I just finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. A very good book, it is a very clear example that Gillian Flynn is very intelligent, and uses words in a very efficient way. The choppy descriptions and constant back and forth almost gave me whiplash, but I liked it. I do recommend it, but I am glad it is over.
Also, I grow a bit tired of books having the main characters be anything less than amazing looking. It kinda gets under my skin. I have to be careful not to do that in my own writing, for some reason it just happens, and I have to go back sometimes and change it. I wouldn't want to watch a movie of Gone Girl as it would end up being a thriller version of Groundhog Day. The constant back and forth of it. That is how the mind works though, she did capture that it this book. We more than second guess ourselves. That doesn't mean I want to experience it in a book. The main character, well one of them, Amy is a pretentious sociopath that is extremely cunning and savvy. So much so that it was not believable, but that is why it is a work of fiction, I suppose. I don't mean to bad mouth the book, because I see the brilliance in it. I would never read it a second time though.
I like books that can be read over and over again. A new book that I loved and will definitely read again is The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Simple, yet brilliant. Not too wordy, and not guiding the reader. You can follow it and your mind immediately follows the way it should, not forcefully. Just my opinion though. I am always looking for something to read. I have just started Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, as soon as I finish, I will post what I think about it.
Hard to tell whether - with new fiction - authors are being self-indulgent, under-edited, or actually do have as much to say as is said in their books. Because while I, too, liked "Gone Girl" I also found it longer than necessary. I had a different experience, too, because I listened to it, which is perhaps less forgiving of indulgent writing, since there's no "skimming" possible.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would have made it through an Audibles version of this book. I skimmed more than should be necessary in a modern fiction, I don't expect modern fiction to be as verbose as classic literature, and yet this one was self indulgent.....
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