Update and Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Hey there fellow bloggers, how is everyone doing tonight?
I've just finished making dinner and am now at the keys. This month is NaNo and this month my goal is to not only finish Seducing the Black Prince but also Eternal Earth, which I am picking back up on tomorrow after work. Lets hope Adien is talking to me.
With that being said, I do have another review for everyone. As you all know The Girl on the Train is the newest movie that is creating a lot f buzz (well it was before it came out). After I saw the trailer for it I was interested in seeing it. However, instead of watching the movie, I brought the book and now I have no desire to see the movie (for reasons I will explain in a second). So lets get to it shall we?
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins:
When I brought this book I dove right into it, reading most of it on the plane and the last few chapters once I reached home. At first I was excited about the book and this urge to read it until the end consumed me. I just had to know who committed the murder. And I admit the ending caught me off guard as I was not expecting it.
This book for me, is in a sense very similar to Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Not really plot wise but in the sense that the book starts off with the crime commited and works its was backwards to go forwards to untanlge the event that led up to the murder in the first place.
In this novel the reader is given three different point of views: Megan, Anna and Rachel, whose view you get the most of. Through their views and lives the story is told. Their lives interlocking with each other. Between them there is this common bond that forever changes their lives.
The impression the book first gives is that this will be the crazy ravings of a delusional drunk, who is unable to move on with her life after her husbands infidelity and divorce. With her inability to move on affecting her life, she begins to project her unstable emotions and desires on to a random couple she sees everyday from her seat on the train. As the plot and the lives of these women unfold, the reader is pushed into several directions as to who committed the crime. However by the end of the book and the reader has found out what actually happened and its aftermath, they are left caught off guard and thinking why didn't I see that coming?
Ms./Mrs. Hawkins did an excellent job of keeping the reader from figuring out who the real killer was and their motive. Which, in my opinion, was the highlight of the book. I must say that for me the characters weren't all that complex or interesting for that matter, except for the couple that Rachel watched from the train window. The mystery that surrounded their lives provided the little spark the book was lacking otherwise.
Truthfully, by the time I finished the book any desire I had to see the movie had faded. Not because I knew the ending but because (to me) it just wasn't memorable enough to be made into a movie. With that being said let me give you a break down on the characters' perspective.
I will state with Anna. While I could call her a homewrecker, the truth is you can't take something that doesn't want to be taken. But I might have felt the most sorry for her by the end of the book. She has this arrogant attitude about her and she is even a little bit o f a bitch, but she is naive to some of the most obvious things around her. Granted, there were times when her actions surprised me but still she was probably one of the weaker character perspectives in the book. In truth I am not sure what her point of view did to add to the story. I think without her point of view the story would have still been the same.
Then there is Megan or Jess as Rachel named her before she actually knew her name. At first we get a description of what she may or may not be like from what Rachel see from the train window and her imagination. To me, Megan provided to be the more interesting and complex of the characters as there isn't much known about her or her past. While it is touched on in the book, it isn't fully explored. So the reader (at least I was) was left in a state of limbo about who she really is. I do wish a little more time was spent on developing her and telling a little more about her and her marriage but then again it may be better that it was left out. While she could come off as a bitch, the reader is left to watch her struggled with trying to figure out the cause of her problems. In doing so, there are many surprises that pop up along the way when it comes to Megan. She is definitely my favorite view point to read.
Last but not least is Rachel. I have mixed feelings about her. Sometimes I like her and other times she comes off as a nosy drunk who doesn't know when to leave things alone. Listening to her whine and complain about her ex and then make up an entire fantasy life about the couple she watches from the train and then get mad when they turn out to be a normal couple who right and argue was annoying at times, However, Ms. Hawkins did a great jog of making her and using her flaws as a way to propel the story and keep you guess as to what was really going on. When the reader finally finds out the truth of things the reader is left with a different view of Rachel and may even understand her actions. While she still came off as a nosy neighbor who didn't leave well enough alone, she was essentail to finding out what really happened and I was glad to see her evolve and finally begin to move forward with her life.
