Review: Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier

Rebecca
by Daphne de Maurier
Classic/Mystery/Romance
410 pages
published: 1938
For: Book Club
1 of 5 stars

Well, you know what I thought of the beginning, but I hadn't finished the book and had not formed my final opinion. I was hoping it would change. Ironically, about half a chapter after my rant, things started to improve. Wanna know why?? People started talking!!!

I didn't before realize how important conversation was to me.

About:

Maxim de Winter brings a young new wife home to his estate where the presence of his late wife, Rebecca still lingers. The new Mrs. de Winter has trouble learning to run a house, trouble with the scornful housekeeper, and trouble staying close to her troubled husband. What happened to Rebecca?

Reaction:

Things had picked up after the first 100 pages. There were new characters, there was confusion, there was mystery. And then there was the freakish housekeeper. Makes me think about traveling asylums, perhaps like door-to-door salespeople:

Ding Dong.
"May I help you?"
"We were just wondering if you had any crazy people you would like us to take off your hands?"
"Why yes. My housekeeper is worshiping a dead sociopath and tried to kill me!"
"Well, we can take care of that for you! Load her up, Frank!"
"What a relief. I'm so glad you were in the neighborhood today."
"No problem Ma'am. That's our job."

But I digress.

So I was enjoying the book finally. I was truly thinking it might all be salvageable. It got creepy. There were several layers of "bad guys." There was the fear of getting found out. There were a few fewer descriptions of flowers and definitely fewer imaginings of Nameless. There was rising action...dramatic action...relief....more rising action...

Then splat.

It didn't finish. It just stopped. I searched the back matter. I searched the crease of my book in case pages had been ripped out. Nope. The book just didn't have an end. ???? I tried to read the included "alternate" epilogue and choked. I re-read the epilogue in the second chapter, choked, tried harder, skimmed, and then called it good. I gave this book more than it deserved already.

Questions Not Answered: (Spoilers Alert!!)

1. Why didn't Nameless have a name? (In the author notes, Mrs. du Maurier said something like not being able to think of one, then writing no name as a sort of challenge.) Not good enough reasons!! Why didn't she have a name! Or a face! Or an age! This wasn't any sort of a deal breaker, but it was annoying.
2. Why stop the book before the end?
3. Did everyone die? Did everyone live?
4. Did Favell not call Mrs. Danvers in time? Why did she set the house on fire? Did she even do it?
5. Why did it go all Jane Eyre at the end?
6. Why did they leave the country? Their life had some rough spots, yes, but leave the whole country??
7. If they "had" to leave the country, why live a boring, sad life? Why not go adventuring like on their honeymoon? These people are easily broken!!
8. Why was Mrs. Danvers so dedicated to a sociopath?
9. Why didn't Max produce proof of adultery as evidence to divorce Rebecca and get out of his nightmare long before that night? Didn't they such things as personal dectectives?
10. But most importantly: WHY STOP THE BOOK BEFORE THE END?!?!?!?

I may have listed something twice, but so what? Endings are important. A whole book can be ruing by a bad end.

I'm done.

A Rant that Will Make Me Feel Better this Morning...

...But Which I'm Prepared to Recant at a Future Date Should All These Issues Somehow be Resolved to my Satisfaction.

Any one read this? Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier? (Is that French and therefore pronounced in some strange way?)

I first started to read this about a month ago and two things happened. 1) I realized that I needed to read the other book club book first. 2) The first chapter was a long long long treatise about some dream where all the plants had gone wild. I hate dreams in books. They often play a role in fantasy novels and I just as often put the book down to gear up for it. And plants? Pages on overgrown flowers? Pages???

Back to the present - or at least last night. My husband had to work late, and showing a great deal personal discipline, I picked up this book again. I did have the testimonials of many readers that I respect that this was a good book. One even swore she couldn't put it down all day and got in trouble for not helping with Thanksgiving dinner. I was convinced if I pushed through the slow beginning that I would be sucked in.

I'm on page 91 (I am a fast reader and it took hours to get to page 91) and I'm still not sucked in.

After that first horrendous chapter there followed an even worse chapter. This one consisted entirely of foreshadowing. I get it, okay. Something bad is gonna happen. Something so bad you all had to run away, possibly to another country, where you are bored out of your minds and live for croquet updates. All right. Stop it now!

Phew. And it moved on. Relief, right? Oh no. 

Now I'm listening to a rather distant feeling narrator who is nameless, faceless, and ageless - and given to detailed imagining of what could/should/might have happened! I feel like I'm listening to a "classic," female JD! (Yes, a character's imaginings can be a useful literary device, but when that device is in actuality a hammer used to bludgeon the reader to death, it is no longer a useful device.) I would push through these passages only to make sure I didn't miss when things switched back to reality and narrated what DID happen.

And there were the endless comments about her age and how she was so young that she was inexperienced/ridiculous/stupid/bad mannered/
terrified/ugly/sad/evil/terrorist/////.

I am so bored!!

At this point, the only things that could possibly justify the amount of foreshadowing and premonitions has got to be either:

1. This Rebecca person is not dead, or is undead, and plotting evil while eating babies raw.
2. The housekeeper is a vampire (not so far fetched given her description) and has Rebecca in the basement in the process of "turning" and is therefore justifiably pissed that Nameless has married the Master.
3. Maxim is actually the murderer. And he did it with his teeth.

Alas, as this was published in 1938, my husband assures me that Miss Daphne had yet to read Twilight. And I won't be thrilled with option 3 since Maxim is the one things I've enjoyed in this book. (Though I guess it is possible to enjoy a bad guy....)

Please. Can anyone tell me why I should keep reading?? Can you please share your undying love for this book with me? I am willing to change my opinion.  (Though I don't think 5 stars could be bled out of me - even under "questioning.")

