Gone Girl

Author Name: Gillian Flynn

Date of Publication: June 2012

Achievements:

 On the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller list for 8 weeks

 It was also twenty-six weeks on National Public Radio’s hardcover fiction bestseller list.

 By the end of its year in publication, Gone Girl had sold over two million copies in print & digital
editions.
Main Ideas of the book:
The Novel is about dishonesty, revenge and the unhappiness that comes with a
troubled economy. Nick cheated on his wife & Amy tried to hide herself to trap
him as her murderer for the revenge. Being robbed at her first hiding place she
asked for help from Desi Colling’s, her ex-boyfriend. When Nick understand the
plan of Amy he went for an popular talk show interview & pretended to be
apologetic and called her back as he didn’t has any proof. But meanwhile the
police arrested Nick as the police got a handle of punch and judy puppets soaked
in Amy’s blood at Nick's house. At desi’s place Amy watched the TV interview and
wanted to come to Nick. Upon her return, she fabricated a story of being
kidnapped. Although Nick knew she’s lying, he had no proof and forced to return
married life with Amy.

My review:
Gone Girl is a well platted, hell of the twist novel which binds the
reader closer to the story, until end it’s hard to breathe. It’s totally
astounding.it is the gripping story of the courtship and marriage of
narcissists Nick and his wife Amy a sociopath. They appear to be
experiencing the normal setbacks of life. It’s not easy to identify them
individually, which make it harder to know who to root for when
Amy disappears on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary and
the husband becomes the prime suspect. Neither seems to be telling
the whole truth yet they both remain engaging. All the twists and turns
helps to keep us on the edge of the story. This story resembles and
relates so much to be real like all just happening in front of us.
Main Elements:

 Nick Dunne: Raised in a working-class household with a misogynistic father who later suffered
from Alzheimer's, a mother who later developed cancer, and a twin sister with whom he is close,
Nick grew up as the golden child of the family and held several jobs throughout his adolescence. He
worked as a journalist in New York City until he was laid off.
 Amy Elliott Dunne: The title character. She is very beautiful but proves to be a clever and
sinister psychopath who is always three steps ahead of her enemies. She is the source of inspiration
for her parents' "Amazing Amy" book series. She made a living in New York as a writer for
personality quizzes and met Nick at a writers' party; they marry after two years of dating, and the
marriage starts out great until they both get laid off, her parents ask for financial help, and she and
Nick move to North Carthage, Missouri, after no longer being able to afford living in New York City.
After that, she becomes very resentful toward Nick.
 Jim Gilpin: A detective who participated in Nick's investigation. He is described by Nick as having
"fleshy bags under his eyes" and "scraggly white whiskers in his mustache."
 Rhonda Boney: A detective who participated in Nick's investigation. She has a younger brother
whom she "dotes on," and is the mother of a teenaged daughter, Mia. She is described by Nick as
"ugly," although he says he has an "affinity" for "ugly women." She does not want to believe Nick is
really guilty despite the seeming evidence piling on the case and gives him the benefit of the doubt
until things really take a turn for the worse.
 Tanner Bolt: Nick's lawyer, a defense attorney who specializes in defending husbands accused of
murdering their spouses.
 Andie Hardy: A woman in her early 20s with whom Nick cheats on Amy. Andie met Nick as a
student in his magazine-writing class, and their affair began 15 months before Amy's disappearance.
 Margo ("Go") Dunne: Nick's twin sister, with whom he owns a bar and has a close relationship.
She remains loyal to Nick throughout the murder investigation, despite her suspicions.
 Desi Collings: Amy's boyfriend in high school, who is described as wealthy and obsessed with
Amy. He is eventually murdered by Amy near the end of the novel.
My likes and hash tags:
I am Tamim, a suspense lover. So this book hit my reading instincts. It had a flow of liking and
made me more curious to read the next page. The writing style and the way of expression of
the author is highly appreciable. My hash tag characters that I really loved from the book was
Amy. Even though she was a negative character, but yet the real thrust for reading the book
was her strategies of wisdom.

My dislikes:
The act of media was first on my dislike list. The novel is a great example of the media can
influence people perception of things. I was really disappointed with the fact that with such
great climax, the ending was not up to the mark I found it really gripping. I actually enjoyed the
first part and hated the very predictable second half. Didn’t like the ending though. The ending
could have been more twisted and turned, so it felt like a complete waste of time after reading
the ending.

Examples:
Let us start with the analysis of the writing. The use of vocabulary is tremendous and the
writing style is purely professional. The character development even though fictional is yet
realistic. She can be graded as a five star author and I hope to read some of her more books.

Dishonesty
During the entire novel, the characters lie to each other and also to the reader. Amy's elaborately staged
disappearance is the most visible case of dishonestly, involving many additional lies. Nick, however, also lies to
both Amy and other individuals in order to conceal secrets such as his affair. The revelation that Amy's entire diary
was faked shows that the reader cannot necessarily rely on the narrative. The theme of dishonesty is particularly
striking and disturbing because marriage is often expected to be rooted in trust and intimacy, and yet we see that
Amy and Nick lie to each other constantly.
Media
The media is shown as an important factor in how the apparent "truth" of a situation is constructed. During the
investigation into Amy's disappearance, beliefs about Nick's potential guilt result almost as strongly from the way he
mishandles media appearances as they do from actual evidence against him. Whether or not Nick is actually guilty,
he seems guilty and this is shown to be more important. The importance of media suggests that uncritical beliefs and
snap judgments can be used to manipulate people, and reveal the importance of carefully assessing a situation. The
scam and action of the media is quite relevant to the media situation of Bangladesh. The media of Bangladesh is
always making people hero and villain at the simultaneous time just like that of the book. The impact of media is of
huge in any country but the use of yellow journalism is making things negative and difficult for the common
people. It is the media that can actually connect to a mass media and if they are the ones making negative and
misjudging comments than that is really a true sad story.

Troubled Economy
Economic problems greatly influence the events in the novel, and play a role in the lives of almost every character.
Nick and Amy's marriage takes a sharp turn for the worse after they both lose their jobs, and these economic
problems are a big part of what motivates them to move to Missouri. The mostly empty subdivision they live in
reflects the economic crash experienced by the town, as does the deserted mall and the gangs of unemployed men
who are seen as potentially connected to Amy's disappearance. Margo has suffered her own career setbacks due to
the declining economy, and even Amy's parents are short on cash. These economic problems are shown to create
additional stress and bring out the worst in people. As Erica Galioto writes, "Nick and Amy are empty and
dissatisfied and then little by little, lack carves itself into their relationship and into their subjectivities"