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oliviabriscoe's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the pace and the setting of the book, but found the ending pretty disappointing. I am eager to watch the movie(s) though, because I think this book would make an excellent film or play. A lot of the suspense and horror that I had heard about was lost on me. I think making this a movie would help heighten the suspense and eeriness that was really lost in the book.
candiecane333's review
3.0
started off very slow & has WAY too much foreshadowing but is starting to pick up. the ending is strange & none of the character's actions make sense
aliterarylion's review
5.0
6/2/17
I've been looking forward all spring for a movie tie-in edition of The Beguiled. I adore all these actresses and I'm one of the unpopular few who don't mind the film covers. You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be picking up my copy next week.
7/11/17
I had been anticipating The Beguiled for months and it was just as wonderful as I wanted it to be. It was a slow burning, literal chemise-ripping, southern gothic fanfare. I loved all the ladies individually with their separate personalities and special talents. Even the adults added their own southern spice to the dramatic gumbo of The Beguiled. Corporal John McBurney may have tasted from the forbidden fruit but he definitely paid for it. I know I personally would have been beguiled from the smooth talking Irishman. I mean, come on.
Corporal McBurney
John was a suave, winking weasel but you couldn't help but be enamored by his charm. He had the entire house wrapped around his wee finger. He was a complex and intriguing character to read. It was a roller coaster of a book and would have been quite boring without his antics.
Amelia
Sweet little Amy was the one who found him injured in the woods and brought the firecracker into the school. She was a intuitive and smart little girl. She understood nature and loyalty. She stood by John's side until he inevitably turned on her as he did with everyone. Don't cross a little lady when she's got Mother Nature on her side.
Edwina
Miss Morrow was a snobby little bobby but she made herself a pariah. She was rude to others and shunned attempts at kindness. She was burned by McBurney's duplicity and she set the second half of the book into motion. Her actions increased the drama, danger, and intrigue of the more exciting scenes. I can't blame her too much but she's the product of her raising. Raising by a contraband riverboat-hopping father, that is.
Marie
Marie Deveaux was the unabashed, spoiled little Cajun heiress who had the best lines. She emitted sass and was one of my favorite characters. She was the youngest lady and stole every scene. She was mischievous and sneaky. She stirred up drama and foiled McBurney's plans against her unknowingly. She only had five lines in the movie barely. It's a shame but I know her true character. She's an adorable, yet demonic, little cherub.
Alice
Alice was the minx of the house and she was practically frothing with horniness. Her mother was a harlot and her "ardor" was passed on to her daughter. Alice wasn't a villain, but she was complex. Sure, she was a shameless flirt and trollop, but she wasn't too vindictive. She played games but she wasn't awful in my opinion. It was fun to roll my eyes at her antics and appreciate her silly character. She was the Corporal's second choice but she was first in drama. Alice Simms is a hellcat but a intriguing lady to say the least.
Finally my favorite lady: Miss Martha
Miss Martha was the headmistress of the school and baddest bitch in the South. She was no-nonsense and divine. She was full of secrets and smart as a whip. Her sister Harriet was a lush who snuck wine from the cellar and the antithesis of Miss Martha. Miss Martha kept the school together and was suspicious of Corporal from the moment she saw him limp through her door. She was rad and helped move the book along. You don't want to get on her bad side, especially with her skilled hands and a threadbare copy of Gray's Anatomy
The Beguiled was a fantastic read that I extremely enjoyed with a fair film adaptation. If you like drama, cattiness, and dangerous flirtation all tied up in a Civil War yellow ribbon: this is the book for you. It was written by a man but he perfectly captured the desperate measures girls will take when a handsome man turns up during a Y chromosome drought. Just don't go breaking their hearts or you'll pay the price...
I've been looking forward all spring for a movie tie-in edition of The Beguiled. I adore all these actresses and I'm one of the unpopular few who don't mind the film covers. You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be picking up my copy next week.
7/11/17
I had been anticipating The Beguiled for months and it was just as wonderful as I wanted it to be. It was a slow burning, literal chemise-ripping, southern gothic fanfare. I loved all the ladies individually with their separate personalities and special talents. Even the adults added their own southern spice to the dramatic gumbo of The Beguiled. Corporal John McBurney may have tasted from the forbidden fruit but he definitely paid for it. I know I personally would have been beguiled from the smooth talking Irishman. I mean, come on.
Corporal McBurney
John was a suave, winking weasel but you couldn't help but be enamored by his charm. He had the entire house wrapped around his wee finger. He was a complex and intriguing character to read. It was a roller coaster of a book and would have been quite boring without his antics.
