I'm going to post a book report here soon - I've just finished listening to an audiobook of "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins.
SPOILER ALERT - if you don't want to know how it ends, look away now.
TRIGGER ALERT - the story involve alcoholism, death and marriage breakups - if that is traumatic for you, don't read any more.
This was a best-seller in UK and US. I listened to an abridged version as an audiobook, so it's possible I missed out on some subtleties.
The story is narrated by 3 women - Rachel, who used to be married to Tom; Anna, Tom's new wife, and Megan who lives with her husband Scott just down the road from Tom and Anna. Rachel commutes by train in and out of London, passing the backs of the houses of Tom & Anna, and Megan and Scott. She split up with Tom because he started an affair with Anna. She drinks too much and often has blackouts, and can't properly remember the unwise things she did when drunk, which include pestering Tom with phone calls because she still loves him. She started drinking because she and Tom wanted a baby but she couldn't get pregnant. She is upset to see that Tom and Anna now have a baby, and again when she sees Megan kissing another man. When the news starts telling the story that Megan has gone missing, Rachel, who has never met Megan and Scott, tells the police, and Scott, about the other man, who turns out to be Megan's therapist Kamal, and she has been talking to him about her difficult past including the tragic death of her baby. Then Megan is found dead. Rachel suspects Kamal, the police suspect Scott, Tom and Anna think Rachel is stalking them, Rachel gets friendly with Scott, and she goes to talk to Kamal about her drinking, to try to trick him into revealing something about his affair with Megan. Megan was pregnant, but neither Scott nor Kamal was the father. We finally learn that Tom was having an affair with Megan, and Anna and Rachel confront him and end up killing him.
I didn't actually enjoy it, so apologies to anyone who read it and also didn't.
I thought of some discussion points - feel free to answer or ignore these.
The police say Rachel is "an unreliable witness." She tells a lot of lies. Is she honest to the reader when she's telling her parts of the story?
Did it work to have 3 narrators? Did you find it confusing?
Which of the characters did you feel most sympathy for?
I've read a lot of books in the last few years with characters grieving for a dead child - why is it so common?
My answers:
I thought Rachel's narration was honest, despite all her other lies. I did get confused by the different narrators, I thought the author could have made them speak/write more differently from each other. I thought all the characters were more or less unpleasant people and the ones I felt sorry for were Evie and Kathy!
I'll try to find a book I enjoy among the many suggestions that were made.
Does anyone want to do a book report on a book they've read?
I read this book several yrs ago. Great suspense. I really liked it. Not as good as Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn but close 😊
Don’t be offended. You sound like a lover of books. I only saw the movie. It was intense so I’m sure the book was a good read. I used to love to escape into stories. My favorite series of books I read is Outlander.
Full disclosure. It’s to hard tor me to read a book now. I miss it. The words don’t flow in my brain well after a page or two. I end up rereading repeatedly. I’ve tried large print. I’ve done audio books, many times. I don’t like them. Library doesn’t offer story time for grown women.
What is a favorite movie of yours?
My favourite movie?
Chose from:
Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are dead
Hamlet with Mel Gibson (Shakespeare plays make good films - the scenes are about the right length, and the setting changes like it does in movies - Henry V and Much Ado about Nothing were good too, and I liked Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo de Caprio)
Thelma and Louise
Just waiting on top of the hill
Report from the work trenches
Credit Card Company Abusive Practice Alert
This could be your lucky day!
