#Blogmas2016 | Book Review - The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
Sunday, December 11, 2016
I think I might be one of the last people to read The Girl On
The Train by Paula Hawkins. It one of those books that has been hyped and as
the film has recently been realised I'd noticed a lot of chatter about it on
social media and decided it was time.
The book is set in London and centres round Rachel who is The
Girl On The Train. She's an alcoholic who has lost her job and is trying to
come to terms with the end of her marriage, he's ex's new relationship and new
baby.
The story begins with her riding the train pretending to go to
work everyday, the train goes past her old house, the house her ex still lives
in and she frequently watches not only them but another couple a few doors
down. She creates a fantasy life for them. She's an artist, he's a doctor. They
have the perfect marriage.
The woman goes missing and Rachel becomes embroiled in a web of
lies to the police but she also tries to help the husband by reporting
something she has seen from the train window.
However she's not considered to be a credible witness, not only is
she an alcoholic but she'd been on a blackout binge the night of the
disappearance, was seen in the area and the missing woman has a likeness to her
ex's new wife.
While reading the book I had no empathy for any of the characters.
I felt irritated and everything felt a bit too contrived and I kept thinking if
only they'd done, this or said that it would be better. I don't think it's ever
a good thing when you mentally rewrite a book while you read it.
I also feel my feeling towards the book may be swayed because I
read it on my kindle. As much as I love the kindle I do think it takes some of
the enjoyment out of the book.
Over all it's a good book, worth reading and now I've seen the
movie I've got a new found appreciation for it and I am going to read it
again.
I would say I liked the film better, which I feel is quite rare
for me. The two follow the same over all plot but the film is set in New York
and for me some of the scenes just didn't work. I needed to be London but the
cinematography was excellent and the cast was fantastic.
Both the book and the film are hard to watch with some difficult
and uncomfortable scenes, there are no sunshine or kittens anywhere.
I would recommend reading book or watching the film but I have to
compartmentalise them into two very different things.
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