Amelia
Sweet little Amy was the one who found him injured in the woods and brought the firecracker into the school. She was a intuitive and smart little girl. She understood nature and loyalty. She stood by John's side until he inevitably turned on her as he did with everyone. Don't cross a little lady when she's got Mother Nature on her side.
Edwina
Miss Morrow was a snobby little bobby but she made herself a pariah. She was rude to others and shunned attempts at kindness. She was burned by McBurney's duplicity and she set the second half of the book into motion. Her actions increased the drama, danger, and intrigue of the more exciting scenes. I can't blame her too much but she's the product of her raising. Raising by a contraband riverboat-hopping father, that is.
Marie
Marie Deveaux was the unabashed, spoiled little Cajun heiress who had the best lines. She emitted sass and was one of my favorite characters. She was the youngest lady and stole every scene. She was mischievous and sneaky. She stirred up drama and foiled McBurney's plans against her unknowingly. She only had five lines in the movie barely. It's a shame but I know her true character. She's an adorable, yet demonic, little cherub.
Alice
Alice was the minx of the house and she was practically frothing with horniness. Her mother was a harlot and her "ardor" was passed on to her daughter. Alice wasn't a villain, but she was complex. Sure, she was a shameless flirt and trollop, but she wasn't too vindictive. She played games but she wasn't awful in my opinion. It was fun to roll my eyes at her antics and appreciate her silly character. She was the Corporal's second choice but she was first in drama. Alice Simms is a hellcat but a intriguing lady to say the least.
Finally my favorite lady: Miss Martha
Miss Martha was the headmistress of the school and baddest bitch in the South. She was no-nonsense and divine. She was full of secrets and smart as a whip. Her sister Harriet was a lush who snuck wine from the cellar and the antithesis of Miss Martha. Miss Martha kept the school together and was suspicious of Corporal from the moment she saw him limp through her door. She was rad and helped move the book along. You don't want to get on her bad side, especially with her skilled hands and a threadbare copy of Gray's Anatomy
The Beguiled was a fantastic read that I extremely enjoyed with a fair film adaptation. If you like drama, cattiness, and dangerous flirtation all tied up in a Civil War yellow ribbon: this is the book for you. It was written by a man but he perfectly captured the desperate measures girls will take when a handsome man turns up during a Y chromosome drought. Just don't go breaking their hearts or you'll pay the price...
melaniejayne35's review
2.0
BORING! I am giving 2 stars because I liked the atmosphere the author created but it was just so boring. This book was not on my radar but a friend suggested we read this and see the movie. It took me forever to read cuz it was so boring. Hope the movie is better. Did I mention I think it's boring? Moving on.
amalia1985's review against another edition
3.0
"How deep do the layers of deception go, I wondered one day."
I wasn't aware of this novel,until I saw an advert for Sofia Coppola's recent film version,starring Colin Farrell. I didn't know there was a 1971 version either (and I wouldn't watch a Clint Eastwood film if my life depended on it). So, being a Colin fangirl, I thought "well, I'll read the book and then I'll watch the film and find all kinds of fault with it,because I am an unashamed purist.And the only thing I'll admire is Colin's brown eyes." The problem is that after reading the book, I have no special desire to watch the story being unfold as it proved to be a rather problematic, irritating read, in my opinion.It's unfortunate since the start was very promising.
Southern Gothic and Americana have a distinctive aura that I've always found fascinating. The claustrophobic feeling born of the Southern sun,the strict morality (in appearance only), the lush and mysterious residences, the haunting plantations, the bloody history of the region, the turmoil and conflict are characteristics of the genre and present in Τhe Beguiled. A young man, a wounded soldier of the Union army, is found near the premises of the school run by Martha.A school for young girls who have remained in the region despite the ongoing war.It goes without saying that the presence of the young man there brings all sorts of conflicts and repressed feelings to surface and a game of secrets,sexuality and authority begins.
The setting of the story helps in creating an atmosphere that can be experienced by the reader.The hot air and the stiffness of the characters made me feel the claustrophobia of the place.It was so exciting,let me tell you.The action takes place in a few of the closed rooms of the estate and is told through the eyes of Martha, her sister, her servant and the adolescent students.It is interesting that McBurney isn't given a POV.It adds to the mystery of his character and provides a better perspective to the influence he exerts on the women of the house.Much of the action takes place during the night and I could "see" the candle lit corridors and the women with their white nightgowns tiptoeing,moving like ghosts,trying to make sense of the changes inside and around them.
