A review by adam_armstrong_yu
The Beguiled by Thomas Cullinan

4.0

Last weekend I saw The Beguiled and was freaking mesmerized by it. So, naturally I had to scoop up the book and read it immediately. I didn't realize how different the two versions would be. The book was chocked full of more "thriller" elements, and was told from the the point of view of each woman in the school house, so that the reader is provided with multiple perspectives that hinge on different interpretations, and especially misinterpretations, of events and other people's motivations and reasonings. The movie, meanwhile, seemed to strip the story to what it believed the essentials were, whereas the book kept the pages turning with plenty of duplicity, manipulations, and petty squabbling. What both manage to do so well, though, is depict women in isolation, self-imposed and otherwise, and the fragility of their constructed communities. All in all, the book is another entry in the Men-are-just-the-Worst canon, which I damn well love, so of course I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Now, get out there and go read this book/see this movie!