Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

POSTED BY mrenart ON July 23, 2012

Several days after finishing this book, I can’t shake my feeling of unease.

Because, while this may be a work of fiction, out there in the real world? People like this really do exist. That’s the feeling of odd dread in the pit of my stomach: knowing that humans are capable of this kind of chilling calculation and delusional ego. Unfortunately, last Thursday’s shooting in Aurora, CO is a reminder.

While some readers/critics may disagree, Flynn’s character development is a fine-tuned instrument in this piece, and minor details that seem insignificant at first are radical plot points later in the book, not unlike author John Irving’s structure-style (I’m reminded of the knob on the stick shift in The World According to Garp).

Is there a more frightening female character in the history of fiction than that of Amy Dunne? Said Flynn in a recent interview in the Chicago Sun Times, “I think there are over-the-top, campy, soap-opera-y villainesses who are very dismissible. And there are the cuckoo-crazy women who are also very dismissible. And what I like to write about is women who are really scary in a not-dismissible way.”

I think that’s what has disturbed me the most about this book: a woman like Amy Dunne is not only a literary example of a real human, you can’t ever just ignore her. Someone that whip-smart is always bounding three, maybe four steps ahead of you, knowing what your reactions will be, and planning for that. And the reason that you’re her target? She simply grew tired or disappointed in you for some minor flaw that most would chalk up to simply Being Human.

The arc of Amy and Nick’s relationship in Gone Girl is also equally dispiriting–two people who brought out the best in each other devolve into two people bringing out the worst, without any plans of stopping.

These dark feelings aside, Gone Girl is a work of art in terms of structure and plot twists. For 3 days, I stayed up way too late and all my free time was devoted to plowing through this novel. In fact, I probably missed key clues in my race to find out What Happens Next, and am positive I’ll pick them up when I return for a second reading. Because a book this tightly crafted demands and deserves a second read.

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