Cullinan's descriptions are excellent.They managed to keep my interest, even when the action of the book didn't.The language is raw and sensual where needed.The problems came from the dialogue and,majorly, from the characters.Each POV read the same,as if we had the same person speaking throughout the course of the action.In my opinion,Martha,Mettie,Edwina and the others wouldn't sound exactly the same.They wouldn't describe their feelings and thoughts in the same way.And this is what happens,with the slight exception of Mattie who uses a few colloquialisms here and there,just because.As it was, I felt the characters lacked originality, there was no personality in the vast majority of them.
This brings me to the issue of characterization.I've never had a problem with unlikable characters,I've said it before.I love them, I think they make every novel more interesting and challenging.BUT with the supposition that they are well-written.In this case, they aren't only unlikable, they're just plain stupid,devoid of any focal point.I'm aware of the hypocrisy of the past,naturally, and the young age of the girls, but this isn't an alibi for badly crafted heroines.I work with adolescents and I can verify to you that there is an incredible amount of "character" in them (in a positive or negative way,it doesn't matter),many times more than in any adult.This issue ended up making the narration too repetitive,especially during the 2nd half of the novel.There are endless lines of exhaustive, cringe-worthy dialogue on whether Johnny should leave or stay,chapter after chapter.In my opinion,the book would have been better if 70-80 pages had been cut and the dialogue dealt with.
Martha and Emily were the only interesting characters.Edwina had a few moments but she was too wishy-washy wishy for my liking.Harriett was useless,with the interest of a worn-out doormat,Amelia had some potential that was lost in the process,Alice was a Nickelodeon teenager in the worst sense of the word and McBurney was such an awful person,badly and unconvincingly written.Nevertheless,he deserved every bit of misery that came his way.The author presented every female character,apart from Martha and Emily,as sex-crazed harpies, as sexually starving fools who swoon over a handsome stranger who knows how to sweet-talk them into everything.This was irritating,at first.Then, it became troubling and bothersome.Naturally,the book is quite dated in this matter and probably influenced by misogynistic notions of the past decades.I don't know what Cullinan was trying to show.Perhaps that we lose our minds and good senses when we're sexually attracted to someone?Well,this may happen in real life but it doesn't help in creating interesting literature.I'm glad that this view is buried in literary history.I find it difficult to imagine that a contemporary writer would do that and call the attempt "serious" unless we're talking about a cheap romance.Reading McBurney's ridiculous attempts to beguile the women,feeding them his stories and watching them fall like flies to his call was beyond frustrating.
So, 3 stars for the haunting atmosphere and Martha's strength,although my heart wanted to hand 2.It was an interesting experience,I must admit.A Southern Gothic novel whose setting was excellent but the characters and the way the story became more than predictable broke the deal for me.Try it and see for yourselves.If nothing else, you'll come across some of the most stupid people in recent Literature.To quote Sherlock "It makes for too much stupid in the room...."
Many thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't aware of this novel,until I saw an advert for Sofia Coppola's recent film version,starring Colin Farrell. I didn't know there was a 1971 version either (and I wouldn't watch a Clint Eastwood film if my life depended on it). So, being a Colin fangirl, I thought "well, I'll read the book and then I'll watch the film and find all kinds of fault with it,because I am an unashamed purist.And the only thing I'll admire is Colin's brown eyes." The problem is that after reading the book, I have no special desire to watch the story being unfold as it proved to be a rather problematic, irritating read, in my opinion.It's unfortunate since the start was very promising.
Southern Gothic and Americana have a distinctive aura that I've always found fascinating. The claustrophobic feeling born of the Southern sun,the strict morality (in appearance only), the lush and mysterious residences, the haunting plantations, the bloody history of the region, the turmoil and conflict are characteristics of the genre and present in Τhe Beguiled. A young man, a wounded soldier of the Union army, is found near the premises of the school run by Martha.A school for young girls who have remained in the region despite the ongoing war.It goes without saying that the presence of the young man there brings all sorts of conflicts and repressed feelings to surface and a game of secrets,sexuality and authority begins.
The setting of the story helps in creating an atmosphere that can be experienced by the reader.The hot air and the stiffness of the characters made me feel the claustrophobia of the place.It was so exciting,let me tell you.The action takes place in a few of the closed rooms of the estate and is told through the eyes of Martha, her sister, her servant and the adolescent students.It is interesting that McBurney isn't given a POV.It adds to the mystery of his character and provides a better perspective to the influence he exerts on the women of the house.Much of the action takes place during the night and I could "see" the candle lit corridors and the women with their white nightgowns tiptoeing,moving like ghosts,trying to make sense of the changes inside and around them.
