A Rough-Assed Read

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

Have you read this yet?

It’s been a long time since I’ve read any kind of contemporary chick lit book, and I’m devouring this one. It’s what my best friend and I call a “rough-assed read”. I’m flying through it, can’t put it down, sneaking in a page or ten every time I go to the bathroom, before bed, while I brush my teeth. I haven’t read a single review of it because I wanted to form my own opinion. Here’s what I love about it.

1. It’s not trying to be something it isn’t. It’s not literature, but it’s devilish fun, and very well-written.
2. Each chapter switches POV. I love being in the head of multiple characters and watching that play out chapter by chapter.
3. Even though the chapters switch POV’s, they don’t do it chronologically. This is a very cool technique, as the story flows in real-time for Nick, but not for Amy. So at times you only really know what Nick knows, and then later you learn more about Amy even though her chapters are “behind” Nick’s in the timeline, and then they catch up to each other and it becomes a race.
4. It’s a tiny bit epistolary. Not really, but there’s a bit of it as Amy’s diary excerpts play out, and a flavor of that as Nick tries to figure out the treasure hunt clues. I absolutely love epistolary novels, and my own story will make use of diary entries too.
5. I love that there’s really no one true protagonist. You sort of root for Nick, even though you know he’s an asshole. But you don’t really want him to “win”. And Amy… she’s a psycho evil bitch, but also… she’s brutally honest (to herself). So you don’t want her to “win”, and you would never do what she did, but still… you root for her a little bit at times, even a lot at times.
6. It’s not predictable. At least, not to me. But… I’m not that clever about whodunnits anyway. I just enjoy the ride, and I’m enjoying this one. I’ve read that some people didn’t like the ending. I’m forcing myself not to read reviews of the book because I haven’t finished it and I REALLY don’t want any spoilers. I’m curious what I will think of the end when I get there.
7. As I said, it’s been a while since I read anything that takes place in current time, in the US, with pop culture references. It’s a bit of fresh air and fun to “get” the Duran Duran reference from the 80’s, and relate to the world of blogs and Facebook and spiraling viral videos. Hubby read that there are a bunch of Virginia Woolf references in there too. I noticed some blatant ones, but probably missed some of the others. I don’t remember much of my VW. I never studied her writing and only read some on my own so the stories didn’t really stick with me. I’m a VW lit failure. But… hey… I got the Duran Duran stuff.
8. The “Amazing Amy” children’s book angle is fun, and I loved the dig at Beverly Cleary. But the psychologist parents with fucked-up kid is sort of cliché, although… it’s usually a true cliché, I guess.
9. Great dialogue! After I finish, I’m going to go back through and look at how she writes the dialogue. It feels very genuine and tight. I also love that Stephen Kingish style of writing the character’s real thoughts interspersed with their dialogue.

Really? A list of 9, instead of 10? Sorry, that’s all I’ve got. Huzzah to Gillian Flynn.