"Why Gone Girl Keeps On Going" by Knopf's Carole Baron
In the last two weeks, nearly everywhere I go, people – at the bus stop, the nail parlor, hair dresser, one lawyer, one dentist, and two doctor’s offices – ask me the same question. “Have you read Gone Girl?” they want to know.
This is not that unusual since I work for a publisher and talk about books a lot. What is interesting is that these same people, two weeks earlier, were asking me another question: Had I read Fifty Shades of Grey?
On the face of it, these two books seem to have nothing in common and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why they both are so popular. The Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James is an erotic dance of a modern relationship. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is about a high-wired marriage with a dark side. All of a sudden, I couldn't shake the idea that there was an invisible visceral line between the two books. No wonder the books are vying weekly for the top spot on the best seller lists; I think they’re appealing to many of the same readers.
Plenty has been written about Fifty Shades. Basically, it is about a man, Christian Grey, and a woman, Anastasia Steele, who are attracted to each other and make the kind of connection that seduces our prurient senses (or as Sara Nelson wrote recently, appeals to our naughty side). Now, look at Gone Girl. Nick Dunne and Amy Elliott are in a marriage that was once filled with sweet words but has now gone over to the dark side; still, both wife and husband continue to reach out in albeit strange (and fascinating and damaged) ways to connect with each other. Connection: could that be the key? In Fifty Shades and Gone Girl, each couple is struggling to get a partner’s attention, and yes, make a connection. And in both, there’s an underlying tension based on an erotic attraction. Each partner is striving for control and dominance and each occasionally gets his or her own way and changes the other. But no one is on top all the time. (Excuse the pun.)
It could be that connection, however dark and twisted, is the modern way of expressing true love. Today it takes a lot more than flowers and sweet nothings to get someone's attention. Having an argument and then making up is a recurring theme in every romance through the ages – and that’s what happens in these books, except that these characters ratchet up the game. Readers are devouring these novels; they are recommending them to their friends. Fifty Shades of Grey and Gone Girl are appealing to the same reader... they have a lot in common. Why? It’s simple. They’re both, at bottom (sorry), love stories. And who doesn’t love a simple love story – especially if it’s complicated?
--Carole Baron
carol on July 23, 2012 at 12:59 PM
this is the book i was telling you about
Jennifer on July 23, 2012 at 05:41 PM
Ok, I've read the trilogy of "Fifty Shades" and totally got the concept of what E. L. James had written about, and have fallen totally in love with the powerful, dynamic relationship that is "Cristian & Ana", but when it comes to this book, "Gone Girl" I am sorry it has just lost me, I don't like the jumping around and don't really get the idea of what Nick & Amy are all about except the fact that they are married, and that he realizes that on his 5th anniversary he really hates his wife! I mean, come on get to the point of this story!! I am one of those readers who find a good book and can't put it down, I've got to finish no matter what, but with this book I have no problem walking by it, not picking it up, and when I do I can only read maybe 2 or 4 pages and then I'm done! I can't take much more of this book.
Jamie on July 23, 2012 at 08:21 PM
After reading both books - and really enjoying both of them - I did see the similarities in the subject of connection and the way connection brings people together and pushes them apart. But I think part of the similarity between the books also lies in the position of the male protagonists in both of the books. If you look at the men, both (though Christian more overtly than Nick) spend the novel in an attempt to take control of their respective situations and of the women they are involved with. Since - I would think - most of the readers of both novels are women, I think the position of power the women hold over the men in the books is one of the factors that is appealing. While the men find the lives they once knew spinning out of their grasp, the women are the ones forcing this loss of control and orchestrating a life for the men that they had attempted, at some point, to oppose. Granted, the intents of the characters and the outcomes are drastically different, so the similarities I saw might end at these vague descriptions.
S.A. Thomas on July 24, 2012 at 08:49 AM
Gone Girl is a vastly superior novel compared to Fifty Shades of Grey. The plot of Gone Girl is intriguing and while the characters in neither are "likeable"that is part of the story. I think the plot of Gone Girl is brilliant. I found Fifty Shades just boring.
Sharon on July 26, 2012 at 04:57 AM
Have to agree with S.A.Thomas. I struggled through Fifty Shades only because of the hype. I found it boring and predictable - maybe a bit racey at best. Gone Girl goes deeper as a psychological thriller. Granted I am only 3/4 through but I can't wait to get back to it when I can. Gone Girl grips as a closer look into the power struggles of a contemporary relationship. Men acquiece to the demands of today's competitive woman only to have - in this case, psycho woman take him for a ride. But, I have a feeling the tables will turn and Gone Girl will take me for a ride I hadn't expected. Can't say the same for Fifty Shades.
threegoodrats on July 26, 2012 at 01:04 PM
Just because both of these books are incredibly popular doesn't mean they have the same audience. I've read only short excerpts from Fifty Shades and the writing is pretty atrocious - but it's just Twilight fan fiction, after all. Gone Girl is much more sophisticated, with a complicated plot and nuanced characters. I wouldn't compare the two books. The Hunger Games trilogy was just incredibly popular too, but I wouldn't compare it to either of these. Apples and oranges!
converse cuir femme on July 27, 2012 at 12:17 AM
Grangou jwèt triloji a te jis ekstrèmman popilè tou, men mwen pa ta konpare li nan swa nan sa yo. Pòm ak zoranj Gason acquiece fè demann yo nan fanm konpetitif jodi a sèlman yo gen -! Nan ka sa a, psiko fanm pran l 'pou yon woulib. Men, mwen gen yon santiman tab yo pral vire e yo ale ti fi pral pran m 'pou yon woulib mwen pa te espere. Pa ka di menm bagay la tou pou senkant Grandè.