Gone Girl Characters-Spoilers

Discuss the October 2014 book of the month, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
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Gone Girl Characters-Spoilers

Post by amybo82 »

This post may contain spoilers.

I'm interested to discuss the characters in Gone Girl. I found Nick and Amy to both be un-relatable. I found that, by the end of the book, I didn't really care if they got back together. I thought they were both underhanded and unlikable. For me, it's very difficult to like a book if I can't relate to the characters. In fact, reflecting on other books I've read, I think that even when I hate a character, I consider that dislike to be a relation to the character. With this book, I was apathetic to the characters, and by the end, I was just glad that the book was over!

So, what does everyone else think about the characters? Did their attitudes and actions have a negative effect on your overall opinion of the book?
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Post by gali »

I disliked Nick at first and he irritated me greatly with his attitude and lies. I felt like shaking him at times. I have to say I liked Amy at first I and felt sorry for her. As the story unfolded, I have changed my mind about both of them. I felt strongly about both of them and thought they deserved each other. A story which can make me feel that strongly about the characters, is a great one. Nick irritated me so much that I had to take breaks in my reading. The many twists throughout the story were mind blowing.

I found the end of the story lacking and thought it rather spoiled the story. I didn't expect them to stay together and would have preferred another ending.
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Post by amybo82 »

I think the ending turned me off, too. I've read that in the movie coming out soon, the directors/writers/producers decided to change the ending. I wonder how that will affect the story as a whole!
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

I also did not find the characters to be relatable at all. By the end, Amy just frightened me, and Nick's behavior made me so angry that I once threw the book across the room in frustration! Like everyone else here, I really didn't care what happened to Nick or Amy, and at one point I was almost expecting the author to finish them both off. Other characters that I disliked include Amy's parents, Margo, and Nick's mistress (can't remember her name at the moment).

I will say, however, that Gillian Flynn is an excellent writer in spite of her awful characters (and part of me believes that the characters were made unlikable on purpose). The book kept me on the edge of my seat, and I finished it very quickly because I was just so curious as to how the story would end. Usually, unsavory characters will prevent me from wanting to finish a book, but the plot was so well-crafted that I just needed to know how it would turn out!
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Post by amybo82 »

I think I was torn while reading this book because I felt two things at once. On one hand, I didn't care what happened to the characters. On the other hand, I wanted to find out where the story was going to lead.
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Post by reginabally »

I don't like the ending either. I can't imagine myself living with a psycho for the rest of my life!
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Post by gali »

reginabally wrote:I don't like the ending either. I can't imagine myself living with a psycho for the rest of my life!
Ditto! And she was pregnant as well! :roll:
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Post by reginabally »

gali wrote:
reginabally wrote:I don't like the ending either. I can't imagine myself living with a psycho for the rest of my life!
Ditto! And she was pregnant as well! :roll:
Imagine a psycho wife raising his child!

I think Gillian Flynn is a good writer. Those small little piece of information scattered here and there in the story might be one of the major cause of the twist. I would never expect the sperm bank incident will lead to that ending.
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Post by cyndiha11 »

Those two were made for each other! I can't say I disliked how the story ended, and even though I too at times hated the characters with a fierce passion, it made me stick to the book like glue until I gobbled it all up.
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Post by obiebookworm »

reginabally wrote:I don't like the ending either. I can't imagine myself living with a psycho for the rest of my life!
I agree, I didn't like the ending either - way too freaky!
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Post by reginabally »

amybo82 wrote:I think the ending turned me off, too. I've read that in the movie coming out soon, the directors/writers/producers decided to change the ending. I wonder how that will affect the story as a whole!
I'm so disappointed to know that the movie will not be shown in cinemas in Malaysia, it's banned here. :(
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Post by autumnmarie »

I usually feel like I must relate to a character in one way or another to fully enjoy a book, but I too had trouble finding common ground with either Amy or Nick. This discomfited me greatly, but I couldn't help but want to know how they ended up. Furthermore, I cannot disparage Flynn's genius character development; she really has a way of manipulating your feelings about them. The severe character reversal seen in Amy's diary entries really illustrates this. All in all, I think they deserved each other. Though Amy's actions were radical, you could argue that Nicks choosing to stay with her was the ultimate token of an unhealthy, co-dependent mate.
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Post by amybo82 »

reginabally wrote:
amybo82 wrote:I think the ending turned me off, too. I've read that in the movie coming out soon, the directors/writers/producers decided to change the ending. I wonder how that will affect the story as a whole!
I'm so disappointed to know that the movie will not be shown in cinemas in Malaysia, it's banned here. :(
Wow! Why is it banned there?
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Post by obiebookworm »

I've had another thought and that is Gone Girl in many ways reminds me of Stephen King's novel Secret Window, Secret Garden, where the storyline zeroes in on a psychopath but the characters don't seem to fit that description until the end.
Any thoughts?
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Post by reginabally »

amybo82 wrote:
reginabally wrote:
amybo82 wrote:I think the ending turned me off, too. I've read that in the movie coming out soon, the directors/writers/producers decided to change the ending. I wonder how that will affect the story as a whole!
I'm so disappointed to know that the movie will not be shown in cinemas in Malaysia, it's banned here. :(
Wow! Why is it banned there?
The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia has decided to ban the movie instead as there are too many censored scenes.
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