What are your views on Nick and his character?

Discuss the October 2014 book of the month, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
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Skillian
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Re: What are your views on Nick and his character?

Post by Skillian »

I agree a prequel focusing on her upbringing would be awesome. I feel like there would be enough there worthy of one.... versus Nicks. I bet his would be relatively uncomplicated and void of interesting material. His would be a whole lot of getting what he wants...and never really having to think about much outside of himself. Versus Amy... would be practically years upon years of psychological torture and internalizing... and adapting by learning more passive aggressive and manipulative ways of getting her way.
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Post by TLGabelman »

Skillian wrote:I agree a prequel focusing on her upbringing would be awesome. I feel like there would be enough there worthy of one.... versus Nicks. I bet his would be relatively uncomplicated and void of interesting material. His would be a whole lot of getting what he wants...and never really having to think about much outside of himself. Versus Amy... would be practically years upon years of psychological torture and internalizing... and adapting by learning more passive aggressive and manipulative ways of getting her way.
Agreed! I suppose this is what interests me most about a good psychological Thriller. Now if Flynn did release a book about Nick, I would read it. None of her books have ever disappointed and I can imagine his mediocre facade turned in all kinds of fantastic ways for our enjoyment.
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Post by Skillian »

Right... I guess considering we also know his sister. It would be a bit more interesting to see the entire family dynamic. It would have to branch out some to keep things interesting. lol
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Post by mixedchocolite »

At first I thought he was an ok character in the beginning. But then I started getting suspicious about him and his actions. He was unappreciative of his wife and thought she could have deserved better. Do I think he deserved what he go, in honesty with everything that have happened. No.
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Post by Aepar91 »

I still have no idea how I feel,about him. He cheated, yes, and amy is a psycho for sure and he didn't deserve all of the backlash. But he was still dishonest and to me an unreliable narrator, as was amy. This book kept lying and deceiving the reader from all angles and while I truly dislike amy, I go back and forth with how I feel about nick.
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Post by Skillian »

I dislike both of them. The more time that passes.. the more I feel for her and less I feel for him. Still she took it too far. I feel for her due to her emotionally and psychologically abusive upbringing. I also feel that plenty of people have had their lives stolen from them by significant others who don't actually believe in marriage... or they would have worked on it instead of just ditching out and making excuses for ditching out. Many of them a lot more than Amy had. The worst to me is when someone has spent the majority of their lives with that person... had kids with them... and now its time to grow old with them... and BAM they ditch exactly when you would need to lean on them most. Like either they just used them to have kids or used them to support them. It does seem like murder... to a degree.

She definitely isn't the first person to take extreme measures in trying to remedy a marriage. She also wouldn't be the first person to get pregnant to save her marriage.

In the end... nothing really happened to Nick. He didn't go to jail. All that happened was his dirty laundry got aired out in the public eye, and he now has to honor his marriage agreement. What is sicker? That she went to such extremes? Or that she had to in order for him to become a decent human being? His choice to stay with her for the baby is the first unselfish thing he does in the entire book.

Again.... it sucks she did such horrible things. Especially killing... that is wrong. She is not a good person either... I'm just saying... Nick is horrible too.
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Post by TLGabelman »

I think the pregnancy is more another way to control rather than to 'save her marriage.' I think she wants Nick to be her intellectual equal more than anything. Amy wants him to figure her out, respond to her manipulations in kind and give back as good as she does. In her sick mind though I think that is love. She shaped and molded their world but there are things happening outside her control and always will be. She never wanted to move to the 'suburbs.' All I know is this will be one messed up baby!
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Post by Skillian »

I know! Poor baby :(
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Post by Himmelslicht »

True that, tlgabelman!
If you read other books by Flynn you definitely know that messed up brains and lives is Flynn's cup of tea. These people's perception of love is really distorted and they will do anything to have who they want, even if that means for that wanted person to stop loving them. It IS messed up. A really good kind of messed up. I'm tired of the good old romance (unless very well written).
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Post by 3chicnP »

I think that he's an idiot and little twit. I would like a better ending.
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Post by Skillian »

3chicnP wrote:I think that he's an idiot and little twit. I would like a better ending.

LOL!
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Post by Bidisha »

BIG d'bag, cheater, but considering that he is as stupid as he is, what she did to him felt a little extreme. But only becos he was as stupid as he was and I started to feel sorry for him.
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Post by alm73 »

I believe this is the first book I've read where I flip flopped so many time in who I was rooting for. Flynn did a great job with the character switch. I've had some trouble keeping up in other books that used that outline. Not with this book. Nick was a doofus, but somewhat likeable despite the cheating. I couldn't stop myself from jumping on the Amy bandwagon with each of her chapters though....until the last 1/4 or so of the book.
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Post by Himmelslicht »

3chicnP wrote:I think that he's an idiot and little twit. I would like a better ending.
I liked the ending because he deserved it :lol:
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Post by TLGabelman »

They deserve each other! He's just as bad as her in so many ways. Such a cliche, having an affair...thinking he's hidden it well. Oh no but he's really in love with this other girl, Amys just not the same as before. Blah, blah, blah....I just feel bad for the kin.
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