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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
At this point in time, pretty much everyone already knows what Sophie's choice actually was within the story. Don't get me wrong, it's still awful when it comes, but it doesn't pack quite the punch as it was did as a big reveal. Actually, I found myself wondering which child was the real victim--perhaps the child who died was saved from the horror of the camp? (Can you tell I also read "Beloved" this summer?)
I read this (sort of) once before, in 1985 after seeing the movie. I remember I was traveling on a plane from New Mexico (where I lived at the time) to Seattle (to visit family). I had the book on the plane & had been reading it, but having a hard time with it & when I left the plane I left the book without finishing it. Leaving a book behind is extremely unusual for me - I never go anywhere without a book & I just about always finish just about everything. I decided that I just wasn't meant to read this book if I'd left it behind. I was 22. I had equal trouble with [b:Lie Down in Darkness|180630|Lie Down in Darkness|William Styron|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172493018s/180630.jpg|14245] - just couldn't get through it. I loved his non-fiction piece about depression - [b:Darkness Visible A Memoir of Madness|249042|Darkness Visible A Memoir of Madness|William Styron|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173125109s/249042.jpg|1258333] - I thought it was one of the truest pieces of writing about depression that I had ever read. I figured eventually I'd get back to his fiction.
I picked up [b:Sophie's Choice|228560|Sophie's Choice|William Styron|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172888618s/228560.jpg|2912834] again as part of a reading challenge - to read some American prize winning books & compare them. I'm glad I did. Styron can write & he can tell a story - painful though it may be. I loved the craft of this book, the interplay of language & the brick-by-brick-by-word-by-word deftness of his creations - Stingo, Sophie, & Nathan & long ago far away Brooklyn.
As much a meditation on his younger days as a fledgling writer as it is a Holocaust story, this novel is also a Southerner's rumination on what it means to be Southern, to be liberal, to have lived through the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis & to see similar horrors perpetrated in your home (see also, slavery & lynchings). There are aspects of this book that remind me very clearly of [b:North Toward Home|526872|North Toward Home|Willie Morris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175545298s/526872.jpg|514664] - Willie Morris' wonderful memoir about being a Southerner among Northern intellectuals. Styron beautifully captures Stingo's naivete & self-conscious youth as he struggles with his first novel.
Equally well-drawn are the doomed Nathan & Sophie - their mutual histories of madness & despair intertwined in fatal & beautiful ways. It is worth remembering that more than Europe's Jews were caught up in the Nazi insanity - Sophie's story is just one of many.
This is a difficult, painful & ultimately worthwhile novel. Read it - you won't regret it.
I picked up [b:Sophie's Choice|228560|Sophie's Choice|William Styron|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172888618s/228560.jpg|2912834] again as part of a reading challenge - to read some American prize winning books & compare them. I'm glad I did. Styron can write & he can tell a story - painful though it may be. I loved the craft of this book, the interplay of language & the brick-by-brick-by-word-by-word deftness of his creations - Stingo, Sophie, & Nathan & long ago far away Brooklyn.
As much a meditation on his younger days as a fledgling writer as it is a Holocaust story, this novel is also a Southerner's rumination on what it means to be Southern, to be liberal, to have lived through the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis & to see similar horrors perpetrated in your home (see also, slavery & lynchings). There are aspects of this book that remind me very clearly of [b:North Toward Home|526872|North Toward Home|Willie Morris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175545298s/526872.jpg|514664] - Willie Morris' wonderful memoir about being a Southerner among Northern intellectuals. Styron beautifully captures Stingo's naivete & self-conscious youth as he struggles with his first novel.
Equally well-drawn are the doomed Nathan & Sophie - their mutual histories of madness & despair intertwined in fatal & beautiful ways. It is worth remembering that more than Europe's Jews were caught up in the Nazi insanity - Sophie's story is just one of many.
This is a difficult, painful & ultimately worthwhile novel. Read it - you won't regret it.
