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3.15 AVERAGE
3.15 AVERAGE
Daphne du Maurier is a very good writer. I underlined multiple sentences in this book, there were some profound paragraphs and I loved her descriptions of landscapes and city scenes. However she wasted her writing on one of the most unlikeable protagonists I have ever encountered.
Richard is an entitled young man with a difficult relationship with his absent father, (and thus with his own masculinity). Richard is self-obsessed, contantly anxious about everything, unable to make a decision or to care for himself thus always depending on people around him, without actually caring about these people aside from what they can do for him. He has the emotional depth and the emotional intelligence of a potato and his only character development is that he comes to care even less about anything other than his own comfort. Richard is thus also an incredible realistic character. I think we have all met a guy like him. The problem is that if you meet a guy like him, you would go and look for an excuse to leave the conversation quickly. Every single time Richard opened his mouth in this novel I felt secondhand embarasment. That he is unlikeable is okay, but the fact that he is shallow and boring made the novel feel shallow and boring.
The lesson for me here is that I should indeed never judge a book based on the cover. I wanted a sea adventure and got 300 pages of this man whining about his father, about girls while in a definitely homoerotic friendship with another man, and about the Paris girlfriend he found through stalkerish behaviour.
Richard is an entitled young man with a difficult relationship with his absent father, (and thus with his own masculinity). Richard is self-obsessed, contantly anxious about everything, unable to make a decision or to care for himself thus always depending on people around him, without actually caring about these people aside from what they can do for him. He has the emotional depth and the emotional intelligence of a potato and his only character development is that he comes to care even less about anything other than his own comfort. Richard is thus also an incredible realistic character. I think we have all met a guy like him. The problem is that if you meet a guy like him, you would go and look for an excuse to leave the conversation quickly. Every single time Richard opened his mouth in this novel I felt secondhand embarasment. That he is unlikeable is okay, but the fact that he is shallow and boring made the novel feel shallow and boring.
The lesson for me here is that I should indeed never judge a book based on the cover. I wanted a sea adventure and got 300 pages of this man whining about his father, about girls while in a definitely homoerotic friendship with another man, and about the Paris girlfriend he found through stalkerish behaviour.
While it pains me a little to rate a book by the author of Rebecca two stars, I know I’m not alone, as this is one of her lowest rated books here. The first half is hard to connect to because the main character is all over the place with his feelings and reactions to his environment, and the second half he becomes a real dick (I have to think he was named Richard/Dick intentionally because of this) essentially forcing his uninterested girlfriend to sleep with him, this after he is oblivious to her attempts to shrug him off when they first meet, and then he goes on to refuse to marry her but demand she move in and give up her passion so she can be with him all the time. I finished the second half much more quickly because I just wanted to get through it already. I know Daphne Du Maurier felt drawn to writing from a male alter ego but I think she hit the mark a little too closely. XD I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone other than Du Maurier completionists, and even then, the least of all her books.
Not as overwrought as her first novel, but slow -paced, a pedantic feeling.
**SPOILER ALERT **
Odd having the protagonist act out the behavior that had prompted his savior to kill a man. Odd, too, her protagonist's misogyny and narcissism.
**SPOILER ALERT **
Odd having the protagonist act out the behavior that had prompted his savior to kill a man. Odd, too, her protagonist's misogyny and narcissism.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Richard has never felt more ostracized and lonely before. When he is about to give up and end his life, a stranger steps in, giving him the chance to look at life differently. In Jake’s company, Richard embarks on an adventure.
Daphne du Maurier’s 2nd novel is as much a portrait of the unchanging nature of humans as it is an exploration of the lengths we go to feel alive.
This being one of du Maurier’s earliest works offers glimpses of her signature style – nature imageries, philosophical musings, and characters struggling with a sense of deep dissatisfaction.
The first few chapters make such a convincing case of Richard’s plight, that you can’t help but feel sorry for him. I did. And I had begun to expect a story of growth, new learnings, and how Jake’s guidance would be a positive influence on Richard. But that’s hardly how the story progresses.
Perhaps, it’s the author’s way of showing that not every story has a happily ever after or that regardless of one’s surroundings, their innate traits have more governing power over their lives.
With each subsequent chapter, Richard’s hot-and-cold nature, lack of consideration, and self-serving bias know no bounds. I ultimately gave up trying to like the protagonist...Read the rest of the review on my blog.
Daphne du Maurier’s 2nd novel is as much a portrait of the unchanging nature of humans as it is an exploration of the lengths we go to feel alive.
This being one of du Maurier’s earliest works offers glimpses of her signature style – nature imageries, philosophical musings, and characters struggling with a sense of deep dissatisfaction.
The first few chapters make such a convincing case of Richard’s plight, that you can’t help but feel sorry for him. I did. And I had begun to expect a story of growth, new learnings, and how Jake’s guidance would be a positive influence on Richard. But that’s hardly how the story progresses.
Perhaps, it’s the author’s way of showing that not every story has a happily ever after or that regardless of one’s surroundings, their innate traits have more governing power over their lives.
With each subsequent chapter, Richard’s hot-and-cold nature, lack of consideration, and self-serving bias know no bounds. I ultimately gave up trying to like the protagonist...Read the rest of the review on my blog.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Daphne DuMaurier does not disappoint. I do struggle to see it as a "romance" though. She has absolutely perfected the telling of a man baby/doormat relationship. Much like Wuthering Heights, the characters are childish, petty, and flawed. Loved it but unlikely to reread as it is painful but in an intentional sort of way.
A very 1930s bildungsroman, in all senses of the narrative type. Secondary character much less developed, but this is likely a technique to highlight the self-centredness of the narrator.
adventurous
sad