Sarah's Book Post #3

Sarah Jory

Gifted Directed Studies

Book Post #3

Comparing Gone Girl the novel to Gone Girl the movie

In the past two weeks I have been obsessed with this author.  Gillian Flynn has written a few other dark novels that do not rival Gone Girl in content but are much darker and much more twisted.  I made the mistake of seeing Gone Girl in theatres before I read the novel.  This took much of the dazzle away from the twisted plot.  However I simply did not have time to leisure read before I saw the movie.

I do like the novel more than the movie but the movie was no cop out.  But, in the novel Gillian Flynn tells the story in such an interesting format it is hard to translate it into a movie.  The book fast forwards and flashbacks between every chapter.  One chapter would be told from Nick in the present, searching for his wife Amy and the next would be told from Amy, before she went missing.  For me, it created suspense because I was going back and forth in their life trying to divulge any clue I could from the plot.  The time warp did not translate as well in the film because a film is only two hours long.  I enjoy reading more because I read novels over the span of five to ten days.  While I am not reading I ponder over the next twist or turn.  But in the movie, I had no time to do that.  

My next point, never go see the movie before reading the book.  I knew the plot while I was reading the novel so it took half of the fun out of it.  But, I did pick up on a few more clues since I already knew the ending.  When Amy disappears the only evidence of struggle is in the living room.  There is a turned over, shattered table but nothing else is disturbed in the room.  When I watched the movie I did not pick up on the small detail but when I read the book I noticed that could have been a clue for false disturbance (someone botching evidence).  Also, there were no signs of struggle anywhere in the house and no neighbors heard.  How likely is it really for a wife to disappear in the morning with neighbors around and no one notices?

There were clues all throughout the novel and movie that I missed.  In the end, Amy does a great job of plotting her escape.  When she showed but up at her home with blood all over her body and the news reporters outside I was shocked.  What kind of crazy person plots their own “death” and then reappears in their life without any blame being cast on them.  

I loved the novel and I love the way Flynn writes.  She does such a great job of leaving no loose ends.  Gillian Flynn could get away with a crime like this because she plotted out the perfect story.  It scares me a tad that people are so smart to write such intriguing novels.