Gillian Flynn
I probably wouldn’t have picked up the book if everyone and their everyone else had not raved so much about the movie. I am glad I did. (I need to add a few thrillers to the reading list occasionally) One of the indicators of how much I enjoyed a book is the number of days I take to finish it. This one was completed in half the time that had been allocated for it.
“You two are the most f*cked-up people I have ever met, and I specialize in f*cked-up people.” says Tanner Bolt somewhere in the last fifty pages of the book. That, arguably, is the best description of this book. From the time you wonder, just like Nick, what happened to Amy on their fifth anniversary, you’re hooked. That is the beginning of a roller-coaster ride, which keeps you on the edge pretty much all through the 400-odd pages.
The narrative-switch seemed to be a perfect (almost inevitable on hindsight) device to get the reader to switch loyalties on a regular basis. Oh yes, you are bound to pick sides! The amount of unreliability that the author manages to create in both narrators contribute a lot to keep the reader involved in the plot. Amy’s character has to be one of the most thought-through characters that I have encountered in recent times. In fact, getting into Nick’s mind and making him believable for what I’m guessing must be most of my half of the species, is also a fantastic job!
In many ways, it is a commentary on quite a few things. One, a correlation, if you will, between economic and moral bankruptcy of individuals and society in general. Two, the effect of media on law and justice. But my favourite theme has to be the institution of marriage, and the possibility that irrespective of how many years you have been in a relationship, you can never really know what lurks in a human mind.
Twisted is my immediate word association for this book – and that’s not just in terms of the plot, but also in terms of the twists in it. A fantastic read!
