Gone Girl A Novel by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl A Novel by Gillian Flynn, PDF Download

Let me start out by saying that I do not generally read mystery books. I"m not a fan of gum shoe, who-dunits. But something about the description of this book pulled me in.

In fact, it's at the top of my list of best books of 2012 (behind The Fault in Our Stars). Gillian Flynn created a taut thriller, full of so many twists and turns, the reader could get whiplash. But I think what made it particularly engaging, for me, was the underlying study of a marriage. I've been married for over two decades, and a divorce attorney for almost 20 years. I've been in a position to be an observer the the marriage relationship.

 I think Gillian Flynn understands marriage - very well. Though she's writing about people that, it turns out, are pretty darn unbalanced (an understatement), Flynn's exploration of the cat and mouse game of marriage rings very true. I've read the 1 star reviews for this book and almost universally, the one-star raters hated the ending. And I can see their point. But I think such readers are, perhaps, missing the author's point. I see her ending as a commentary on marriage.

About this author

Gillian Flynn is an American author and television critic for Entertainment Weekly. She has so far written two novels, Sharp Objects, for which she won the 2007 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller; and her second book, Dark Places.

I can say no more without giving away the ending. If you are the type of reader that wants her thriller or mystery read to conform to the genre norms, than this book may not be for you. The ending is clever and in my view, the most plausible way to end all that came before. Giving it a pat ending would have felt wrong after all that came before. I enjoy a story that offers substance and Flynn delivers. She goes deeper than just looking at marriage. Gillian Flynn also deftly weaves into her story an indictment of our modern, media-driven justice system - and our media-driven culture.

The book leaves the reader considering the question of persona. Where is the line between the real us - the real spouse - the real friend -- and the persona that people use when interacting publicly. All of us are, to some extent or another, in this age of social media, an "Amazing Amy." As a mystery, the book rocks. I usually figure it out right away. So I was happy that Flynn will keep me guessing up until the very end. And the end is haunting.

 My only criticism of the book is that, at times, there were just too many words. Each of the characters could go on, and on. I started to wax over. Especially when I got into Part II of the book, there just seemed to be a lot that could have been cut. Unessential character blabbering. Once again (my worn out refrain these days), a really good editor could have helped Flynn make this story so much tighter.

 Sigh, where have all the editors gone? Even if you, like me, are not a mystery reader, try this book. Gillian Flynn has earned a new fan.