by Sue,
I’m making a brave choice
here. Psychological thrillers are not a genre I would normally read:
potentially too frightening for comfort. So, can we consider whether The Girl on the Train
is indeed a frightening, page-turning thriller? Since it’s
‘psychological’ are the characters convincing, their motivations clear?
(I’m assuming they’ll be less kaleidoscopic than Donna Tart’s.) It’s
written from the perspective of three female characters. Is this a
narrative construction that adds to both the ‘thriller’ and the
‘psychological’ aspects, or muddles the reader? I understand that at
least one of these characters is an ‘unreliable narrator’. Is this a
complexity too far? I believe the narrative moves about in time too.
Does this add anything to the reader’s enjoyment of the novel? I do hope
I’m going to be able to follow what sounds like an intricately
structured story. Good luck to us.
Hello Ladies! Hope you both are doing better than my country. I’m sure the rest of the world is currently laughing at the giant joke America has done to itself. It’s so absurd. In nicer news, the kids are doing well. Benjamin is still loving school and Lillian is trying desperately to walk. Our Thanksgiving Holiday is coming up and I am looking forward to a few days off. How are things with you?
ReplyDeleteMany of my coworkers read this book. There was a lot of hype over it. Obviously enough hype to even have a movie made about it. I think this built up a great deal of anticipation for me. And I’m afraid I was let down a little bit. That is not to say I did not enjoy the book, but I was just expecting more that wasn’t there.
Sue, I think the three different narrators worked well for me. The only part that would get me a little mixed up was reading from Megan’s prospective. This was mostly because all of her parts were from the past. I had to actively keep track of her timeline. Otherwise I did not mind having multiple narrators. It was useful to have other perspectives since we were supposed to believe Rachel was not reliable. Being “unreliable” does not necessary hinder the story much as we saw in Elizabeth is Missing. Maud was a pretty unreliable character but she was able to move her story along smoothly.
I would not call Girl on the Train frightening. I was intrigued enough to continue reading pretty avidly. I appreciated that I was unable to guess the murderer very quickly. Many times in this type of novel, I can tell who “did it” very early into the story. This time I had no idea until maybe the last 100 pages or so. That kept me guessing!
I’m not sure I would have picked this book up on my own. I look forward to your thoughts. Thank you for the good read Sue!
Ladies, thank you for your generous comments on my last review. Nevertheless, I’m hoping this one will reveal the ability you both demonstrate of writing concisely and to the point. I hope, too, that this month’s book enlivened your commutes, Katie. There again, as you suggest, life will no doubt be enlivened by your country’s president-elect. Certainly gave us Brits something to think about when he suggested Nigel Farrage should be our Ambassador to the U.S. Lovely to read the children are doing well. Is Lillian walking yet? And a very belated happy Thanksgiving. I hope someone else was doing the cooking.
ReplyDeleteI hope (lots of hoping here) everything is well with your family too Nancy. My family, bless them, are finding life something of a strain. This awful run-up to Christmas is no help. Big fan of Leonard Cohen, so was saddened by his death this month. Can’t think why, if the awarders of the Nobel prize for literature were looking for a singer/songwriter, they didn’t go for Cohen rather than Dylan. And why not Paul Simon?
To my surprise, I really enjoyed The Girl On The Train. As you point out, Katie, the structure ensured the very gradual unfolding of Tom as the control freak and psychopath we were encouraged to think Scott was going to be, what with his controlling mother, large physical presence, and the warnings given by Kamal. (This is not to say Scott was the ideal partner!) The female perspective was significant here – the narrators and thus the readers a bit slow to recognise Tom’s shocking qualities. The violence was the natural outcome of this clash of characters and circumstances. The emphasis on the impact of children, no children and lost children on women’s lives was well done.
Having said that, where did Tom come from? I’d have liked a bit more explanation of why he was the way he was. This, though, was something that could not be reported by the narrators, since even his wives seemed to know little about him. Was this realistic? Probably not – or maybe I’m just a nosier wife.
I really liked the ‘unreliable narrator’ Rachel. I can’t think how she didn’t entirely lose her sanity. I never thought of her as unreliable. Her lacerating self-criticism, total lack of self-confidence and her sympathy for her housemate meant I trusted her. I did wonder about her eventual recollection of the truth, given what we’d been told about alcoholics and their inability to recall events. Lazy reader that I am, I haven’t looked up the literature on that.
Apart from Rachel, I thought the characterisation was a little thin – Anna perhaps a stereotypical ‘other woman’, Kamal almost too perfect, but an excellent listener to essential stories. The time difference at the beginning wasn’t difficult to follow, and probably useful as a plot device. I did find the novel difficult to put own, so it as indeed a page-turner.
One of the major concerns of this novel is the abuse of women. The topic seems to me to be sympathetically handled. That’s a huge plus and an unexpected bonus of reading the book. I must overcome my prejudices more often.
Hello Ladies, another busy month has passed by and I am completely unprepared for Christmas, this is not unusual for me though!! I hope both your preparations are a little more advanced.
ReplyDeleteWhat do we alI want for Christmas this year?
Some sane politicians perhaps?
While you both are dealing with some, shall I say interesting political situations in your own countries, we in Australia are also trying to cope with right wing, climate change denying pollies who claim our reef isn’t dying and other ridiculous statements !!!!! It’s insane, it makes me so cross. [climbing off my soapbox now..]
On a different note Sue, I’ve seen some of Spencer Tunicks "Sea of Hull” art work, it looks amazing.
Did you end up participating?
I am sorry to here your folks are having a tough time, I guess the chilly weather doesn’t help. Ivars poor mum lives in Sydney and is struggling to cope with the 38C + heat down there. Everything just seems more wearing the older we get.
Katie, how exciting Lillian is probably walking by now. I love seeing how the children are growing and changing by your pics on FB. It is a magical time.
My baby has decided she is moving to Melbourne next month which is about a five hour plane ride from home, so while I’m excited for her about this new chapter in her life I am also feeling pretty sorry for myself. Thank goodness for FaceTime and Skype!!
This post is sounding more like a Christmas letter than a book review!!
I read our story this month on my long flight from the States and it kept me engaged the whole time. Gracie was reading Gone Girl at the same time though and I have to say,from her recounts I was feeling my story was a bit tame, so that’s perhaps why I didn’t feel any thrills in our thriller.
I also didn’t think of Rachel as unreliable, I felt very sorry for her and frustrated at her self destructive behaviour at times, I kept wanting her to get it together and get well.
It was interesting how Rachel simply believed Tom when he told her all the things she had supposedly done while drunk instead of investigating further. I would have thought an apology phone call to the dinner party hosts would have shed some light on Tom’s lies. I guess this highlights the abusive control Tom had over her.
I feel I read this story superficially and so thank you Sue, for your comments on the treatment of women and the impact of abuse.
It was a real aha moment for me when I realised who the murderer was. I love being surprised in stories and as you said Katie, it wasn’t until quite late in the book I also realised it was Tom who was the murderer, in fact I wasn’t convinced Megan was even dead until then either.
So thanks Sue, it was a great plane ride book.
Merry Christmas to you both and all your families
much love,
Nancy