession and financial wealth as overtly as she did was a head scratcher), but it was completely absorbing, tons of fun, and sort of fascinating in the way it handled Nick's emasculation vs Amy's rising power. Nick becomes sort of a comic battered wife, staying in the relationship because he's afraid of what will happen to him if he tries to leave, and finally sticking around for the sake of the child. I'm kind of excited to see what Fincher does with this material. Plus, I'm such a sucker for Rosamund Pike.