Rating: 3/5
Would I recommend? Maybe, I am not too sure yet
I've just finished making dinner and am now at the keys. This month is NaNo and this month my goal is to not only finish Seducing the Black Prince but also Eternal Earth, which I am picking back up on tomorrow after work. Lets hope Adien is talking to me.
With that being said, I do have another review for everyone. As you all know The Girl on the Train is the newest movie that is creating a lot f buzz (well it was before it came out). After I saw the trailer for it I was interested in seeing it. However, instead of watching the movie, I brought the book and now I have no desire to see the movie (for reasons I will explain in a second). So lets get to it shall we?
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins:
When I brought this book I dove right into it, reading most of it on the plane and the last few chapters once I reached home. At first I was excited about the book and this urge to read it until the end consumed me. I just had to know who committed the murder. And I admit the ending caught me off guard as I was not expecting it.
This book for me, is in a sense very similar to Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Not really plot wise but in the sense that the book starts off with the crime commited and works its was backwards to go forwards to untanlge the event that led up to the murder in the first place.
In this novel the reader is given three different point of views: Megan, Anna and Rachel, whose view you get the most of. Through their views and lives the story is told. Their lives interlocking with each other. Between them there is this common bond that forever changes their lives.
The impression the book first gives is that this will be the crazy ravings of a delusional drunk, who is unable to move on with her life after her husbands infidelity and divorce. With her inability to move on affecting her life, she begins to project her unstable emotions and desires on to a random couple she sees everyday from her seat on the train. As the plot and the lives of these women unfold, the reader is pushed into several directions as to who committed the crime. However by the end of the book and the reader has found out what actually happened and its aftermath, they are left caught off guard and thinking why didn't I see that coming?
Ms./Mrs. Hawkins did an excellent job of keeping the reader from figuring out who the real killer was and their motive. Which, in my opinion, was the highlight of the book. I must say that for me the characters weren't all that complex or interesting for that matter, except for the couple that Rachel watched from the train window. The mystery that surrounded their lives provided the little spark the book was lacking otherwise.
Truthfully, by the time I finished the book any desire I had to see the movie had faded. Not because I knew the ending but because (to me) it just wasn't memorable enough to be made into a movie. With that being said let me give you a break down on the characters' perspective.
I will state with Anna. While I could call her a homewrecker, the truth is you can't take something that doesn't want to be taken. But I might have felt the most sorry for her by the end of the book. She has this arrogant attitude about her and she is even a little bit o f a bitch, but she is naive to some of the most obvious things around her. Granted, there were times when her actions surprised me but still she was probably one of the weaker character perspectives in the book. In truth I am not sure what her point of view did to add to the story. I think without her point of view the story would have still been the same.
Then there is Megan or Jess as Rachel named her before she actually knew her name. At first we get a description of what she may or may not be like from what Rachel see from the train window and her imagination. To me, Megan provided to be the more interesting and complex of the characters as there isn't much known about her or her past. While it is touched on in the book, it isn't fully explored. So the reader (at least I was) was left in a state of limbo about who she really is. I do wish a little more time was spent on developing her and telling a little more about her and her marriage but then again it may be better that it was left out. While she could come off as a bitch, the reader is left to watch her struggled with trying to figure out the cause of her problems. In doing so, there are many surprises that pop up along the way when it comes to Megan. She is definitely my favorite view point to read.
Last but not least is Rachel. I have mixed feelings about her. Sometimes I like her and other times she comes off as a nosy drunk who doesn't know when to leave things alone. Listening to her whine and complain about her ex and then make up an entire fantasy life about the couple she watches from the train and then get mad when they turn out to be a normal couple who right and argue was annoying at times, However, Ms. Hawkins did a great jog of making her and using her flaws as a way to propel the story and keep you guess as to what was really going on. When the reader finally finds out the truth of things the reader is left with a different view of Rachel and may even understand her actions. While she still came off as a nosy neighbor who didn't leave well enough alone, she was essentail to finding out what really happened and I was glad to see her evolve and finally begin to move forward with her life.
Rating: 3/5
Would I recommend? Maybe, I am not too sure yet
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