Book Review: Gone Girl
Well, this was thrilling! I don’t often read psychological thrillers, but this one has been on my list for a while. In fact, it was a book the girls and I at the book club had wanted to read for a few years - and we’ve finally gotten around to it!
To be honest, we were not sure what to expect, we knew from the premise that Nick Dunn’s wife, Amy goes missing on their 5th wedding anniversary. Nick is confused, where is Amy? But soon Nick, the police and Nick’s sister and only ally, Margo realises - not everything is as it seems. The question soon changes from “Where is Amy?” To “Who is Amy?”
There is a great old adage which William Congreve coined in his restoration play ‘The Mourning Bride’ which is often misquoted “Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d, Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d” and if I were to characterise Amy in the first half of this book, this quote would surmise her well. But, it turns out Amy’s anger goes much deeper than simply a ‘scorned woman’ - a psychologist would say she is a psychopath - or is this a perfect depiction of true feminine rage? The funny thing is, even when you find out somewhat just how psychotic she is and how good she is at planning Nick’s downfall - you still want her to win. Why? It becomes evident by the end of Nick’s first narrative chapter that he is not a good person, he is a liar, a philanderer and has become lazy in his martial duties.
What’s interesting about this book is the use of narrative, in the first section of the book Nick’s narrative is untrustworthy but, at least he is honest about that. Amy’s narrative in the first section is beautifully constructed to be believable and paints Nick as going from her Hero to a man of many disappointments and petty acts of revenge against her. But Amy’s narrative is a well-constructed lie. Again, the reader is left to ask “Who is Amy?”.
When part 2 comes around, we only see an ‘Amy’ we are allowed to see. She is far from a victim, she is vindictive and I loved it, but that is because at that point in the novel I still wanted her to win. However, the narrative changes not long after as Amy slowly sheds her ’Amazing Amy/Cool Girl’ persona and her true self appears. I will not spoil the ending for anyone but as the book winds down she goes beyond ‘scorn’d woman’ and even psychopathy. She becomes unhinged in only the way a perfect ‘cool girl’ can and it’s all because she refuses to let Nick go and thus, I no longer root for her. In her unhinged ‘perfect’ state, Nick ultimately becomes the hero and Amy, the subject of nothing but pity.
I would love to read more books by Gillian Flynn, this was an exciting and excellent read - the best book from book club thus far. Her play with narrative perspectives really tips ‘fiction’ on its head. Thus is look forward to reading more!