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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a dark story, in which the inane details of the narrator's life are juxtaposed against the horrific experiences of his new-found friend, Sophie, a survivor of Auschwitz. Certain images stick with you long after putting the book down. Styron writes with an amazingly rich vocabulary and sophisticated style.
During my trip to Poland, I wanted to read as much as I could on anything Polish. This book was good, but quite tedious and long. It was slow going, but I'm glad I plodded through it...the same way I feel when I read certain 'intellectual' classics.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Somewhat strange story. Could not really empathize with the male characters.
Gorgeous writing. One of my favorite works of fiction. A dense, epic story that you can lose yourself in. Awesome.
This is a book that is hard for me to rate or review. It is a wonderfully constructed and beautifully written book, but it is a terrible book for any parent - any mother. It is about the nightmare choice that is required of Sophie. It was hard for me to read. Thank goodness I didn't have any children at the time that I read it.
My opinion:
Sophie's story is so incredibly impressive and moving. However, this book tries to tell other stories as well, which, all in all, was too distracting and uninteresting for me. I could have done with a little less forays into Stingo's past, for example, and definitely without all the sex all the time. Some functional sex, sure, but this felt to be more sex for the sake of it, bordering on pornography. It didn't add much to the story, I think, and could have been cut. I am also doubtful about how much of Sophie's story is the truth - not if it actually happened, but if it could have happened. The first person perspective kept me reading, constantly wondering what would come next.
Styron's choice to make Sophie a Polish woman of Catholic faith, being imprisoned in a concentration camp, has lead to many discussions and leaves me with mixed feelings.
Recommendation:
Lengthy book. Deals with many themes - the holocaust, rape, discrimination, racial issues, South vs North America - in a difficult language. Read if interested in the male mind in 1940s America, read partially if only interested in Sophie's story of surviving the Holocaust.
Warnings: very explicit scenes of sex and rape; mentions of drug-use and physical abuse.
Sophie's story is so incredibly impressive and moving. However, this book tries to tell other stories as well, which, all in all, was too distracting and uninteresting for me. I could have done with a little less forays into Stingo's past, for example, and definitely without all the sex all the time. Some functional sex, sure, but this felt to be more sex for the sake of it, bordering on pornography. It didn't add much to the story, I think, and could have been cut. I am also doubtful about how much of Sophie's story is the truth - not if it actually happened, but if it could have happened. The first person perspective kept me reading, constantly wondering what would come next.
Styron's choice to make Sophie a Polish woman of Catholic faith, being imprisoned in a concentration camp, has lead to many discussions and leaves me with mixed feelings.
Recommendation:
Lengthy book. Deals with many themes - the holocaust, rape, discrimination, racial issues, South vs North America - in a difficult language. Read if interested in the male mind in 1940s America, read partially if only interested in Sophie's story of surviving the Holocaust.
Warnings: very explicit scenes of sex and rape; mentions of drug-use and physical abuse.
I had never seen the famous movie, though I was familiar with what Sophie has to choose. I had forgotten how much I love William Styron's writing when I started to read this book. It is phenomenal. His writing is strong, and the characters are vivid. Though I've heard the movie is excellent, I don't even feel compelled to see it because the images were so clear in my mind as I was reading this book.