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an absolutely amazing novel. Styron's cast of characters, depth of knowledge about everything from Southern culture to the Nazis, and skill as a writer are incredible. Simply reading his gorgeous prose made me feel smarter! He was able to add such emotional depth to this novel that it was stunning. One minute he has you giggling at the sexual frustrations of 22-year-old Stingo and the next he has you overwhelmed with the enormity of what happened at Auschwitz. I wouldn't say that you fall in love with these characters like you can with other novels, but they are definitely well developed. Everything about them has a purpose, there are no random additions to their characters. Also, although some other reviewers say that they became bored and were unable to finish this book, I would personally have to say that I was never bored while reading. While it is a long novel, the story and writing pulls you in and keeps you curious.
I had seen the movie before reading the novel so I was not surprised by the plot, but this did not detract from the story itself. I should also say that while the movie version is excellent, the book is significantly better. It would be a pity to simply see the movie and never read Styron's beautiful language or see the way he is able to piece together the post-Civil War South with the Europe of WWII.
Overall, this was an excellent and breathtaking novel.
I had seen the movie before reading the novel so I was not surprised by the plot, but this did not detract from the story itself. I should also say that while the movie version is excellent, the book is significantly better. It would be a pity to simply see the movie and never read Styron's beautiful language or see the way he is able to piece together the post-Civil War South with the Europe of WWII.
Overall, this was an excellent and breathtaking novel.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My disappointment may have been caused by the high expectations I had for this novel. I expected to devour it and be consumed by Stingo, Sophie, and Nathan. Instead, I think what a novel it could have been…
The narrator was so unlikable from the beginning. I allowed that that was all right because as a bildungsroman, the novel may have set the reader up to grow fond of Stingo as the story unfolded. That never happened. The prose was so heavy and overdone, I wanted to shout, “Get on with it!” when Stingo would drone on about some minor point. For instance, in the beginning of the novel when Stingo describes his job, it goes on for almost the first 100 pages of the book, but none of it is relevant, particularly that scene with his drunken boss.
I particularly disliked how sex-obsessed Stingo was. I thought it detracted from the gravity of the major theme. I’m no prude and don’t mind well-written sex scenes, but these were just outlandish. He also, clearly, has no concept of sex from the woman’s perspective. The final sex scene he writes about with Sophie is so unrealistic, it could be a best-selling porn DVD today.
By the time the novel finally got to Sophie’s time at Auschwitz, I was pretty disengaged from the reading, but that brought me back. I wish the novel’s primary focus was on that, rather than Stingo’s sex-life (or absence thereof).
A mediocre novel at best. I know it’s considered a classic, but without Sophie’s choice, I can’t see how this novel wouldn’t have drifted off into obscurity long ago. I do realize I’m in the minority with that opinion.
The narrator was so unlikable from the beginning. I allowed that that was all right because as a bildungsroman, the novel may have set the reader up to grow fond of Stingo as the story unfolded. That never happened. The prose was so heavy and overdone, I wanted to shout, “Get on with it!” when Stingo would drone on about some minor point. For instance, in the beginning of the novel when Stingo describes his job, it goes on for almost the first 100 pages of the book, but none of it is relevant, particularly that scene with his drunken boss.
I particularly disliked how sex-obsessed Stingo was. I thought it detracted from the gravity of the major theme. I’m no prude and don’t mind well-written sex scenes, but these were just outlandish. He also, clearly, has no concept of sex from the woman’s perspective. The final sex scene he writes about with Sophie is so unrealistic, it could be a best-selling porn DVD today.
By the time the novel finally got to Sophie’s time at Auschwitz, I was pretty disengaged from the reading, but that brought me back. I wish the novel’s primary focus was on that, rather than Stingo’s sex-life (or absence thereof).
A mediocre novel at best. I know it’s considered a classic, but without Sophie’s choice, I can’t see how this novel wouldn’t have drifted off into obscurity long ago. I do realize I’m in the minority with that opinion.
A genius novel that explores the psychology of a Holocaust survivor in the United States. The writing is excellent, but I only awarded 4 stars because the author is strangely preoccupied with sex, masturbation, and the supposed "perversion" of homosexuality, to the point that it distracted from the narrative.