tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post1152532684135500448..comments2024-03-29T04:38:14.302-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: The Fearlessly Fantabulous FlynnLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-67134976324465914362017-11-19T15:15:34.396-05:002017-11-19T15:15:34.396-05:00I'm with Barb and Melodie on the plot hole(s) ...I'm with Barb and Melodie on the plot hole(s) of Gone Girl. When you get a really big plot hole, it kills it for me, like the one in "A Simple Plan". And I'm out.<br /><br />Re the Christie story - it's probably either "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" and/or "Curtain". Both have shady narration. <br /><br /><br /><br />Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47663587669891000412017-11-19T15:03:19.400-05:002017-11-19T15:03:19.400-05:00Sharp eyes, Barb! Thanks for filling us in.
Dale,...Sharp eyes, Barb! Thanks for filling us in.<br /><br />Dale, if 64-page books are priced the same as novels, their pages should be stamped gold leaf. My local library is hooked up to Overdrive.com, so their lending arrangement let’s us download ebooks and audiobooks. I grabbed the latter and returned it an hour later.<br /><br />The Grownup starts out with a discussion of sexual experimentation most people abandon by their mid-teens and ends with a bit of ambiguity. Here, Flynn uses a reliable narrator and unreliable characters. Look for interesting literary clues that clever readers might pick up.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-23561534877314389242017-11-19T12:33:20.056-05:002017-11-19T12:33:20.056-05:00And, by the way, the BIGGEST hole in the Gone Girl...And, by the way, the BIGGEST hole in the Gone Girl plot is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to drive from Hannibal Missouri to Ladue Missouri for lunch and be back by mid-afternoon. Gillian Flynn and I have in common that we each lived in Missouri -- but apparently only I remember that those two towns are separated by well over 100 miles of driving! Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63266755048326634872017-11-19T12:29:58.708-05:002017-11-19T12:29:58.708-05:00As Leigh alludes I'm a big fan. Of the three ...As Leigh alludes I'm a big fan. Of the three books mentioned my least favorite was Dark Places. I couldn't get engaged in the story. None of the characters were particularly likable, though the same can be said of Gone Girl and I thought it was super -- wonderful use of the unreliable narrator(s!). And I actually liked very much the switch in viewpoint in one of those narrations (alluded to by Art). The switch was well explained and I thought worked very well. <br /><br />I have not read The Grownup because I generally grumble at novellas being advertised (and priced) as though they are a full-fledged novel. Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-31161205505557559242017-11-19T11:54:32.200-05:002017-11-19T11:54:32.200-05:00SPOILER ALERT!
I don't remember the plot well...SPOILER ALERT!<br /><br />I don't remember the plot well enough to be clear here, and my details may be off. But as I recall, near the end, the ultimate success of the evil wife included setting up an old friend. But that friend easily could have had (and maybe did have) an alibi. And no one ever thought to ask or check. Come on!Barb Goffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16013123434790272424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-25824440779869361642017-11-19T11:51:40.113-05:002017-11-19T11:51:40.113-05:00Barb, after volume I of an ambitious ‘proof of all...Barb, after volume I of an ambitious ‘proof of all mathematics’ (or some such) was published, I think it was a young Bertrand Russell who zeroed in on a fallacy. Volume II, about to go to press, carried a note that Russell’s contradiction invalidated the work.<br /><br />Melodie, the worst case of messy (and frankly awful) PoV I found in a thriller set in DC by a Washington ‘insider’. His wife was a government lawyer and he was connected in some way too. This thing made the bestsellers list, but I was aghast. It contained unstructured multiple PoVs, including two first person, one who documents his own death at a dumpster. (They shot me and now I’m dying… gack!) Clearly he hadn’t learned the rules of PoV.<br /><br />Art, I’m glad you like Flynn too. I’m wracking my brain to think which Christie story you might mean. Was it one about someone who ‘loved too much’ and a thorn?<br /><br />John, the least the MWA could have done was a shared award! I’m looking forward to Fierce Kingdom. I’ve spent time in and around zoos, so it should be interesting.<br />Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-58150147160283647982017-11-19T10:08:03.794-05:002017-11-19T10:08:03.794-05:00That was indeed a good story that took the Edgar, ...That was indeed a good story that took the Edgar, John--but I was pulling for you! Your story was terrific as well! Art Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409008167752619352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-17546703074902301372017-11-19T10:04:57.310-05:002017-11-19T10:04:57.310-05:00You'll like the Gin Phillips book, Leigh. And...You'll like the Gin Phillips book, Leigh. And I enjoyed <i>Gone Girl</i> (novel AND movie) in spite of its flaws.<br /><br />My only criticism of Gillian Flynn is that she beat me for the Edgar Award a couple years ago. (What's even worse is that she deserved the win.)John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-77068301383032565362017-11-19T10:03:20.130-05:002017-11-19T10:03:20.130-05:00Thanks for giving Flynn a shout-out, Leigh! ...tho...Thanks for giving Flynn a shout-out, Leigh! ...though not like she needs the publicity, of course. She seems to be doing pretty well. ;-)<br /><br />I taught Gone Girl last semester at Mason and it was much fun to dive in with a scholarly/analytical eye; I taught it alongside Lauren Groff's Fates & Furies, with which it shares some similarities: a troubled marriage, narration from each side of the relationship, some pretty devastating twists.....<br /><br />...though Melodie, I'm not sure I know what you mean about "breaking of viewpoint." Do you mean having two narrators? Or the shift in one of those narrations? I'm assuming the latter, but.... Obviously we have lots of unreliable narrators in literature, and those can be tons of fun to read--and in this case, the unreliability, the manipulation of audience, is purposeful and part of the game, playing on our expectations (not just as readers counting on that promise you mentioned but also in terms of our social expectations as well, how we "read" women in the real world maybe). <br /><br />Spoiler Alert! Oh, wait, I can dodge the spoiler maybe. Curious if you have trouble with one of Agatha Christie's best-known surprise endings as well--which also counts on a bit of shady narration......Art Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409008167752619352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-28230686791906687272017-11-19T09:23:21.970-05:002017-11-19T09:23:21.970-05:00It wasn't the marital cheating that put me off...It wasn't the marital cheating that put me off, Leigh. It was the breaking of viewpoint, for the most part. If you are writing in first person, you are making a promise to the reader: the protagonist is telling you the story. If you break that promise, you lose my interest. Simple as that. However I did read it to see what the fuss is about. And I agree with Barb.Melodie Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07870938103759179132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-56288226395428637692017-11-19T09:06:41.424-05:002017-11-19T09:06:41.424-05:00Oh no! Don't leave us hanging, Barb!Oh no! Don't leave us hanging, Barb!Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-25783578448737014272017-11-19T04:40:36.552-05:002017-11-19T04:40:36.552-05:00I've only read her Gone Girl, which I generall...I've only read her Gone Girl, which I generally liked, despite the unlikable characters. However the plot had a big hole that ruined the whole thing for me. Oh well. Barb Goffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16013123434790272424noreply@blogger.com