I had a stomach bug over the weekend that left me feeling VERY GRATEFUL for everyday non-queasy life AND got me caught up on some reading! Also, before I got sick I watched a movie:
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Beginners (Netflix link) is slow-moving/indie. I especially loved Mélanie Laurent, and also now I want a Jack Russell terrier. (Like the sweet one in the movie. Not because of Mélanie Laurent.) I really liked the whole movie, and it was fun to see Christopher Plummer again. Now I feel like I’m leaving Ewan McGregor out if I don’t mention him, especially if I’m even making a fuss over the DOG! I liked him too.
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I finally read Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. I resisted for awhile because it sounded like I would hate it, but then I felt like I really wanted to know what everyone was talking about, so I read it. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to get through it, because I hated Amy so much at the beginning: if her first diary entry were a blog post, I would have clicked away after a few sentences. But by the end, I didn’t hate anyone. It’s a little hard to give a full review, for two reasons: (1) I don’t want to give anything away, and (2) I accidentally found out a key plot point BEFORE reading, so I’m not sure what I would have thought about the book if I hadn’t known that part ahead of time.
Here’s what I liked best about the book: I found it riveting and couldn’t wait to get back to reading it. It can be hard to find books like that.
I was distracted by the way SO MANY characters in the book had double letters in their names just like the author. Based on the novel’s theme of in-jokes AND all the in-jokes in the acknowledgements, I’m guessing that was on purpose—which is a little irritating for those of us who think in-jokes should only be used with those who are in on them, because otherwise they’re off-putting, unfriendly, and deliberately excluding.
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My Mother Was Nuts, by Penny Marshall. If you like autobiographies, this was a good one: a nice mix of insider stuff, name-dropping, getting in her side of the story, etc. I liked and admired Penny Marshall more after reading it, and now feel like re-watching her stuff. I’ll bet she and Carrie Fisher have the same plastic surgeon: when I looked at her author photo on the back, I thought, “Goodness, she looks a lot like Carrie Fisher!”
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The One I Left Behind, by Jennifer McMahon. This one made me mad. It’s about a serial killer. The chapters alternated between “back then” and “now” in a way that was supposed to increase the tension but instead just made me cranky and inclined to skim. Many sections ended in faux cliffhangers: “There was A KNOCK AT THE DOOR!!!”—oh, it was just a package being delivered. “Behind her was A MAN!!!!”—oh, it was just the neighbor getting his mail.
There’s also a whole series of cutting incidents that seem to be intended to be erotic, but I couldn’t identify at all so they just seemed odd. And it seemed like people who COULD identify would probably be trying to avoid such material, and those who had the POTENTIAL to identify ought not to be exposed to it in that way, so it was hard to see the value of it.
By about a third of the way through, I felt like I really had to know what happened, but I didn’t want to have to read the book to find out. I tried skipping ahead, but it wasn’t that kind of book. So I just read fast and resentfully and got it over with. And then the ending was unsatisfying: I was left thinking, “Wait, but what about…?” and “But that doesn’t work with….” and “But in that case, wouldn’t they have….?” and so forth. And the serial killer’s motivations/reasons are so pat, it’s irritating—the serial killer version of “the butler did it.”
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Marbles, by Ellen Forney. I liked this one a lot. I saw it mentioned in a magazine shortly before Christmas, and it looked likely to be my kind of graphic novel, so I added it to my wish list and Paul bought it for me. It was indeed my kind of graphic novel. It reminded me of Alison Bechdel (Fun Home, Are You My Mother?, Dykes to Watch Out For). The author has bipolar disorder, and this is the story of her diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment. Gosh, that sounds depressing! But it’s also funny and interesting and informative. Right after reading it, I ordered a used copy of another of her books, Monkey Food.
I saw Beginners and liked it, too!
I had forgotten how much the acknowledgements at the end of “Gone Girl” irritated me, for the reason you identify. The author should have just sent each of her friends a thank you note that referenced their inside jokes. SO ANNOYING. As you know, I disliked the book anyway, so that just added fuel to the flames of my hatred.
So sorry you were sick! This year seems to be one of total doom when it comes to illness. Blergh.
I like it when I’ve recently been sick but now I am better and I feel SO GREAT. I’m just so appreciative of not feeling terrible anymore that I feel like I can lift cars and do all the laundry!
I think I’m dealing with that weird stomach bug myself. I’ve been treating it with a re-reading of Bossypants. Awesome.
