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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Sophie’s Choice was tough. Not just because it was long, but also because I felt like it was a book I should enjoy reading. I tried very hard to like it, to feel connected with the characters, and in the end I just wanted it to be over.
Is the book well written?
I did not think Sophie’s Choice was particularly well written. I spoke before about how I understand and almost appreciate Styron’s telling of the story as though it were Stingo telling the story of Sophie to a friend.
It still needed some major editing. When finishing the book, I felt nothing. Here I was reading about a woman making the worst choice any human being would have to make, and I had no emotional reaction. Am I that thick-skinned?
Styron could have made so much more of a powerful emotional impact, if he’d told the story in chronological order leaving out the plethora of unnecessary details that filled the pages. Instead of reading quickly because I was invested in the characters, I read quickly because I had hundreds of pages to go in this overly long book.
Does it speak about the human condition?
This is one thing I’d say Sophie’s Choice does well. The comparison between the Holocaust and Slavery in the South is fascinating. The book speaks about how human beings, time and time again, are able to commit horrible acts against each other.
Is it groundbreaking in some way?
No and no. (Yes, I think a teenage girl did a better job of writing about the Holocaust than a Pulitzer Prize winner. Note that Styron did not win the Pulitzer for Sophie’s Choice. Makes me wonder what the Modern Library was thinking. And yes, both books were published before Styron’s.)
Is it an enjoyable read?
Not at all. I couldn’t wait to be finished.
I was thinking of saying “maybe” as my answer to if Sophie’s Choice belongs on the list of the top 100 books in the 1900s, but after going through my criteria I’m changing my answer to no. How is a novel going to say something about the human condition when it’s written in such a way that the message does not make any kind of impact?
--via my blog, The Displaced English Major
Is the book well written?
I did not think Sophie’s Choice was particularly well written. I spoke before about how I understand and almost appreciate Styron’s telling of the story as though it were Stingo telling the story of Sophie to a friend.
It still needed some major editing. When finishing the book, I felt nothing. Here I was reading about a woman making the worst choice any human being would have to make, and I had no emotional reaction. Am I that thick-skinned?
Styron could have made so much more of a powerful emotional impact, if he’d told the story in chronological order leaving out the plethora of unnecessary details that filled the pages. Instead of reading quickly because I was invested in the characters, I read quickly because I had hundreds of pages to go in this overly long book.
Does it speak about the human condition?
This is one thing I’d say Sophie’s Choice does well. The comparison between the Holocaust and Slavery in the South is fascinating. The book speaks about how human beings, time and time again, are able to commit horrible acts against each other.
Is it groundbreaking in some way?
No and no. (Yes, I think a teenage girl did a better job of writing about the Holocaust than a Pulitzer Prize winner. Note that Styron did not win the Pulitzer for Sophie’s Choice. Makes me wonder what the Modern Library was thinking. And yes, both books were published before Styron’s.)
Is it an enjoyable read?
Not at all. I couldn’t wait to be finished.
I was thinking of saying “maybe” as my answer to if Sophie’s Choice belongs on the list of the top 100 books in the 1900s, but after going through my criteria I’m changing my answer to no. How is a novel going to say something about the human condition when it’s written in such a way that the message does not make any kind of impact?
--via my blog, The Displaced English Major
This is one of those novels that pops up on so many "Books to Read in Your Lifetime" lists, and I have had it waiting on my Nook for several years. It won the National Book Award in 1980, and Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her portrayal of the title character in the 1983 film. Because the work is so well-known, I thought I knew what it was about, but I found there was much more to it. I knew that Sophie's "choice" dealt with something about children in a concentration camp, so I was confused when I read the first several chapters about a Southern writer living in NYC after the war. Eventually the very damaged Polish Sophie made her appearance, along with her manic American Jewish boyfriend, Nathan.
William Styron's story is overflowing with pathos, and deserves the acclaim it received, for the most part. I think he probably uses the most advanced vocabulary I have ever encountered in a work of fiction from the modern era, as I must have used my e-reader's dictionary at least a hundred times as I read. Styron even uses high-brow words when he talks about gutter subjects, which was much too often for my tastes. Stingo, the narrator of the story, is a sex-obsessed virgin in his early 20s, and many of the other characters seemed to be harbingers of the 1960s sexual revolution. I couldn't help but wonder if this emphasis said more about Styron's own time than the post-war years.
In conclusion, I was impressed with Styron's ability with the English language, and I was carried away on the dramatic elements of the storyline, especially those parts that conformed to my expectations for the book. But I didn't love the messed-up characters or the details the author chose to dwell on. Still, this is a classic, and I'm glad I read it.
William Styron's story is overflowing with pathos, and deserves the acclaim it received, for the most part. I think he probably uses the most advanced vocabulary I have ever encountered in a work of fiction from the modern era, as I must have used my e-reader's dictionary at least a hundred times as I read. Styron even uses high-brow words when he talks about gutter subjects, which was much too often for my tastes. Stingo, the narrator of the story, is a sex-obsessed virgin in his early 20s, and many of the other characters seemed to be harbingers of the 1960s sexual revolution. I couldn't help but wonder if this emphasis said more about Styron's own time than the post-war years.
In conclusion, I was impressed with Styron's ability with the English language, and I was carried away on the dramatic elements of the storyline, especially those parts that conformed to my expectations for the book. But I didn't love the messed-up characters or the details the author chose to dwell on. Still, this is a classic, and I'm glad I read it.
I couldn't finish this book. In fact, the language was off-putting and I didnt enjoy the story. Maybe I will try later, but I have other things to read.
An incredibly moving and powerful story. Devastatingly serious and harrowing in parts. Certainly not easy reading, but quite wonderful, and written with a fantastic command of English.
I read all but about 70 pages of this book. I liked it, in the beginning, but got so tired of the very same things happening over and over again, tired of the authors pretentious name-dropping of other authors, composers, and artists, and just plain tired of reading it. I hate leaving things unifinished, but I just couldn't.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book is the definition of Meta
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book needs to be called the book of penisses instead of Sophies choice. I'm not against sex in books but god this was pointless and not even well written. Yeah, no.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Pedophilia
Spoiler alert: Sophie's actual choice does not come in until around 93%