Review: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

North and South
By Elizabeth Gaskell
classic
450 pages
published: 1854
5 of 5 stars

And here I confess some of my terrible ignorance of many things "classic" when I say that I had never heard of Elizabeth Gaskell before my book club proffered this to read, and I was worried that it would be about the civil war. (I do not dislike books on the civil war as long as they are about the war, and not politics. I don't like politics.) But Oh Happy Day! it is about England and the industrial revolution and has a wonderful Jane Austen taste. Yummy!

Margaret is South here and Mr. Thornton North as industry clashes with the "sophisticated" gentlemen and ladies. Old money versus new money. Hard work versus no work. My prejudices are coming out - dang! But all you out there that like your cheap clothes, grocery stores, electricity, and your general standard of living needs to thank the industrial revolution. Was it pretty? Absolutely not. Ugly. Sad. But needful. And that is the start of why this book is so good.

Many thought the beginning was slow. I was even told that around page 200 it started moving. I must respectfully disagree. I loved it from the beginning. I loved Margaret and her quandaries. I loved the setting. I loved the background of her life and relationships. By the time I got to page 200, I couldn't put the book down.

Margaret and Mr. Thornton reminded me of Elizabeth and Darcy, only more stubborn and prejudiced. It was highly entertaining! She was quietly saucy and he was gently over-bearing. How is that even possible? Loved it! It was great watching Margaret's opinions change and Mr. Thornton flirting with humility.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters and how they contributed to the main characters' development. Margaret's parents were a constant stress that Margaret held up under, and Mr. Thornton had a vaguely disturbing relationship with his mother. Fascinating. I loved Mr. Bell and his wit. I loved Betsy and her father and their earthy practicality.

I enjoyed the window into that chapter of history as well. I have studied the American industrial revolution, but not the British version. And call me morbid, but it was refreshing how much death was a part of the story. It was touching, raw, and real.

I am amazed and want very much to read more by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Review: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

 Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte
464 pages
published: 1847
For: Book Club
1 of 5 stars

My copy of this classic has a million pages of forwards, prefaces, original forwards, and the like which I dutifully waded through. These extraneous readings got me much more enthused about reading the book since they discussed how controversial it was, how shocking, how horrible. It told me the book read like a stream of consciousness, and that it crossed the internal line of horribleness. How exciting!

For the record, it is nothing like stream of consciousness. And while it had almost no characters worth knowing, it was neither shocking nor horrible.

It did keep my interest most of the time. I appreciated the family tree that I finally understood enough to no longer reference. But I did not love it. I don't know if I even liked it. Neither did I dislike it.

Cathy was unbelievable selfish (and stupid) and killed herself out of spite. Pretty sad. Heathcliff was mean and heartless. But rarely have I seen such a patient bad guy. The most disturbing scene was at the graveyard (which I had to read twice to understand) but it was all right with me. (Too much fantasy?)

A couple things that stuck out to me the most:

How myopic these peoples' lives were! They never saw anyone, went anywhere, or did anything. Cathy Jr. never associated with anyone but her father, servants, and later the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. I would get bored reading because of how boring I perceived their lives to be. Gasp!

How unbelievable I found most characters and behavior. How did Cathy manage to ruin her health permanently by throwing a fit and not eating for 3 days? I could do the same right now and still be fine! How did Isabella run off with Heathcliff when every one she had ever known told him how awful he was (Heathcliff never denying it nor showing any affection) AND Heathcliff hanging her dog before they left together. Really? Why did Heathcliff insist Cathy Jr. marry his son when he knew the kid would die and leave him with the daughter of the woman he loved? I could go on. Nothing seemed plausible to me. Just sick and wrong.

So. I think poor Emily must truly have been a sad, lonely, disturbed soul. The most I can say is that I'm glad to cross this book off the list of books I've wanted to read.

Review: The Blue Castle Review by L. M. Montgomery

The Blue Castle
by L. M. Montgomery
Classic, Fiction
218 pages
published: 1926
4 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book awhile ago...and loved it! I had no idea what it would be about, the back didn't even help much, so I just jumped in.

I was a little worried at first because the tedious and sad beginning seemed to go on and on, but if it had not I doubt I would have enjoyed Valancy's rebellion quite so much. Valancy got some news one day that changed her life - she decided to not do anything to please anyone else anymore. She would only do things she wanted to do. Well, her world fell apart and then got put back together again. And the ride was very enjoyable.

I loved the part near the end when the author started going on about "30 seconds to change everything" and I was imagining horrible, bloody tragedies...but it turned out much more mundane, surprising, plausible, and indeed life changing. Perfect.

My complaint: it got a bit long-winded in the descriptions of the scenery. But I survived. I knew it was important, and in fact a theme of the book, and forgave the author her indulgences.

My bigger complaint: the idiot who did the cover art should be shot. It says specifically in the book that Valancy never wore white except as a very young child. In fact, her clothes were few and deatiled and could easily have been pictured. And her expression! Like some expectant "young" maid who knew she was desirable. Valancy knew she was anything but desirable. But worse...why does Barney look like some prep from the 1980's? He was often dirty, unshaven, and had longish hair! Even if the artist wanted to go for when he did shave, he still wore overalls, not some sweater swung over his shoulder! Okay, I know this is a small thing - but...but...IDIOT!

Things I loved:

• Valancy's snide remarks
• that service released her
• that "love comes softly"
• that the beauty of nature is more valuable than the artifice of "traditions"
• how there was good in even the lowest in the community
• how divine forgiveness is
• how valuable it is to love - even if that love is not returned
• how personality is what makes someone beautiful
• the proposal scene
• the irony of the letter
• that she cut her hair short

I even made my poor husband read it so we could talk about it. It truly is "chick lit" but even he enjoyed it.