Book Review – “Gone Girl” – Lies That Make Or Break A Marriage

Nov 9, 2014 by     Comments Off on Book Review – “Gone Girl” – Lies That Make Or Break A Marriage    Posted under: Book Emporium, Hang Out

The New York Times best-seller “Gone Girl'” by Gillian Flynn is the epitome of the well-known phrase ‘Do not judge a book by its cover’ It is not in any way what you think it is.

“Gone Girl” has sold over 8 and 1/2 million copies and it will probably continue to sell more in light of the recent film adaptation. Honestly for me – 8 million is too much for a book that made couples think, “you know what? maybe we made a mistake” as they walked out of the theatre.

It centers around a seemingly normal couple – your typical American couple; the wife, Amy Elliot is an incredibly clever and talented writer with a passionate mind for puzzles and a certain fondness for the nickname her parents fashioned for her – ‘Amazing Amy’. And then there’s her husband Nick Dunne, an attractive and aspiring novelist from Missouri who does not, in fact, particularly share in Amy’s love for complicated puzzles, The two meet at a party and are immediately taken with each other. Soon after their, somewhat hurried, marriage, the couple is forced to move to move to Nick’s home-town of Missouri because of economical and personal problems. A move with which Amy is anything but happy. Perhaps it is around this point in their marriage that Amy’s sociopathic side comes into play.

“Gone Girl” is written in the form of Amy’s and Nick’s diary entries and soon both their narratives combine as the story progresses. On the day of their fifth anniversary Nick comes home to find out that his wife, who had been miserable ever since Nick dragged her out to Missouri take care of his mother, is gone. Abducted by the looks of their house.

The turning point in the book begins now; you realize that Amy was not the only sociopathic one in the relationship. Nick’s behaviour when the police are questioning him once the finger is on him is as strange as Amy’s diary entries. There is something off about his reactions to his wife’s disappearance, he doesn’t seem bothered by the situation and what’s more, he feels himself “enacting Concerned Husband”.He repeatedly lies to the police and soon Nick’s secrets begin to resurface and a hint of misogyny enters his tone which only heightens the media’s suspicions on him and concerns of where Amy might be, assuming she is still alive.

Right up to the end the book does not, even once, stop being disturbing, confusing or just generally…strange. There are tons of questions left unanswered; who between the two of them was actually telling the truth? The ordinary all-American couple turns out to be not so normal, making readers and viewers doubt relationships and marriages.

I hear that the ending of the movie is different from the book, since the ending of the book is beyond anything your imagination can come up with I look forward to what the ending of the movie will be like assuming I have the stomach to sit through it.

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