Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
Reading start: 2015-03-05
Reading finish: 2015-03-31

I've already seen the movie and I love it :) I'm gonna read book in polish, hope that won't be a problem :)

Reply to post #2 (show post):
Not at all :) Great to see you!

How's your reading? Ready to express your opinions? :)

Let me tell you that we loved the book and the movie. David Fincher proved a real talent by taking a book and putting it on a big screen, it was done differently (obviously) but it was done well. The tension and pace were similar, although less drama was spotted in the movie. The book was a total surprise and an emotional roller-coaster

We have several questions that can help us to take the two pieces through, of course they are optional, we'll be happy to read all your opinions :)

- What's on your mind after reading / watching? Were you taking sides when reading / watching. I think Nick was more likable in the move than in the book.

- Do you think Amy's false diary was a good piece of writing? After all she was a writer, did she prove to be a good one? In the movie we're out of Nick's head, thanks to this we have a bigger insight into the process of investigation. What did you like better?

- How people around Nick and Amy influence their behaviors and choices they make? If the influence is big, was it better portrayed in the book or movie?

- I think the book doesn't fall in the stereotyped scheme of a crime story. I was super surprised by many spots, beginning with the false diary and finishing with the ending. What do you think?

- The relationships are complex here, people seems to be very lonely, posing, taking up different roles and pretending to be someone else in public than in private lives. Do you think that the characters have shown their true colors or did they put on another mask to play the role? Take Amy for example, who did she become when hiding? Who did she play when she came back? Boy, she's good at that!

- Were you satisfied with the book’s/movie's ending? If you could write a sequel what would happen to Nick, Amy and the baby?

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Hi everyone! First of all, sorry for any mistakes I might do, english is not my first language, but I'm doing my best.

I've seen movie first and I liked it so much I decided to read the book. Unfortunately, knowing the big twist (that Amy kidnap herself) make reading not as interesting as watching movie.

I think movie was very intensive - had dense narrative and great music that keep me focused. I think actors was well chosen - I'm not a fan of Ben Affleck but I think he was perfect for the role of Nick - the way he looks and speaks… I enjoyed him a lot. Rosamund Pike was also great, really crazy. And I really like Tyler Perry as Tanner. He was much more interesting in the movie, more colorful and funny character - in the book he doesn't seem as interesting as he should be for a big time lawyer.

But book show Amy better. When I was watching the movie I just thought "Everyone here is f***g crazy!" and I didn't really understand why Amy did what she did. Also I have a problem understanding which of the scenes really happened and which were Amy's fantasies from the diary. So it was a little confusing. In the book there's more about Amy's past, how he treated people, so I know she was always a little weird and didn't become like that because of unhappy marriage. I think movie lost some extra deep to this character.


About being in Nick's head and Amy's head - normally I wouldn't like such a construction of book, but in this case it worked. Somehow we got all the important information and emotions without need for third-person narrator. It's different in the movie, but I don't mind - as I said, it was very intensive and interesting. I like both narratives.


Book might not be very stereotyped crime story but I think it's because of the context. We have a criminal that is planing crime very carefully and is playing with her victim and police. This is not something new, there's a lot of stories about criminals leaving clues, playing games, hiding. What is new is a context - this is not some random bad guy but pretty normal (?), rich, happy girl. It's not another boring story about serial killer but about a story about relationship, indentity, comunication, love. That's why it's so interesting because it use old and well-know schemes but in a new way.

About Amy putting masks - I saw opinion that she has a Munchausen syndrome, which means she would hurt herself in order to buy people's attention. I think it was so easy for her to do all these things because she is actually mental - a sociopath or something worse. But other characters change their behavior because it was expected from them - I think it's interesting thing about this story, how it shows how much people will change just to please other people. Also it says a lot about media and TV, how they create reality and take things out of context to make people seem different than they truly are. I feel sorry for Nick - sure, he's not the best person in the worst, but he seem a little silly and closed and doesn't deserve such treatment from everyone.

I still has few pages to read, so maybe I write something more later :)

I enjoyed the book, I think I read it in less than a week. It had me on the edge of my seat. I was so determined to see if my prediction was right (she was setting him up). What really took me by surprise is that Amy was completely off her rocker.

I didn't care for the movie. I can't figure out if it was because I'd already read the book or did I just not like the cast.

Reply to post #7 (show post):
Oh, telling the truth it's not a popular opinion. Wold love to hear more about things you liked and disliked about the book. Was it about the plot, characters, the writing style?

Reply to post #6 (show post):
Sometimes it's really hard not to compare, when I read the book first I just can't focus on the movie, the images are mixing all together and I can't make the connection with the actors as those characters looked so much different in my head when I was reading.

Reply to post #5 (show post):
What's you final decision? ;-) Did the ending meet your expectations?

P.S. Everyone here is f***g crazy! LOL. I was definitely thinking the same!

I agree that the book brought so much more details about the main characters' lives, you could understand their choices better and see what really influenced them and what made them who they were. But then again, movie is never not long enough to show all the hues.

I'm not sure about the ending. I think pregnancy is just too much. And story is not as exciting as it was before Amy came back.

But still, I enjoyed both book and movie. I guess Nick will really kill Amy one day or run to Europe from her or something like this because he'll get tired of being always scared of her.