Book Comment: Gone Girl (by Gillian Flynn)

Title: Gone Girl
Authoar: Gillian Flynn
No. of pages: 395
Published: 24th May 2012
Read: February 22, 2014

I have blogged about our recent book club session on this book, which we all agreed to be the first book we would read as members of the club. Each one of us have expressed fondness of this book in each of our own standards. We all agreed that this book can be among the psycho classification. Hahaha! I've read the book in three days; two factors: 1) I am pressured by the book club as we are about to discuss it 2) Upon approaching around 40% of the book, it became a page-turner.

I would classify this as a dark book filled with self-absorbed thoughts and selfish motives. Reading it in the first person, with two characters having the same crazy trail of thoughts, almost made me a psychopath as well hahaha! It is not something for light-reading. It is heavy with a plot that is shady and twisted. It’s a mystery thriller that made my fingers leaf through the pages fast. It’s the kind of novel that made me engaged with the different characters – I had love-hate relationships with them. I still recommend it. I give it a rating of OWN A COPY OF THE BOOK. It's still worth a copy.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
(Synopsis from Goodreads)

I vow to write away a  review immediately after reading a book as I have problems recalling it, given the fact that I've read countless articles and few books already. But I remember the thrilling and annoying feeling while devouring it. This book if reviewed is an instant give-away spoiler, so I'll let future readers read it and enjoy. Anyway, allow me to leave some quotables in here. 

“Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.

Men actually think this girl exists. Maybe they’re fooled because so many women are willing to pretend to be this girl. For a long time Cool Girl offended me. I used to see men – friends, coworkers, strangers – giddy over these awful pretender women, and I’d want to sit these men down and calmly say: You are not dating a woman, you are dating a woman who has watched too many movies written by socially awkward men who’d like to believe that this kind of woman exists and might kiss them. I’d want to grab the poor guy by his lapels or messenger bag and say: The bitch doesn’t really love chili dogs that much – no one loves chili dogs that much! And the Cool Girls are even more pathetic: They’re not even pretending to be the woman they want to be, they’re pretending to be the woman a man wants them to be. Oh, and if you’re not a Cool Girl, I beg you not to believe that your man doesn’t want the Cool Girl. It may be a slightly different version – maybe he’s a vegetarian, so Cool Girl loves seitan and is great with dogs; or maybe he’s a hipster artist, so Cool Girl is a tattooed, bespectacled nerd who loves comics. There are variations to the window dressing, but believe me, he wants Cool Girl, who is basically the girl who likes every fucking thing he likes and doesn’t ever complain. (How do you know you’re not Cool Girl? Because he says things like: “I like strong women.” If he says that to you, he will at some point fuck someone else. Because “I like strong women” is code for “I hate strong women.”)”

“There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold”

“Love makes you want to be a better man. But maybe love, real love, also gives you permission to just be the man you are.”

“There's a difference between really loving someone and loving the idea of her.”

"People love talking, and I have never been a huge talker. I carry on an inner monologue, but the words often don't reach my lips.”

“Because isn’t that the point of every relationship: to be known by someone else, to be understood? He gets me. She gets me. Isn’t that the simple magic phrase?”

“I was told love should be unconditional. That's the rule, everyone says so. But if love has no boundaries, no limits, no conditions, why should anyone try to do the right thing ever? If I know I am loved no matter what, where is the challenge? I am supposed to love Nick despite all his shortcomings. And Nick is supposed to love me despite my quirks. But clearly, neither of us does. It makes me think that everyone is very wrong, that love should have many conditions. Love should require both partners to be their very best at all times."