Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I know that Gone Girl has received its share of kudos, even rave reviews.  I've just plowed through 20+ reviews and it's easy to see I'm in a distinct minority of folks who not only didn't like it, but strongly disliked it. 

After the third woman told me that I HAD to read Gone Girl, I succumbed. Well, almost.  Started it three different times, wondering what I was missing.  Finally just jumped to the ending (after all, each woman had emphasized how stunned she was by the ending) and still didn't get it.  Didn't enjoy the writing - felt too studied, too affected.  Disliked the characters - an apathetic wimp married to a narcissistic sociopath...ugh. Was turned off by the style - alternating chapters that illuminate the inner thoughts of characters I wouldn't want to meet, let alone get to know so intimately!  Thinking that made my skin crawl.  A plot that felt contrived - granted I don't know any sociopaths...don't want to either. For me - nothing redeeming.

So rather than go into the content any further (you can find the same reviews), it might  clarify my reaction best if I share that I don't watch Criminal Minds or Law and Order: SVU.   I prefer Elementary or Castle to Hannibal or The Following; and when I'm blue, I search for a classic musical or a Golden Girls rerun. I enjoy the psychological mysteries of PD James or Ruth Rendell; I stopped reading Patricia Cornwall when her plots became darker and darker and doubt I'll try another Gillian Flynn.

 

"Sweet Tooth" by Ian McEwan

Having enjoyed Amsterdam and rarely being disappointed by anything written by an author who has won the Booker Award, I ordered Sweet Tooth, without consulting any reviews, or anyone who had read it.  I wish I had.  This spy novel, McEwan's most recent, was a letdown from the first page through as much of the book as I was willing to pursue.  I deleted it from my Kindle, unfinished, and that, in itself, is a critique. 

Normally, I don't need to like a character to find it engaging. Think Olive Kitteridge, a less than charming character, but in the long run, at least interesting, with some redeeming qualities.  In fact, I've often been surprised when someone has told me he/she disliked a book because he/she didn't like the main character.  And then I encountered MI5 agent, Serena Frome (rhymes with Plume).  Vacuous, insipid, self-centered, opportunistic - a bore.  I couldn't imagine spending several hours with her.  Add the fact that the outcome of this tale is told in the very first paragraph, and I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did.

Now, having said this, my brother, an avid reader and a McEwan fan, did finish Sweet Tooth.  His assessment - enjoyable, though not as good as previous novels.  So, if you decide to give the novel a shot, I'd be interested in whether you enjoyed it?



The Jewels of Paradise

I've been a Donna Leon fan for years, more than fond of Commassario Guido Brunetti, hero of her Venetian mystery series, frequently recommending her - and him - to friends and family.  Such a fan that I pre-ordered her new novel, The Jewels of Paradise, as soon as Amazon let it be known that it would appear this fall.  Eager to meet her new heroine, Caterina Pelligrini, Baroque opera scholar.

So when it finally arrived on my Kindle, I curled up on the sofa, a steaming cup of coffee at hand, afghan over my lap, intent on spending the morning wandering among Venetian canals and palazzos, becoming acquainted with a new character than I hoped would become an old friend.

And was sadly disappointed.  In an attempt to create a stand alone novel, perhaps in a new voice or style, Leon appears to have thrown out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.  Gone are the charming characters, the insightful social commentary, the allusions to delectable food, even the magical lure of Venice.

In their place, two-dimensional, bland characters who failed to arouse my interest or concern, a complex and convoluted rendering of a piece of Baroque musical history, peppered with Italian and Venetian dialect.  I finished it driven only by the hope that I had jumped to conclusions about the book too soon. I didn't change my mind.  I'm afraid Dottoressa Pellegrini is destined to be a passing acquaintance.