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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Never really grabbed me- too much detail that I really didn't care about.
Forgive me for my blasphemy because I do realise that this book is a classic - but I didn't love it. When I said that to a friend, she responded with "It's long, but didn't you find it powerful?". Well, yes and no.
I read this book in two parts. I started off with it at the beginning of the year. I'm not sure why, it probably had something to do with the fact that it is on Top 100 lists or something. The first part of the book centres around Stingo's new found friendship with Sophie and Nathan at the 'Pink Palace' - the building where they live in rented rooms. Stingo, an aspiring writer, falls head-over-heels for this erratic couple and their lives become intertwined. Even at that point, it is very clear that:
1. No one could ever describe Nathan as stable, and
2. Sophie has clearly had a very, very rough time of it during WWII (she is a Polish immigrant).
At that stage, I got bored and left it. I picked it up again about a week ago, on a mission to finally finish the damn thing. It got a bit more interesting at that point, as the truth about Sophie's experiences at Auschwitz started coming to light.
Styron has a good sense of writing the way that people tell other people stories. The book seems to be written from Stingo's memory and one almost gets a sense of an old man who has had a decent life, telling this last final piece of his life to his grandchildren. It sounded like this to me after a while: "we were here, it was cold, because it was cold I had a blanket, and then I checked on the kids, and then she said we would get visitors, and then the visitors arrived, etc." Realistic, but tedious after a while. If Stingo started off his tale to his grandkids with "It's a long story...", he would not have been kidding.
The characters were also well-developed (if slightly sex-mad). For example, Stingo is a racist. He has been raised that way. As with most people who have prejudiced views, it is almost forgotten in normal conversation until they come out with a stinker of a racist joke and expect you to giggle along, not realising that you may not share their views. I found this particular characteristic interesting (and it struck me toward the end of the book when Stingo tells a very bad-taste joke about Mississippi virgins).
Nonetheless, Sophie's time at Auschwitz (well, the bits she described anyway) were interesting and I did get the sense that this is a woman who could tolerate hell because of what she has been through on Earth (to paraphrase Stingo).
There are three things that this book left me with:
1. Oddly, the brief encounter that Sophie has with Hoss's daughter Emmi, age eleven. I found myself wondering if there are any other quality books about or by the children of the concentration camp kommandants (apart from [b:The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas|39999|The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas|John Boyne|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320507879s/39999.jpg|1148702], which I have read). What did they see? Did they know? Surely it messed them up for life?
2. Why Jan? This was a huge question mark for me, until I realised that Sophie probably thought that he was stronger and could handle it better (her daughter was comforted earlier by her brother).
3. Going into this book, I had an idea of what the "choice" was - but once I had finished it, I realised that Sophie's Choice was really about Nathan and Stingo. How differently would her life have turned out if she had chosen Stingo?
I'm glad that I've read this book, and I can see why it has literary fans. This is the kind of book that I would have enjoyed picking apart during my English Lit degree years ago. However, for fun, it just didn't grab me the way I like to be grabbed by a book.
I read this book in two parts. I started off with it at the beginning of the year. I'm not sure why, it probably had something to do with the fact that it is on Top 100 lists or something. The first part of the book centres around Stingo's new found friendship with Sophie and Nathan at the 'Pink Palace' - the building where they live in rented rooms. Stingo, an aspiring writer, falls head-over-heels for this erratic couple and their lives become intertwined. Even at that point, it is very clear that:
1. No one could ever describe Nathan as stable, and
2. Sophie has clearly had a very, very rough time of it during WWII (she is a Polish immigrant).
At that stage, I got bored and left it. I picked it up again about a week ago, on a mission to finally finish the damn thing. It got a bit more interesting at that point, as the truth about Sophie's experiences at Auschwitz started coming to light.
Styron has a good sense of writing the way that people tell other people stories. The book seems to be written from Stingo's memory and one almost gets a sense of an old man who has had a decent life, telling this last final piece of his life to his grandchildren. It sounded like this to me after a while: "we were here, it was cold, because it was cold I had a blanket, and then I checked on the kids, and then she said we would get visitors, and then the visitors arrived, etc." Realistic, but tedious after a while. If Stingo started off his tale to his grandkids with "It's a long story...", he would not have been kidding.
The characters were also well-developed (if slightly sex-mad). For example, Stingo is a racist. He has been raised that way. As with most people who have prejudiced views, it is almost forgotten in normal conversation until they come out with a stinker of a racist joke and expect you to giggle along, not realising that you may not share their views. I found this particular characteristic interesting (and it struck me toward the end of the book when Stingo tells a very bad-taste joke about Mississippi virgins).
Nonetheless, Sophie's time at Auschwitz (well, the bits she described anyway) were interesting and I did get the sense that this is a woman who could tolerate hell because of what she has been through on Earth (to paraphrase Stingo).
