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A review by hesmykindofgirl
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
3.0
2.5/5 stars
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. One of my main issues with it that it was just too long. It was really frustrating having to go through the same events again from another pov. The nature of the story also meant that the main narrator often took a long time to realise things the audience already knew from seeing things from Maud’s perspective. Though this was great at creating tension in some places, it mostly just led to the same pieces of information being repeatedly revealed to the audience.
Some of my issues with it will inevitably come from the fact that, like a lot of people, I watched the movie first and definitely preferred it. Not only did this make the long sections feel longer, as I was aware of what was about to happen and so didn’t feel the tension, but it also meant I was unfavourably comparing events of the book to how things happened in the film. I loved The Handmaiden so much because the women win! You spend the film thinking that one woman, or the other, or both, are being outwitted by the men, but they turn out victorious! They outsmart everyone trying to outsmart them and they get away!!! But in Fingersmith they are just passive victims to the plot. Literally nothing that Maud and Sue do impacts how the story plays out, and they are instead just dragged along by the narrative. Even Richard Rivers’ death wasn’t confirmed to be by Maud’s hand!
The most damming aspect of this book, however, is the fact that I did not feel the romantic tension between Maud and Sue at all. I was starting to feel it somewhat from Maud’s side towards the end of her first section of narration, but did not feel any pull from Sue’s side at all. This meant that the long wait for the payoff was simply not worth it for me.
Ultimately, I gave this film 3/5 rather than 2/5 stars as I do still remember the shock that I felt when watching the twist play out in the Handmaiden for the first time, and I definitely think that I would have enjoyed this book and its various twists far more having not seen the movie first.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. One of my main issues with it that it was just too long. It was really frustrating having to go through the same events again from another pov. The nature of the story also meant that the main narrator often took a long time to realise things the audience already knew from seeing things from Maud’s perspective. Though this was great at creating tension in some places, it mostly just led to the same pieces of information being repeatedly revealed to the audience.
Some of my issues with it will inevitably come from the fact that, like a lot of people, I watched the movie first and definitely preferred it. Not only did this make the long sections feel longer, as I was aware of what was about to happen and so didn’t feel the tension, but it also meant I was unfavourably comparing events of the book to how things happened in the film. I loved The Handmaiden so much because the women win! You spend the film thinking that one woman, or the other, or both, are being outwitted by the men, but they turn out victorious! They outsmart everyone trying to outsmart them and they get away!!! But in Fingersmith they are just passive victims to the plot. Literally nothing that Maud and Sue do impacts how the story plays out, and they are instead just dragged along by the narrative. Even Richard Rivers’ death wasn’t confirmed to be by Maud’s hand!
The most damming aspect of this book, however, is the fact that I did not feel the romantic tension between Maud and Sue at all. I was starting to feel it somewhat from Maud’s side towards the end of her first section of narration, but did not feel any pull from Sue’s side at all. This meant that the long wait for the payoff was simply not worth it for me.
Ultimately, I gave this film 3/5 rather than 2/5 stars as I do still remember the shock that I felt when watching the twist play out in the Handmaiden for the first time, and I definitely think that I would have enjoyed this book and its various twists far more having not seen the movie first.