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A review by jedore
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
5.0
"The Studio meant to market the blond woman's body but only on its own strict terms."
WOW, what a ride. What a life.
Blonde is a FICTIONALIZED version of the life of Norma Jeane (AKA Marilyn Monroe). From her infancy to her last incoherent days, this innocent woman's life was a true American tragedy.
Despite being fiction, this book gifted me Norma Jeane's sad truth. She will live in my heart forever.
Norma Jeane was a smart, highly sensitive, creative genius and perpetual girl who was starving for love. Sadly, she wasn’t able to take in what little love she did get because of the severe damage she sustained at the hands of numerous incredibly shitty people throughout her entire life.
One of life's greatest ironies is that souls like Norma Jeane often attract, and are drawn to, seriously dysfunctional people and so their lives continue to be heart wrenching. Hollywood had no shortage of dysfunction or sociopaths...from the broken children of some of the industry's earliest stars to the men who headed the studios.
So Norma Jean never got the love she wanted…or the career she desired.
She may have lacked a formal education, but she was one smart woman (and an avid reader!) who wanted to be so much more than sexy "Marilyn.” But, sadly, in 1950s/1960s America, it didn't really matter what a woman wanted…especially if you were a commodity in an industry run entirely by men...most of whom were sociopaths.
These days I (unintentionally) read a lot of books by authors, but few by writers. Joyce Carol Oates is definitely the latter. This is not an easy read...at times it's disjointed (similar to Marilyn herself, so likely intentionally), confusing (who the heck is narrating now???), and disorienting (is this fact or totally fiction???). But, there was no way I could give it anything less than 5 stars. It's simply brilliant.
I feel like I know Norma Jean now and this knowledge comes with a very deep respect. Vindication comes a little late, but better than never.
I highly suggest watching her movies as you read the book. To be able to see the facade of Marilyn and have an idea of what was really going on with Norma Jeane was powerful.
WOW, what a ride. What a life.
Despite being fiction, this book gifted me Norma Jeane's sad truth. She will live in my heart forever.
Norma Jeane was a smart, highly sensitive, creative genius and perpetual girl who was starving for love. Sadly, she wasn’t able to take in what little love she did get because of the severe damage she sustained at the hands of numerous incredibly shitty people throughout her entire life.
One of life's greatest ironies is that souls like Norma Jeane often attract, and are drawn to, seriously dysfunctional people and so their lives continue to be heart wrenching. Hollywood had no shortage of dysfunction or sociopaths...from the broken children of some of the industry's earliest stars to the men who headed the studios.
So Norma Jean never got the love she wanted…or the career she desired.
She may have lacked a formal education, but she was one smart woman (and an avid reader!) who wanted to be so much more than sexy "Marilyn.” But, sadly, in 1950s/1960s America, it didn't really matter what a woman wanted…especially if you were a commodity in an industry run entirely by men...most of whom were sociopaths.
These days I (unintentionally) read a lot of books by authors, but few by writers. Joyce Carol Oates is definitely the latter. This is not an easy read...at times it's disjointed (similar to Marilyn herself, so likely intentionally), confusing (who the heck is narrating now???), and disorienting (is this fact or totally fiction???). But, there was no way I could give it anything less than 5 stars. It's simply brilliant.
I feel like I know Norma Jean now and this knowledge comes with a very deep respect. Vindication comes a little late, but better than never.
I highly suggest watching her movies as you read the book. To be able to see the facade of Marilyn and have an idea of what was really going on with Norma Jeane was powerful.