Thriller Annotation: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Author: Gillian
Flynn
Genre: Thriller
Publication Date: 2012
Number of Pages: 432
Geographical Setting: New York City and North Carthage, Missouri
Time Period: Diary entries and current day span 2005-2012.
Plot Summary: Married couple Nick Dune and Amy
Elliott Dune had lived in glamorous New York City as writers until modern
technology and the Great Recession made them both jobless and practically
penniless. After finding the wealthy Elliott family had also succumbed to financial
trouble and that Nick’s mother had developed cancer, Nick and Amy upend their New
York life and move to Nick’s hometown of North Carthage, Missouri. On the day
of Nick and Amy’s 5-year wedding anniversary, Nick comes home to find the
living room in disarray and discover Amy is gone. Gillian Flynn unravels this
thrilling tale through chapters alternating between Nick and Amy’s perspectives—the
former relaying current-day, the latter through previous diary entries from 2005
slowly leading up to 2012. From these
two narrators, Flynn keeps readers guessing on distinguishing truth from
fiction until the last page is turned.
Subject Headings: (taken from the book) 1. Husbands—Fiction. 2. Married people—Fiction.
3. Wives—Crimes against
Appeal: Gripping plot, adrenaline-filled genre, dangerous and mysterious tone/mood.
3 terms that best describe this book: Suspenseful, intense, intricate
Similar Authors and Works (why are they
similar?):
- Chevy Stevens, whose writing style is fast-paced
and often writes stories including “dysfunctional family relationships and
murderous suspense.” That Night (2014) and Still Missing (2010)
are two of Stevens’ works that would appeal to readers of Gone Girl.
- Patricia Highsmith is considered “the Grande Dame of the psychological thriller.” For readers who are looking for a longer series of novels to read through, Highsmith is a great option since she has published several novels. Titles to begin with include The Blunderer (1954) and Deep Water (1957).
- A third similar author is Tana French, who writes “unsettling and disturbing tales filled with psychological twists and turns.” One of her popular books is In the Woods (2007).
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
- Murderous minds:
exploring the psychopathic brain by Dean Haycock (2014). This nonfiction is written in a compelling,
richly detailed style and explores the minds of psychopaths. With Gone Girl being
a psychological thriller, this might hold interest for readers of thrillers.
- Murder in plain English: from manifestos
to memes -- looking at murder through the words of killers by Michael Arntfield (2017). In Gone Girl, Nick and Amy often
refer to the murder stereotypes as displayed in shows and moves, so I think readers
would find an interest in this exploration of “murder through written word,
including the writings of killers themselves, and how murder is depicted in
literary fiction and crime dramas on television.”
- Blue on blue: an insider's story of good cops catching bad cops by Charles Campisi (2017). Another nonfiction focused on true crime, except it presents a unique insight of corrupt police officers being investigated.
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors
- A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell. It’s a thrilling, dark, mysterious novel with unreliable
narrators and a fast, compelling pace.
- The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. Told from multiple perspectives, it unravels a
mysterious kidnapping case written stylistically and pulled by suspenseful
tone.
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. After the unreliable protagonist observes a mysterious event, she suddenly becomes involved and important with total strangers as a thrilling plot unfolds.
I've had Gone Girl on my list for forever! I think I even own it and have still not read it. I know Flynn is a very well-known author in the world of thrillers and anyone interested in the genre should probably read one of her works. Your annotation does make this book sound interesting, even if I hadn't known about it already. I enjoy books that switch between characters' points of view. Although sometimes that can be annoying because you're waiting to switch back to the character you like more! I also like that you included both fiction and nonfiction read-alikes.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about how it can get annoying to switch perspectives in books! But in this case it worked so well; there was a great balance that every other chapter switched (so no prolonged stays in one person's point of view), and since they are a married couple each of their narratives directly tied together.
DeleteI have read Gone Girl and its good, the only thing I didn't like about it was I felt it lacked re-readabilty. Once you know you know. Great job summarizing the story without giving anything away. I like that you have 2 separate suggestion lists for fiction and none fiction read a-likes. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christa! I purposefully avoided watching the film Gone Girl so that I could read the book without any spoilers. But I can see your point; I feel like I could only read it once at the maximum, the second time to maybe go back and catch all the little details I missed that I didn't realize were important until towards the end. I suppose this is the same in regard to watching detective films, too. I can't imagine watching something like Murder on the Orient Express over and over.
DeleteI really liked how you organized your annotation! I enjoyed how you listed the subject headings and then chose three words to describe the book. It's interesting to me to look through the catalog and see how books are grouped together by such specific words. I wouldn't have thought to include nonfiction books that relate to a fictional book as well. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mallory! I've been trying to keep tying in nonfiction books to assignments and library displays I do at work. I've also noted the increased interest in documentaries and docu-dramas, so people are definitely still interested in nonfiction/real-life approaches to relaying history and stories.
DeleteExcellent annotation! Full points! As some of your classmates stated, you did a great job not giving anything away! Your readalikes are great too! Keep it up!
ReplyDelete