Rebecca in Reading Buddy Style

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Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier

Start date: February 1, 2015

Finish date: February 28, 2015

Discussion: Group Read

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April 2015: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
By Megan · 1 post · 4 views

last updated Mar 19, 2015 07:22AM

March 2015: Horns
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last updated Feb 17, 2015 05:36AM

What Members Thought

Feb 08, 2010 Heather rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense-thriller, classics, 2016

A great classic suspense/mystery novel. Such an easy read, I devoured it in only a few days.

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Nov 05, 2015 Gabriella Gricius rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015-reads, november-2015

Why Read: I have to admit that I did not have totally pure motivations in reading this book. A friend has been telling me to read this for quite a while now, because of the musical. Yes. There is a musical in German, of course, that I'm absolutely dying to see. It seems almost shameful though to see it without reading the original gothic novel.

Review: If you know me, then you know I'm not always one for classics. That's not to say that I don't love a good Jane Austen or Sir Arthur Canon Doyle ev Why Read: I have to admit that I did not have totally pure motivations in reading this book. A friend has been telling me to read this for quite a while now, because of the musical. Yes. There is a musical in German, of course, that I'm absolutely dying to see. It seems almost shameful though to see it without reading the original gothic novel.

Review: If you know me, then you know I'm not always one for classics. That's not to say that I don't love a good Jane Austen or Sir Arthur Canon Doyle every once in awhile, but usually - it's something I'm comfortable with (because I've read it before). It's not something I'm particularly proud of, but classics are not my strong point.

Rebecca may have changed that. It was my first gothic novel that I've read since leveling up to adulthood - and I'm fond of it for that reason. The characters have the same problems that most older classical books have - weak women treated that way, overly masculine men, and plots that seem overly simplistic to us now... but which were the turn of the century back in the early 20th century.

Beyond those issues, which really plague most older books - it was a great novel to read for just as many, if not more, reasons. The ambience of the novel was perfectly creepy, and it reminded me of that new movie Crimson Peak with the halloween aesthetic. Of course I also read this during Halloween... so that may have something to do with it. The writing style reflected this and made me both uncomfortably aware of my surroundings in real life and for the new Mrs. de Winter.

The characters of Mrs. and Mr. de Winter were intriguing. I can't really describe how I ADORED every second of Max's development from start to finish without spoiling the novel, but rest assured if you read this book, you will love it too. Rebecca exists as this presence that is not supernatural but somehow is. The supporting cast floats in and out of the plot as needed, but somehow don't seem too disposable (I'm not sure how Daphne du Maurier does it).

I really did like this book. It combines the creeping gothic ambiance with a love story disrupted by the past, which is and isn't there simultaneously. Gah, I'm almost speechless because I want to blurt everything out and word-vomit all over about how much this book shocked me and then kept me on the edge of my train seat and I'm sure made some other passengers think I was having a stroke. Point being: Read it. You will like it, and if you don't... well, let's not go there, shall we?

Rating: 4.8/5 Stars ...more

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Jun 06, 2013 Prabhleen Singh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was so....DIFFERENT. I don't even know how to describe how I felt regarding this book. I guess I am still mesmerised and under the spell of the book. I can't seem to find any genre to put this novel into. This book had been lying in my to-read list since a long time and I am really really glad that I could finally get to reading it. Because it was just so wonderful! The imagery, the plot, the story, the characters, the location, the description of every minute detail. I am in love with this This was so....DIFFERENT. I don't even know how to describe how I felt regarding this book. I guess I am still mesmerised and under the spell of the book. I can't seem to find any genre to put this novel into. This book had been lying in my to-read list since a long time and I am really really glad that I could finally get to reading it. Because it was just so wonderful! The imagery, the plot, the story, the characters, the location, the description of every minute detail. I am in love with this book!
Honestly, when I started reading this book I was getting hell bored with the lengthy descriptions and the various narration of things of which I couldn't make head or tail. I deserted the book for two-three days also which is a rather unusual thing for me to do. But I am really glad that I read the book till the very last page. My each and every query and doubt regarding the book got solved by the time I turned the last page. Though I surely found the ending rather abrupt so I had to go back to the starting and flip through the first two chapters.
This was my first du Maurier book and even after so many years after publication this book seems so real, so today! The male dominance is still prevalent in the society and I loved the way the author merged it in the story. I was shocked when I read the truth about Rebecca but according to me the second Mrs. de Winter who remains unnamed throughout the story also meets the same fate. She is turned into a walking corpse by her husband and what more she readily agrees to suffer with him. De Winter turns her into what she earlier was by the end, a paid companion where he pays her not with money but with love(or so she thinks).
Many people overlook the hidden aspects of this novel and tend to mark it as any other love story. But in my opinion the crux of the story is much deeper than this. The way the second wife who is still young and has many years to live, is turned into a mere companion for a person in exile is dreadful. By the time she came to shun her social awkwardness, de Winter awards her with confinement in hotels with nothing but newspapers to pass her time with. He simply killed the youth in her.
This novel if read with no presumptions can have a very long lasting and positive impact on the reader and it sure did have one on me. Wow! ...more

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