Notes On A Scandal
Length Of Time In Possession : 12-18 months
Like 1984 before it, the reason I came to Notes On A Scandal after a waiting period was because I had been significantly spoilered by media coverage of it, and already knew the ending. I'm not sure if this is because it featured in 'Faulks On Fiction' or if it's because I was accidentally spoilered during the time the film, starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench was around. I avoided the film, wanting to read the book first, as is the correct way to go about it!
Knowing the ending meant that I didn't want to pick it, but on my big List For 2013 it was nestled in between several books that had already been crossed out. Therefore it looked like it was lonely and had no friends so I picked it. (Yes, that's how my mind works....)
In Notes On A Scandal, respected but lonely teacher Barbara hopes that with the arrival of new art teacher Bathsheba she may have finally found a "Kindred Spirit" and hopes they will be "Bosom Friends" just this alone offers an insight into Barbara's psyche as it's all very 'Anne Of Green Gables' the difference being Anne is 11, and Barbara is in her Fifties.
Barbara eventually inveigles her way into Bathsheba's life and becomes her confidante, but the secret Bathsheba entrusts to her leads to Barbara slowly wielding total power over her "friend".
Like Ian McEwan's Enduring Love before it and recent offering Alys, Always from Harriet Lane - Notes From A Scandal offers an insight into the mind of the dangerous obsessive who fixates on one individual. I'm sure we've all had at least one friend in our time who proved to be just that bit "too" intense.
Barbara is just the right amount of sinister, without it becoming melodramatic, but there is a lot of pathos in her situation too. There is an excellent paragraph on how sometimes the perceived freedom of a single person can be it's own kind of jail. Able to spend money on going to theatre whenever you want, for example, yet always going alone.
There is no twist to this ending, it is quite open ended, yet the ending shows how completely Barbara's machinations have succeeded and in some ways the plain, unremarkable sentence upon which the novel closes is quite terrifying.
This book was massively easy to read whilst remaining intelligent and compelling, way better than a lot of books out there directly marketed as psychological thrillers and ultimately way more creepy.
I really enjoyed this novel.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Passing to a friend
Showing posts with label Stalker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stalker. Show all posts
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Monday, 9 July 2012
Book #61 Killing Cupid by Louise Voss and Mark Edwards
Killing Cupid
Killing Cupid from the Voss/Edwards writing duo is the story of wannabee writer Alex, who develops an unhealthy obsession with his tutor Siobhan, and believing he is in love begins to stalk her. Separate chapters cover Alex's viewpoint of the story and then Siobhan's as the story develops.
The thing with this novel as a single woman and a woman who lives alone, is that it does give you the actual creeps as you read it. He lurks in her house unseen, hiding in her wardrobe, he deletes an email which would positively effect her career, and buys her gifts with her own credit card. Alex is a seriously delusional human being who thinks of the day when she "invites him to move in" not as a fantasy or hope but states it in his journal as a certain fact. This is a good portrait of a stalker who in almost every case genuinely believe the object of their affection does or could welcome their attentions.
But, as Alex's behaviour pushes Siobhan to crack under the strain, her own breakdown brings about a whole new chain of events.
The central intelligence of Killing Cupid is that it takes what would commonly be known as the standard chick lit plot "boy meets girl, misunderstandings and obstacles ensue, happy ending" and perverts it making it a subversive version of that sort of novel, like a twisted reflection in a black mirror, the dark side of human emotion. It's like an anti-chick lit, chick lit, behaviours that can seem endearing in those sorts of novels, finding out where someone lives to try and "bump into them" become not the sweet fare of a Hugh Grant love story, but a woman's worst nightmare.
I also found Siobhan's initial response to Alex's withdrawal believable, what woman hasn't felt threatened when someone who said they were in love with you, seems to move on with someone you view as lesser? I think all women have felt that.
Naturally, at the extreme ends of the novel, particularly the end there is a lack of credulity, but in a way this is a necessary evil to complete the journey of the happy go lucky romcom novel through a distorted lens into a murky, seedy world of misfits and danger.
I really enjoyed this novel, the questions it posed about human responses and Alex freaked me out which he was duly supposed to do. I can think of people I know who would like this novel too, and can see why it would be popular. 9/10
Killing Cupid from the Voss/Edwards writing duo is the story of wannabee writer Alex, who develops an unhealthy obsession with his tutor Siobhan, and believing he is in love begins to stalk her. Separate chapters cover Alex's viewpoint of the story and then Siobhan's as the story develops.
The thing with this novel as a single woman and a woman who lives alone, is that it does give you the actual creeps as you read it. He lurks in her house unseen, hiding in her wardrobe, he deletes an email which would positively effect her career, and buys her gifts with her own credit card. Alex is a seriously delusional human being who thinks of the day when she "invites him to move in" not as a fantasy or hope but states it in his journal as a certain fact. This is a good portrait of a stalker who in almost every case genuinely believe the object of their affection does or could welcome their attentions.
But, as Alex's behaviour pushes Siobhan to crack under the strain, her own breakdown brings about a whole new chain of events.
The central intelligence of Killing Cupid is that it takes what would commonly be known as the standard chick lit plot "boy meets girl, misunderstandings and obstacles ensue, happy ending" and perverts it making it a subversive version of that sort of novel, like a twisted reflection in a black mirror, the dark side of human emotion. It's like an anti-chick lit, chick lit, behaviours that can seem endearing in those sorts of novels, finding out where someone lives to try and "bump into them" become not the sweet fare of a Hugh Grant love story, but a woman's worst nightmare.
I also found Siobhan's initial response to Alex's withdrawal believable, what woman hasn't felt threatened when someone who said they were in love with you, seems to move on with someone you view as lesser? I think all women have felt that.
Naturally, at the extreme ends of the novel, particularly the end there is a lack of credulity, but in a way this is a necessary evil to complete the journey of the happy go lucky romcom novel through a distorted lens into a murky, seedy world of misfits and danger.
I really enjoyed this novel, the questions it posed about human responses and Alex freaked me out which he was duly supposed to do. I can think of people I know who would like this novel too, and can see why it would be popular. 9/10
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