A friend says, “I just finished
reading Gone Girl. Have you read it? You have to read it. I
know you'll like it.”
I've known this friend for many years
and she knows me well. And so I buy a copy.
I don't read the back cover blurb. I
just flip the book open and begin to read and immediately I'm thrown
into a mystery. The narrator has little rhyme to his life? He usually
wakes on a whim. Yet, today he has woken precisely at 6 AM.
Why? What kind of a career can afford
him that type of leeway?
Then I read page 5: 'I used to be a
writer.'
The narrator is a once-upon-writer, his
wife (Amy) is a writer and so are is in-laws. In fact, Amy's parents
have created a children's series inspired by their daughter. No, more
then inspired by. The fictional Amy seems to be a new and improved
version of the real Amy.
As Amy writes: 'I can't fail to notice
that whenever I screw something up, Amy does it right.' (P. 36)
My friend knows of my passion to become
a writer. I pause to wonder if this overabundance of writers is the
reason my friend thought I would enjoy this book.
But it's more then that...
Gone Girl is about a
relationship. The couple is young and attractive. The ingredients for
a romance and yet it is a thriller.
'Isn't that what every marriage is,
anyway? Just a lengthy game of he-said, she-said?' (p. 544)
I love stories that throw you for a
loop like that. You wiggle your way into the comfortable pages.
Everything is so familiar. You feel so at home. And then wham bam
you're sent reeling. Stephen King writes this type of story very well
and so does Gillian Flynn.
I admire other aspect of Ms. Flynn's
writing as well...
In chapter one the narrator wishes that
he could be in his wife's head. Then in chapter two he is. He's
reading her diary, in fact. How much more in her head can he get?
Ms. Flynn continues to play with her
main characters in this manner. For example, Amy disappears in one
chapter and Nick reappears in the next.
What is the overriding theme...?
A promising happy-ever-after marriage
breaks down set against the US economy. An economy that was so
promising but that is slowly sliding into bankruptcy—people are
losing their jobs, grandiose malls echo from abandonment.
Everything is disappearing in this
book: Amy, Nick's future, Nick's dad, Amy's parents' money...
Favourite quote...
'She chirps the last bit as if that
were all to say about a book: It's good or it's bad. I like it or I
didn't. No discussion of the writing, the themes, the nuances, the
structure, Just good or bad. Like a hot dog.' (p. 377)
Back cover blurb: On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and plans are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears. As the police begin to investigate, the town golden boy parades a series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
More...
Next Monday...
Writers, do you kill your darlings?
Author journey...
I cared for children in a Day Care setting for approximately fourteen years...
