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korafoxSo I'm supposed to be working on the wiki right now. I promise myself that after dinner at my parents' house, and after my workout, I will actually in fact do the wiki work I should be doing at this time. But right now I really really need to get some things off my chest about Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn.
(Papa, if you're reading this, don't feel bad that you got me the book...it was certainly a palate-cleanser, and you can't knock book recommendations out of the park 100% of the time.)
So by fifty pages in, I was about ready to smash in the faces of every single character in this book. Yes, every single one. I had the distinct impression that I was reading Catcher in the Rye all over again, that's how hateful these characters were to me. And really, it all came down to the utter misogyny displayed by pretty much everyone involved. I can't count how many times I read the words bitch, whore, twat, and yes, cunt. The kicker? About half the time, these words were coming from female characters. Everyone in the novel seemed to point out at every opportunity how crazy, passive-aggressive, and emotionally manipulative all women are (except for them! Of course! Despite the fact that they too are engaging in this behavior, as the Clever Reader is likely pointing out to themself with a chuckle).
Pretty much the only reason I kept going with this thing is that I was holding out hope that it was meant to be ironic, that the author would make it clear by the end that these are despicable people who should be shunned by anyone with a conscience. But instead she ends up settling on the philandering husband as sympathetic about two-thirds of the way through. He even justifies his behavior as "well, clearly I was picking up on the fact that my wife is secretly a crazy psycho bitch, and that's what drove me to it". Not to mention the Scorned Woman Overreacts trope that pretty much drove the plot.
I just shake my head that any woman could have written this book. I honestly don't know, having finished it, what she intended for the audience to take from it. But I can pretty much guarantee that 95% of the genre-fiction devouring public is going to read this and accept it as the Way Women Are, rather than some sort of ironic and/or fictional portrayal. And if that wasn't her intent in writing it, that just means that either she or her editor did a shit job.
So, yeah. I think I'll pop back to some Jim Hines for my next book. It's got to be one of the greatest injustices in the world that this book was plastered with critical acclaim and you probably couldn't find one out of a hundred random people on the street who have even heard of him.
(Papa, if you're reading this, don't feel bad that you got me the book...it was certainly a palate-cleanser, and you can't knock book recommendations out of the park 100% of the time.)
So by fifty pages in, I was about ready to smash in the faces of every single character in this book. Yes, every single one. I had the distinct impression that I was reading Catcher in the Rye all over again, that's how hateful these characters were to me. And really, it all came down to the utter misogyny displayed by pretty much everyone involved. I can't count how many times I read the words bitch, whore, twat, and yes, cunt. The kicker? About half the time, these words were coming from female characters. Everyone in the novel seemed to point out at every opportunity how crazy, passive-aggressive, and emotionally manipulative all women are (except for them! Of course! Despite the fact that they too are engaging in this behavior, as the Clever Reader is likely pointing out to themself with a chuckle).
Pretty much the only reason I kept going with this thing is that I was holding out hope that it was meant to be ironic, that the author would make it clear by the end that these are despicable people who should be shunned by anyone with a conscience. But instead she ends up settling on the philandering husband as sympathetic about two-thirds of the way through. He even justifies his behavior as "well, clearly I was picking up on the fact that my wife is secretly a crazy psycho bitch, and that's what drove me to it". Not to mention the Scorned Woman Overreacts trope that pretty much drove the plot.
I just shake my head that any woman could have written this book. I honestly don't know, having finished it, what she intended for the audience to take from it. But I can pretty much guarantee that 95% of the genre-fiction devouring public is going to read this and accept it as the Way Women Are, rather than some sort of ironic and/or fictional portrayal. And if that wasn't her intent in writing it, that just means that either she or her editor did a shit job.
So, yeah. I think I'll pop back to some Jim Hines for my next book. It's got to be one of the greatest injustices in the world that this book was plastered with critical acclaim and you probably couldn't find one out of a hundred random people on the street who have even heard of him.
