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A review by themadmadmadeline
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
1.0
Woooooo boy, was this one problematic.
I had every intention of liking this book - the movie with Meryl Streep is fantastic, so I assumed this would be the same.
Boy, was I wrong.
1) This book is about 50% too long. It started off fairly strong (at least I thought the writing was strong in the first 20 pages or so) but then it just slogs on and on and on.
2). Styron, unfortunately, thinks he's Hemingway or Whitman - a fatal error on his part. His prose is so over-flowery and absurd, it's hard to take him seriously because it is very clear that he takes himself way too seriously. I also low-key hated the written musings (book within a book) of the main character. I literally just skimmed through them because they were just obnoxious. His prose was quite clumsy, actually, and overall, I would say his writing prowess was low.
3) Styron doesn't have a good handle of foreshadowing - I'll admit, I already knew what "Sophie's Choice" was, but by the time you get to the HUGE PLOT REVEAL you kinda don't care anymore, and it lasts about two pages. Definitely not enough buildup for all of that.
4) The character of Stingo is problematic. Quite frankly, he's a horny little creep who just objectifies and sexualizes Sophie throughout the novel, and I was not a fan.
5) Sophie at times had the potential to be interesting, but her characterization is all over the place. She also is introduced at the beginning of the book as being quite silly, so that didn't really jive for me either.
6) Nathan is a better developed character, but problematic AF. I feel like a lot of the "Jewish tropes" (like his big nose, obsession with money, etc.) that I would hope the author would have enough wherewithal not to use when describing his characters, given the context of this book (extermination of Jews by Nazis, helllllooooooo), but he does. Nathan is easily the most despicable character, and he is Jewish. I was baffled by this choice. YIKES.
7) Way too much unnecessary sex. This guy clearly needs to get laid and live out his fantasies or whatever, because I don't want to read about them.
Overall, this was appallingly bad. The fact that this is "an American classic" mystifies me. It reads like a D List Hemingway, and I don't mean that affectionately. I skimmed the last 15% of the book because I really didn't care anymore and I just wanted it to be over. This was straight up yucky, and badly written to boot. There is no craft here.
I had every intention of liking this book - the movie with Meryl Streep is fantastic, so I assumed this would be the same.
Boy, was I wrong.
1) This book is about 50% too long. It started off fairly strong (at least I thought the writing was strong in the first 20 pages or so) but then it just slogs on and on and on.
2). Styron, unfortunately, thinks he's Hemingway or Whitman - a fatal error on his part. His prose is so over-flowery and absurd, it's hard to take him seriously because it is very clear that he takes himself way too seriously. I also low-key hated the written musings (book within a book) of the main character. I literally just skimmed through them because they were just obnoxious. His prose was quite clumsy, actually, and overall, I would say his writing prowess was low.
3) Styron doesn't have a good handle of foreshadowing - I'll admit, I already knew what "Sophie's Choice" was, but by the time you get to the HUGE PLOT REVEAL you kinda don't care anymore, and it lasts about two pages. Definitely not enough buildup for all of that.
4) The character of Stingo is problematic. Quite frankly, he's a horny little creep who just objectifies and sexualizes Sophie throughout the novel, and I was not a fan.
5) Sophie at times had the potential to be interesting, but her characterization is all over the place. She also is introduced at the beginning of the book as being quite silly, so that didn't really jive for me either.
6) Nathan is a better developed character, but problematic AF. I feel like a lot of the "Jewish tropes" (like his big nose, obsession with money, etc.) that I would hope the author would have enough wherewithal not to use when describing his characters, given the context of this book (extermination of Jews by Nazis, helllllooooooo), but he does. Nathan is easily the most despicable character, and he is Jewish. I was baffled by this choice. YIKES.
7) Way too much unnecessary sex. This guy clearly needs to get laid and live out his fantasies or whatever, because I don't want to read about them.
Overall, this was appallingly bad. The fact that this is "an American classic" mystifies me. It reads like a D List Hemingway, and I don't mean that affectionately. I skimmed the last 15% of the book because I really didn't care anymore and I just wanted it to be over. This was straight up yucky, and badly written to boot. There is no craft here.