Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by pixiebix
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Feelings about this are extremely mixed.
I fell completely head over heels in love during the first 100-150 pages (ish). I understand why Styron is often critiqued for ‘overwriting’, but his writing style happens to be one of my favourite kinds. At first, Stingo also felt a compelling narrator.
I think what curbed my excitement for this book and made it feel quite slow going most of the time was the narrative style. The sexual themes, while very entertaining here and there, felt a little overdone and lewd; Sophie I found I just couldn’t warm to once we quickly learned that she is a very unreliable storyteller; and I feel Sophie and Nathan’s tumultuous relationship would have been better told with a more clipped pace and with more focus, rather than us jumping back and forth from info dumps about Sophie’s past (including her time in Auschwitz) and our cast’s current problems: Nathan and Sophie’s doomed affair, Stingo’s sexual frustration, Stingo’s writing, and so on.
Sophie’s story especially was something I just really didn’t connect to at any point, sadly. The ‘retellings’ were just so haphazard and interruptive and tedious that there was little room for enjoyment. Plus, I really think this book was missing more of a deep dive into her mental state. This might be a little too demanding for its time, of course, and we do see the telltale signs of her devolvement, but I guess Sophie’s character had been given more room for growth and exploration outside of the actual events she was involved in.
Regardless, I’m glad to have read this, and I’m perhaps overemphasising the tedium here. Every character (besides Sophie, ironically) did feel very compelling, and I do appreciate the level of detail provided. If we could’ve stuck with JUST the past or JUST the present day, though, this easily could’ve been a four star book, or more. The fragmentary and unchronological retellings of Sophie’s past just made her entire story quite difficult to connect to and get immersed in.
I fell completely head over heels in love during the first 100-150 pages (ish). I understand why Styron is often critiqued for ‘overwriting’, but his writing style happens to be one of my favourite kinds. At first, Stingo also felt a compelling narrator.
I think what curbed my excitement for this book and made it feel quite slow going most of the time was the narrative style. The sexual themes, while very entertaining here and there, felt a little overdone and lewd; Sophie I found I just couldn’t warm to once we quickly learned that she is a very unreliable storyteller; and I feel Sophie and Nathan’s tumultuous relationship would have been better told with a more clipped pace and with more focus, rather than us jumping back and forth from info dumps about Sophie’s past (including her time in Auschwitz) and our cast’s current problems: Nathan and Sophie’s doomed affair, Stingo’s sexual frustration, Stingo’s writing, and so on.
Sophie’s story especially was something I just really didn’t connect to at any point, sadly. The ‘retellings’ were just so haphazard and interruptive and tedious that there was little room for enjoyment. Plus, I really think this book was missing more of a deep dive into her mental state. This might be a little too demanding for its time, of course, and we do see the telltale signs of her devolvement, but I guess Sophie’s character had been given more room for growth and exploration outside of the actual events she was involved in.
Regardless, I’m glad to have read this, and I’m perhaps overemphasising the tedium here. Every character (besides Sophie, ironically) did feel very compelling, and I do appreciate the level of detail provided. If we could’ve stuck with JUST the past or JUST the present day, though, this easily could’ve been a four star book, or more. The fragmentary and unchronological retellings of Sophie’s past just made her entire story quite difficult to connect to and get immersed in.