I finally read Gone Girl a couple of weeks ago. I’ve come to the conclusion it is hard to read a book when I dislike most of the characters. The ending also felt rushed and a bit of a cop out.
I just re-read Life is a Banquet by Rosalind Russell-I LOVE this book. If you are at all interested in old Hollywood it is a great read. Actually I think it is wonderful even Hollywood doesn’t interest you that much.
I do not get the hype over Gone Girl. It wasn’t bad, I enjoyed reading it but it wasn’t anything spectacular either. Unlike most people I’ve talked to, I kind of liked the ending. However, her other two books NOT SO MUCH. Just a warning. I also picked up on the in-jokes in the acknowledgements and thought it was bizarre and annoying.
I’ve been sick as well and watched The Paperboy the other night. HOLY CATS do NOT rent that movie. I had no idea what I was getting into, I didn’t really read anything about it just thought it looked like a good cast. I will never look at John Cusack the same way. The stuff of nightmares.
The joy that is NOT feeling nauseated is incomparable. Food is appealing! You can do things! Things outside the bed! There is less moaning!
I felt similar about Gone Girl – that it was riveting and I couldn’t put it down. But I am not sure I LIKED it, which I guess is a separate thing.
I’m glad you are better. Also, how in the holy h*ll did you manage to read while sick? I mean, did the children really leave you alone and the husband, like, do stuff that allowed you to just feel sick in bed? Tell me your secrets? What drugs do you give them?
CARRIE- YES. It was great. It helped that I got sick on the weekend, so Paul was home. The kids did come in and out of the room, but mostly they did other stuff. It also helped that I could threaten them with Barf Germs!
Reading through the comments thus far, I’m glad to know I was not the only one disappointed by Gone Girl. The more I think about that book, the more I hate it.
I liked Gone Girl. I though it was clever, I didn’t know any of the spoilers, and I don’t need to like the characters to like a book. I liked her other two books two – she fits the bill when I’m in the mood for a twisted mystery. I don’t remember the in-jokes, or understand what you mean by double letters like in the author’s name, but I hate in-jokes in that situation too. I’ve read two or three books by Jennifer McMahon and they blur together into a weird sameness – two of them actually have situations where a family friend is revealed to have been married to a young characters’s father years ago, if I remember correctly.
For me, the trick with a book like Gone Girl, or Eat Love Pray, or a wildly popular book about which I know nothing, is to read it right away so that I don’t get too much hype. Because even though I don’t care, or SAY I don’t care, I guess I do because I can come away disappointed by things I’ve heard too much adoring compliments about. That’s bad grammar but I’m too lazy to change it. Anyway, I loved Gone Girl and couldn’t put it down, which is rare for me these days, so I appreciated that. I thought the ending was inevitable but not predictable, which I appreciated. I don’t get the in joke or name thing either, was it in the book or the acknowledgments? I think G Flynn seems like kind of a jerk, from reading her in Entertainment Weekly for years, so I hadn’t read them.
Bibliomama and Joanne- The double-letter thing is, like, you know how the author’s name is Gillian Flynn, so she has a double L in her first name and a double N in her last name? SO MANY of her characters ALSO had a doubled letter in either their first name, last name, or both. I returned the book to the library so I can’t look it up now, but it was like “Amy Elliott Dunne” and “Ellen Flemming” and so forth. DOUBLE LETTERS EVERYWHERE.
I might have thought it was a subconscious coincidence (like, she feels like names ought to have doubled letters because hers does, but hadn’t given it any deliberate thought), except the “in jokes” theme comes up again and again in Amy and Nick’s relationship: both of them keep mentioning how important it is to have little things like “But just one olive” and other little things where only the two people in the couple know what they’re talking about. And then of course that’s the key element in the treasure hunt.
And I would have thought THAT was just a plot-related thing, but then the author FILLS the acknowledgments with little in-jokes, so I can tell it’s something she thinks is awesome too.
So what I’m saying is that when I think to myself “I wonder if she did the doubled letters thing on purpose as a little wink to herself,” my conclusion is that YES, she is that sort of person who would do that.
I LOVED GOne Girl, and I’ll tell you why: it’s that moment halfway thru when the Big Reveal happens and I actually gasped aloud and felt genuinely shocked. It’s so rare for that to happen. I love her other books to, the first far more then the second.
the McMahon book was…eh. the cutting parts were a little disturbing, and i say that as someone who was addicted to cutting as a teenager. i didnt mind the big reveal, but i feel like some of her earlier books were better. i loved the descriptions of the houses tho.