You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
pupsicle 's review for:
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed Styron's writing style, I thought it was really pulling and he is really talented in giving each character their own unique voice and mannerism. Another thing I liked was how fucked up everybody was. It just felt right. They're all young during WW2 era and most of them went life or death situations - They were all alone and needed help. I don't know how to explain it. The book was ugly in a good way!
Though I do think it's a bit dated.. The way sexuality is handled in the book makes it feel somewhat predatory and how it seems to infantilize Sophie. Even her trauma felt romanticized and sexualized.
If Sophie's Choice wasn't a book meant to be fake memoir and was instead non fiction maybe, I would give it a 5 stars. I wish Sophie was based on a real survivor or victim because the blurb calling it a thriller made the book sound cheap. I don't think the Holocaust and the trauma it brings to survivors can just be called a thriller even if genre wise, they are correct. It just sounded a little insensitive. This book feels like the Jewish version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Though I do recognize and admire how it helped people understand the Holocaust differently at the time. The book could've been a tad shorter if Stingo wasn't horny and actually cared and focused on who Sophie was. He, Stingo, didn't do her story justice.
Though I do think it's a bit dated.. The way sexuality is handled in the book makes it feel somewhat predatory and how it seems to infantilize Sophie. Even her trauma felt romanticized and sexualized.
If Sophie's Choice wasn't a book meant to be fake memoir and was instead non fiction maybe, I would give it a 5 stars. I wish Sophie was based on a real survivor or victim because the blurb calling it a thriller made the book sound cheap. I don't think the Holocaust and the trauma it brings to survivors can just be called a thriller even if genre wise, they are correct. It just sounded a little insensitive. This book feels like the Jewish version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Though I do recognize and admire how it helped people understand the Holocaust differently at the time. The book could've been a tad shorter if Stingo wasn't horny and actually cared and focused on who Sophie was. He, Stingo, didn't do her story justice.