Dark Places
I've found another book that I am completely infatuated with. Since I read "Joyland" by Stephen King, I haven't been able to find a story that has engulfed me until I heard Gillian Flynn on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." I'd heard of her new book "Gone Girl" and all the buzz was good but it didn't catch my attention until I heard the interview. The joke on the show was that she was such a
convincing storyteller of really dark, gruesome stories but was so fun and nice in person. This is how many people would describe Stephen King. I think that is what makes him a really compelling writer so I thought I would give Flynn's work a try. I had been in a drought of stories that just didn't capture me, after all.
Instead of beginning with her most recent novel I went for an older story called "Dark Places." It's the story of a girl who's Mother and two sisters were murdered when she was 7, supposedly by her older brother Ben. The story opens from her perspective 20 years after the murders. Each chapter is told either from her perspective now or from her brother's perspective, then, or her mother's perspective then. I really like the alternating perspectives because people see the same thing so differently depending on their perspective and Flynn does an amazing job capturing the subtleties of situations through each character's eyes.
As their lives spin slowly but wildly out of control, Flynn makes you experience the mentality of how each character got to where they were. Ben was 15 when the murders happen. He doesn't really fit in, he's surrounded by 4 females all the time, no father figure, and in need of finding a way to come into his own like most of us do at that age. He liked metal music and was smitten with a wild girl that gave him attention. She leads him down a bad path and he follows her like a puppy because impressing a girl anyway you can is kind of in the job description.
The story reminds me in some ways of The West Memphis 3 and the way that Damien Echols told his story in his memoir. Damien, his best friend Jason, and their friend Jesse were convicted for the murders of 3 young boys that was physically impossible for them to commit. Damien was young when he was sent to prison life because gossip can be gospel in small town Louisiana. His story is interesting and he was just recently released. He talked about his story on the Moth in April.
I've felt like I have been complaining how hard this is. I think that putting it into perspective helps.
This isn't easy but it's not serving-time-for-a-crime-you-didn't-commit hard. It's good motivation even though I'm feeling a little like I'm wasting it because I'm babying my ankle. The swelling is pretty persistent but the pain is almost gone. Here's to hoping that Flynn's other works will be just as riveting and keep me going after this one concludes!
<3 Katie
44 Days
199 LBS
Feeling wimpy
Instead of beginning with her most recent novel I went for an older story called "Dark Places." It's the story of a girl who's Mother and two sisters were murdered when she was 7, supposedly by her older brother Ben. The story opens from her perspective 20 years after the murders. Each chapter is told either from her perspective now or from her brother's perspective, then, or her mother's perspective then. I really like the alternating perspectives because people see the same thing so differently depending on their perspective and Flynn does an amazing job capturing the subtleties of situations through each character's eyes.
As their lives spin slowly but wildly out of control, Flynn makes you experience the mentality of how each character got to where they were. Ben was 15 when the murders happen. He doesn't really fit in, he's surrounded by 4 females all the time, no father figure, and in need of finding a way to come into his own like most of us do at that age. He liked metal music and was smitten with a wild girl that gave him attention. She leads him down a bad path and he follows her like a puppy because impressing a girl anyway you can is kind of in the job description.
The story reminds me in some ways of The West Memphis 3 and the way that Damien Echols told his story in his memoir. Damien, his best friend Jason, and their friend Jesse were convicted for the murders of 3 young boys that was physically impossible for them to commit. Damien was young when he was sent to prison life because gossip can be gospel in small town Louisiana. His story is interesting and he was just recently released. He talked about his story on the Moth in April. I've felt like I have been complaining how hard this is. I think that putting it into perspective helps.
This isn't easy but it's not serving-time-for-a-crime-you-didn't-commit hard. It's good motivation even though I'm feeling a little like I'm wasting it because I'm babying my ankle. The swelling is pretty persistent but the pain is almost gone. Here's to hoping that Flynn's other works will be just as riveting and keep me going after this one concludes!
<3 Katie
44 Days
199 LBS
Feeling wimpy
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