Loving Gillian Flynn. LOVING!
I'm not one to jump on the book trends easily.
- Harry Potter. My mum had to buy the first Harry Potter book for me on CD so I could listen to it at the gym while I worked out in the evenings... Because, "It is such a great book! You have to at least listen to it!"I did. And soon gobbles up the other three books that were out at the time. And then became one of those freaks who lines up at the midnight release parties to score the other three books as they came out each time.
- Twilight Saga. I hired a young woman named Adventurous Kate to work for me. She was reading these books at the time. I laughed at her. Then was convinced by her to go and pick them up to read myself because, "They are DISTURBING! Wait till you get to the FOURTH book!"The books didn't make us believers in some sappy-thrilling love story of some permanent teenagers. All that stuff we mocked about the books... No, it was the mocking we loved doing. And the part in the fourth book when Edward Cullen bites the baby out of Bella Swan Cullen's belly during labor. (SPOILER ALERT!)
- Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Series. I can't stand reading these. I tried. I tried. I actually prefer to just watch the movies. The Swedish and American versions.
- Fifty Shades of Grey. Another one I just could not get through. I downloaded the first book digitally. And found myself flipping past the poorly written sex scenes... And found myself reading about a young woman so dull and brainless. I then just read the plot summaries on Wikipedia to see how it all ends. Wasn't worth reading the actual books.
There are other "series" that I have read. But these are the most popular in recent times. And I am always "behind trend" on reading. Including with my latest round of books, which aren't a series.... But are all written by the same author: Gillian Flynn.
In the past month, I have read both Sharp Objects and Dark Places. I meant to read her most recent novel, Gone Girl, first... As everyone was yammering on about how great it was. But I saw Sharp Objects on a table in Barnes and Noble and decided to give that one a whirl.
It was disturbing. And sucked me right into it.
The same thing happened with the one I finished this weekend, Dark Places. I could barely put that one down! Again, disturbing! I was immersed in the inner dialogue of the past and action of the present.
Now, I have to pick up Gone Girl. I have to. I imagine it actually is as good as everyone says it is.
Comments
So I am a geek and prefer/try to keep my books of an author/series in the same format if possible. I was going to to try to wait for Gone Girl to come out in paperback but I don't think I can wait that long. I'll probably pick it up soon.
I did, however, just pick up The Dinner by Herman Koch. It has been referred to as a European Gone Girl. I'm only about 50 pages in but it is drawing me in quickly. There is a good chance I might finish it this weekend...
Let me explain a bit more. Very good, right off the bat you can tell its European, not American. The first half of the book reminds me a lot of Saturday by Ian McEwan. They dangle the bad stuff in just enough to hook you and keep you reading.
It picks up a lot in the second half of the book. Less McEwan and more juicy. I guess its similar to Gillian Flynn around here more the earlier half. It actually reminds me more of Dennis Lehane's Mystic River (the book which was so much better than the movie. The movie was dramatic, the book was suspenseful).
Sorry, still having a hard time articulating my thoughts on it. The ending reminded me very much of Mystic River and the beginning reminded me very much so of Saturday. Loved both of those books for very different reasons but this was a great combination of both.
I did end up getting Gone Girl and will read it very soon but I can't compare it. It wasn't as dark as her two other books, actually I didn't find that dark of book, relatively speaking.
I do adore Dennis Lehane though and would recommend him to anyone. I haven't read Mystic River in years but it is immediately what I thought of when I finished the book.
Sorry, I know I am rambling. I do recommend it. It was very good. I think I was expecting something else at first, more along the lines of Sharp Objects, which is throwing me off a bit.