There are three things that this book left me with:
1. Oddly, the brief encounter that Sophie has with Hoss's daughter Emmi, age eleven. I found myself wondering if there are any other quality books about or by the children of the concentration camp kommandants (apart from [b:The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas|39999|The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas|John Boyne|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320507879s/39999.jpg|1148702], which I have read). What did they see? Did they know? Surely it messed them up for life?
2. Why Jan? This was a huge question mark for me, until I realised that Sophie probably thought that he was stronger and could handle it better (her daughter was comforted earlier by her brother).
3. Going into this book, I had an idea of what the "choice" was - but once I had finished it, I realised that Sophie's Choice was really about Nathan and Stingo. How differently would her life have turned out if she had chosen Stingo?
I'm glad that I've read this book, and I can see why it has literary fans. This is the kind of book that I would have enjoyed picking apart during my English Lit degree years ago. However, for fun, it just didn't grab me the way I like to be grabbed by a book.
As a non native speaker, I found the style a little challenging, with somewhat convoluted sentences, yet extremely engaging.
I really enjoyed the way Styron wrote and talked about the Holocaust, taking a very different angle from is usually done about this period. It makes the readers think about what their own choices and what they would have done if born in Poland in the 1930s.
It definitely touched me and I highly recommend it.
However, the vivid descriptions, especially some sex scenes, could be a little too much for some readers.
I really enjoyed the way Styron wrote and talked about the Holocaust, taking a very different angle from is usually done about this period. It makes the readers think about what their own choices and what they would have done if born in Poland in the 1930s.
It definitely touched me and I highly recommend it.
However, the vivid descriptions, especially some sex scenes, could be a little too much for some readers.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
TURNS OUT THERE’S A LOT MORE TO THIS STORY THAN TWO HOURS WITH MERYL STREEP CAN COVER
This was A LOT more sensual/sexual than I'd anticipated and before I read this I often kept mixing it up with Sophie's World so I didn't know what to expect at all. Definitely not 900 erections and sex and Freud... Reading this was a journey.
First fiction book I've read that deals with the Holocaust (I think) and its after-effects on both its Jewish and non-Jewish victims plus even people who are seemingly far removed from it. Appreciated the glimpse into New York as seen by the glitz and glamourous and the working class - it's a personal interest of mine to find out more about New York in general.
The twist was somewhat predictable as we move past the halfway point of the book as Sophie recalls the batshit crazy trip to Connecticut. It ended poetically, and perhaps Styron was teetering on the edge of romanticising the ending where Sophie and Nathan were concerned. Throughout the book I wondered what the title meant - what choice was Sophie making? Sometimes I thought it should have been named Sophie's ChoiceS because there were so many important decisions she made scattered about the book. I guess it's ultimately up to ones interpretation what the title really means. I take it to mean the Choice (capital C) she made at the final moment, a result of the sum of choices she had made leading up to that point. Perhaps there was no other way to end, no other choice she could have made but that.
First fiction book I've read that deals with the Holocaust (I think) and its after-effects on both its Jewish and non-Jewish victims plus even people who are seemingly far removed from it. Appreciated the glimpse into New York as seen by the glitz and glamourous and the working class - it's a personal interest of mine to find out more about New York in general.
The twist was somewhat predictable as we move past the halfway point of the book as Sophie recalls the batshit crazy trip to Connecticut. It ended poetically, and perhaps Styron was teetering on the edge of romanticising the ending where Sophie and Nathan were concerned. Throughout the book I wondered what the title meant - what choice was Sophie making? Sometimes I thought it should have been named Sophie's ChoiceS because there were so many important decisions she made scattered about the book. I guess it's ultimately up to ones interpretation what the title really means. I take it to mean the Choice (capital C) she made at the final moment, a result of the sum of choices she had made leading up to that point. Perhaps there was no other way to end, no other choice she could have made but that.
Would not recommend.
Extremely difficult to follow. Story Sophie is telling is not in order, the book itself is chunkily written, and every single character is unlikable— I did not like one of them.
This novel was rumored to be heartbreaking due to the choice Sophie has to make in regards to her making it out of WWII alive but this is barely dwelled upon at all!! It’s at most a page or two. There’s more time spent on the billions of pornographic scenes going on.
Extremely difficult to follow. Story Sophie is telling is not in order, the book itself is chunkily written, and every single character is unlikable— I did not like one of them.
This novel was rumored to be heartbreaking due to the choice Sophie has to make in regards to her making it out of WWII alive but this is barely dwelled upon at all!! It’s at most a page or two. There’s more time spent on the billions of pornographic scenes going on.
i don’t think i have enough life experience yet to finish this book, im going to pick it up again in about a year and we’ll see!