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theanitaalvarez 's review for:
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
Another confession (I seem to be very fond of them lately): I’ve yet to watch this incredibly famous and great film, for which the amazing Meryl Streep won an Oscar.
I will. I promise.
Right now, let’s just go with the book. I actually began this in the Holocaust Remembrance Day, which ended up being quite appropriate (and then, one of my brothers and I watched Schindler’s List, just to keep the mood).
As a lot of people, I knew which was Sophie’s choice. And I expected the book to be very different from what it was. The novel opens in the voice of a young writer, Stingo. As any respectable struggling author, he’s starving and basically homeless after being from his job. So he moves into a cheap boarding in Brooklyn (again, as any respectable writer). There, he’s thrown in the midst of the turbulent relationship of his neighbours: Nathan and (finally!) Sophie.
Both of them are incredibly interesting (of course, any author worth their weight is always drawn to interesting people), and Stingo is fascinated by their dynamics. Basically, by how they fight and reconcile in a matter for hours.
Slowly, throughout the book, Sophie gives Stingo the story of her life. This is one of the most interesting aspects of the book, as Sophie is a bit of liar. Okay, a huge liar. Only in the very end does she tell Sting the whole truth. Though she always tells a story that could be true, there are a lot of details which she lives behind. She was taken into Auschwitz for smuggling meat for her dying mother and her children; the titular choice refers to one a Nazi doctor forced her to take. She has to choose which of her children will be gassed immediately and which one will be sent to the camp (to die later). She chose to have her daughter sent into the chamber, the decision haunts her entire life and shapes her later life. Her relationship with Nathan (who is Jewish, but born and raised in the US) is one of the unhealthiest I’ve ever read (including Twilight). They fight and insult each other all the time. And he treats her awfully, but she thinks she deserves it so she doesn’t fight back.
Throughout all the book, Sophie talks only about the boy, but in the climax she finally reveals having a boy and a girl . Despite her choice, she never got to learn what happened with her son and doesn’t know even whether he made it out of Auswitchz.
I liked how the book develops Sophie’s story, little by little. As she gave small bits, it made the book very interesting, because it makes you want to keep reading. You want to know what happened and why she’s so broken. The parts where Stingo talks about his life were the most boring. I’m sorry, his first world problems were completely irrelevant next to Sophie’s tragedy. I want to hear the story of a freakin’ Auswitchz survivor. Those are important things. He wanting to have sex was just filler.
Anyway, I can recommend it a lot. It’s good and keeps you going, so that’s always a good thing.
I will. I promise.
Right now, let’s just go with the book. I actually began this in the Holocaust Remembrance Day, which ended up being quite appropriate (and then, one of my brothers and I watched Schindler’s List, just to keep the mood).
As a lot of people, I knew which was Sophie’s choice. And I expected the book to be very different from what it was. The novel opens in the voice of a young writer, Stingo. As any respectable struggling author, he’s starving and basically homeless after being from his job. So he moves into a cheap boarding in Brooklyn (again, as any respectable writer). There, he’s thrown in the midst of the turbulent relationship of his neighbours: Nathan and (finally!) Sophie.
Both of them are incredibly interesting (of course, any author worth their weight is always drawn to interesting people), and Stingo is fascinated by their dynamics. Basically, by how they fight and reconcile in a matter for hours.
Slowly, throughout the book, Sophie gives Stingo the story of her life. This is one of the most interesting aspects of the book, as Sophie is a bit of liar. Okay, a huge liar.
Throughout all the book, Sophie talks only about the boy, but in the climax she finally reveals having
I liked how the book develops Sophie’s story, little by little. As she gave small bits, it made the book very interesting, because it makes you want to keep reading. You want to know what happened and why she’s so broken. The parts where Stingo talks about his life were the most boring. I’m sorry, his first world problems were completely irrelevant next to Sophie’s tragedy. I want to hear the story of a freakin’ Auswitchz survivor. Those are important things. He wanting to have sex was just filler.
Anyway, I can recommend it a lot. It’s good and keeps you going, so that’s always a good thing.