Cullinan's descriptions are excellent.They managed to keep my interest, even when the action of the book didn't.The language is raw and sensual where needed.The problems came from the dialogue and,majorly, from the characters.Each POV read the same,as if we had the same person speaking throughout the course of the action.In my opinion,Martha,Mettie,Edwina and the others wouldn't sound exactly the same.They wouldn't describe their feelings and thoughts in the same way.And this is what happens,with the slight exception of Mattie who uses a few colloquialisms here and there,just because.As it was, I felt the characters lacked originality, there was no personality in the vast majority of them.
This brings me to the issue of characterization.I've never had a problem with unlikable characters,I've said it before.I love them, I think they make every novel more interesting and challenging.BUT with the supposition that they are well-written.In this case, they aren't only unlikable, they're just plain stupid,devoid of any focal point.I'm aware of the hypocrisy of the past,naturally, and the young age of the girls, but this isn't an alibi for badly crafted heroines.I work with adolescents and I can verify to you that there is an incredible amount of "character" in them (in a positive or negative way,it doesn't matter),many times more than in any adult.This issue ended up making the narration too repetitive,especially during the 2nd half of the novel.There are endless lines of exhaustive, cringe-worthy dialogue on whether Johnny should leave or stay,chapter after chapter.In my opinion,the book would have been better if 70-80 pages had been cut and the dialogue dealt with.
Martha and Emily were the only interesting characters.Edwina had a few moments but she was too wishy-washy wishy for my liking.Harriett was useless,with the interest of a worn-out doormat,Amelia had some potential that was lost in the process,Alice was a Nickelodeon teenager in the worst sense of the word and McBurney was such an awful person,badly and unconvincingly written.Nevertheless,he deserved every bit of misery that came his way.The author presented every female character,apart from Martha and Emily,as sex-crazed harpies, as sexually starving fools who swoon over a handsome stranger who knows how to sweet-talk them into everything.This was irritating,at first.Then, it became troubling and bothersome.Naturally,the book is quite dated in this matter and probably influenced by misogynistic notions of the past decades.I don't know what Cullinan was trying to show.Perhaps that we lose our minds and good senses when we're sexually attracted to someone?Well,this may happen in real life but it doesn't help in creating interesting literature.I'm glad that this view is buried in literary history.I find it difficult to imagine that a contemporary writer would do that and call the attempt "serious" unless we're talking about a cheap romance.Reading McBurney's ridiculous attempts to beguile the women,feeding them his stories and watching them fall like flies to his call was beyond frustrating.
So, 3 stars for the haunting atmosphere and Martha's strength,although my heart wanted to hand 2.It was an interesting experience,I must admit.A Southern Gothic novel whose setting was excellent but the characters and the way the story became more than predictable broke the deal for me.Try it and see for yourselves.If nothing else, you'll come across some of the most stupid people in recent Literature.To quote Sherlock "It makes for too much stupid in the room...."
Many thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
heloisesalon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lucyp21's review against another edition
4.0
That ending of the book. I was not expecting the second half of that book at all. The first half of the book was quite slow to get into and I couldn't keep all the women straight so I found the rotating POVs a little annoying at first but when I got to know each of the characters, I found it much easier to keep track of everything.
I loved each of the characters in this book because they all saw themselves as the 'right' one in the book and it was quite obvious that none of them were particularly 'right'. I had my favourites (Marie, Amelia and Mattie) but I enjoyed reading about all of them, from uptight Emily, to cruel Edwina, to flirty Alicia. I especially loved how Miss Harriet was held up as the good sister but was really anything but considering the amount of poison that came out of her mouth . I felt quite sorry for Johnny in the end despite the fact that he was a fairly unpleasant man when it came down to it because he obviously didn't have any idea what he was getting into. All the tensions and arguments that had been developing in the house before he arrived and then he stirred up the pot enough that everything came to a head. Little Marie made me laugh because she was so blunt about everything and she could see right through Johnny at times.
The second half was everything started to speed up and I was gripped in horrified fascinationas they cut off his leg, put him on trial and then killed him with mushrooms . That was definitely not what I was expecting from this book at all, especially with the letters at the end. I loved how nearly all the characters, near the end of the book, were saying 'I would have stood up for Johnny if he hadn't said this horrible thing/lied to me about this' . There was no one person responsible at the end, but they all played a part. I wouldn't have minded an epilogue to see what happened to all of them after the start of the book.
I bumped this up a star simply because of the second half of that book. 4.5 stars!
I loved each of the characters in this book because they all saw themselves as the 'right' one in the book and it was quite obvious that none of them were particularly 'right'. I had my favourites (Marie, Amelia and Mattie) but I enjoyed reading about all of them, from uptight Emily, to cruel Edwina, to flirty Alicia. I especially loved how Miss Harriet
The second half was everything started to speed up and I was gripped in horrified fascination
I bumped this up a star simply because of the second half of that book. 4.5 stars!