Gone Girl, A Novel by Gillian Flynn

  The sheer number of reviews, the high accolades, and the number of inclusions on “Best of 2012” lists make even thinking about reviewing Gone Girl a daunting challenge. So, just let me say, it’s an exciting psychological thriller and worthy of the praise (and high sales figures) it has received.

I wasn’t intrigued at the beginning, however. Just for starters, I didn’t really like either Nick or Amy, whose marriage dissolves in this book. For that matter, I didn’t like anyone in Gone Girl, except perhaps, Nick’s twin sister, Go. Amy’s parents, psychologists both, made their fortunes writing a series of children’s books, Amazing Amy…based on the exploits of their “perfect” daughter—a fantasy perfect child that the real Amy can’t possibly emulate. Nick has his own demons—for example, his angry misogynistic father, now afflicted with Alzheimer’s, who once told his son, “There are all kinds of men…and you are the wrong kind.”

Amy, well, who is Amy anyway? We only know her from her diaries and from Nick’s inner monologue. She says she’s a sweet loving wife, “fat with love! Husky with ardor! Morbidly obsessed with devotion! A happy, busy bumblebee of marital enthusiasms.” Nick however, feels cold toward Amy and acts as though she were made of razor wire.

And Nick? Is he just a corn-fed putz from flyover country and a disaffected trembling husband?  Why then does he see the sun as an “angry eye in the sky.” It’s noon when he says, “My gut twisted and I moved quicker. I needed a drink.” Is he angry enough, motivated enough, devious enough murder his wife, then pretend innocence?

Fair warning: Gone Girl will take you on a journey through dysfunction, through pathology, through an ugliness that will astound you. The language is raw, the characters are malicious, and the relationships are toxic and destructive, twisted beyond understanding. That said, it’s an engrossing read.

As always, we welcome your comments and feedback.

Anne Shirako, Reference Librarian, Ukiah Library