Monday, October 28, 2013

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Sent to investigate the disappearance of two little girls Camille finds herself reluctantly installed in the family mansion, reacquainting herself with her distant mother and a precocious thirteen-year-old half-sister she barely knows. Haunted by a family tragedy, troubled by the disquieting grip her younger sister has on the town, Camille struggles with a familiar need to be accepted.

But as clues turn into dead ends Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims and realises: she will have to unravel the puzzle of her own past if she's to survive this homecoming.

(From the back of the book.)

 
Not long after I boasted how awesome I have lately been at picking only good books to read, Shatter Me and Sharp Objects happened. That'll teach me!
 
The reason I picked up this book was to give Gillian Flynn another chance because I felt it extremely difficult to rate her overhyped Gone Girl and I really didn't want to be unfair. I wasn't a fan of Gone Girl but compared to Sharp Objects, it was better.
 
For me, Sharp Objects was a mess. I was really surprised because I probably gravitate towards books with darker themes and tones more than an average Joe (American Psycho is one of my favourites), but maaan. This book was just... The characters were... The plot... Gah! I didn't like it.
 
So Camille is the kind of young (around 30 - yes peoples that is young!) lady who has been into cutting herself for a long time and starts her days with a vodka shot from bottle she keeps under her pillow. Like... I really really tried to imagine that and I got sick (the vodka shot part). Like, I got nausea. Of course she generally drinks a lot, there is some drug doing around (with minors), casual sex, the whole thing along those lines.
 
Now I am not the one to judge. I get it that the main character developed into that person because of childhood traumas and things (yes her mum is a proper nutcase and stepdad made me shudder more than once - really creepy peeps), and I really don't judge because obviously I haven't been in such shoes, but really, it's also kind of hard to symphatise because in the end these were Camille's choices. Some of the self-destructive behaviour also didn't make any sense whatsoever (in which world and under which conditions is it ever a good idea to get high with your teen sister? I just don't get it).
 
I also found it problematic to take this book as a murder mystery trying-to-solve-it and I really didn't even care who was the culprit because honest, that town was full of nutcases and almost any one of the characters could have committed the crimes and I couldn't care less. One of the few redeeming parts of the book was the detective who was the main man on the case, of course he and Camille have a little thing going there, but I was happy how it played out in the end; I can't get more into detail as this is already bordering the spoiler territory but let's just say it was kind of a realistic outcome to the situation.
 
So yes, I think that was the last Flynn book for me, objectively I can see how certain type of people may enjoy her books but it just ain't my jam. I actually think that for me, her stories would probably play out better on the big screen - which means if it's true that a few of her books are in the making process to the movies, I might go and check them out.

6 comments:

  1. I've never read any Flynn but my husband loved Gone Girl. I don't think her books will be for me...

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    1. For me they are the kind of books you read, close and then never think of again. :)

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  2. I found Gone Girl interesting rather than enjoyable, and it is very difficult to get on with a story when you can't care for the characters. I think it was the twist of GG that made me buy her other book, "Dark Places" (though I'd had my eye on it since it was first published) but it's still sitting on my to-read pile. I'll give it a try, but your review of Sharp Objects reminded me of the other side to Gone Girl, the nastiness of it.

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    1. I think that Gone Girl is really well written and there are clever parts to it, but I just failed to form any kind of emotional connection to any of the characters. Plus I personally am not a fan of constant curveballs, so this format doesn't really work for me... But Sharp Objects was indeed nasty - that being said, I have seen a lot better opinions on this book from people with whom I have somewhat similar taste, so might be that you will enjoy Dark Places or Sharp Objects, if you ever decide to pick it up :)

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  3. It doesn't sound like these books would be my jam either. I think I'd just be more frustrated and annoyed with the characters than anything else.

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    1. I have a feeling it might be true, as much as I know about your preferences, but of course it's not like I discourage anyone to read the book - there maybe more patient people out there, wanting to understand why characters do what they do. Maybe it was just some odd time for me to read this book.

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