Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl really provoked a reaction! Our readers were so amazed that they could read a book, enjoy it (enjoy is not really the right word) maybe be enthralled by it (?) and yet not like one single character in the book! The tight structure really was a major source of admiration for the book! The way the author manipulates the reader's emotions and pulls one first one way then the other is almost disturbing in itself.
Our 'moral reader' surprised us all by admitting to appreciating the novel even though she was quite upset that there was no retribution for the one of the main characters. In hindsight, come to think of it, there was no glimmer of justice mentioned anywhere. Some found the ending a bit weak while others, despite their misgivings could not really imagine an alternative.
Our lover of all things pyschologically thrilling enjoyed it immensely and immediately found another novel by Gillian Flynn to read! Our reader extraordinaire had read the novel twice and was able to detect some well-hidden clues early in the novel that had eluded the rest of the first-time readers.
Time flew as Gone Girl was ruminated over. A late-comer declared passionately that she 'hated' it! As discussion continued, it was revealed that she really preferred linear fast-paced novels so this one was certainly outside of her comfort zone! While a couple of our other readers who had been busy dealing with life's curve balls decided they might be able to give Gone Girl another go even though they had felt it had been slow to rivet the reader previously, our late-comer couldn't wait rid herself of its poisonous presence!
A novel like Gone Girl does make one wonder how much of an author's experience goes into their creation. One hopes in this case that it is 100% imagination!
A couple of our readers had been able to catch up Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being and were eager to revive discussion on this novel which had been enjoyed by most.
Often after animated discussion at book club one wants to read the book again as this time you can read it with more than one set of eyes and mindset!
For July, we will be reading Colum McCann's Transatlantic which spans stories, times and lives from both sides of this turbulent ocean. Compared to Gone Girl so far it seems a much gentler read but still requires a great deal of one's attention as it moves back and forth in time and place.
I'll investigate what some reviews have to say and will include them in a future post.
Hope you continue to enjoy reading between the lines!
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