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Original poster

sophie's choice

14 replies

ThatllDoPig · 07/01/2012 21:11

Finished it yesterday and its haunting me. So many different layers in the book. Weird when you get that feeling that you are immersed in the world of a book and don't know what to do with yourself when its over!

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TheEpilator · 07/01/2012 21:26

I just bought it so don't tell me what happens, but am intrigued now!

I also bought The Stepford Wives, which was totally ruined by the intro - basically it told me exactly what happens in the book! I presume they think everyone knows the story from years ago or from watching the film(s) but I didn't! Grrr....

So if anyone's bought it - don't read the intro!

seriouslytwisted · 11/01/2012 09:13

It's one book I really couldn't bear to read, far too upsetting - just watching a clip of the movie was bad enough.

Original poster
ThatllDoPig · 11/01/2012 09:19

I know, it is very harrowing and graphic. I couldn't have read it until now. Still feel quite depressed about the truth of the things that happened in the past and are still happening somewhere. Don't know if I have gained from reading it or not really. It is very well written and awareness is a good thing, but makes you look at the world in a dark way, but maybe that is real?! Back to the bubble please!

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momnipotent · 11/01/2012 09:22

I read it pre-kids and I found it tough then. I'm not sure how I would do now that I have kids of my own. It is a haunting book.

justhavintheone · 15/01/2012 21:04

one of my favorite books ever, read it years ago and i still think about it often.

joanofarchitrave · 15/01/2012 21:06

I think about it a lot but partly because after I read it, I read an essay about it in Joan Smith's 'Misogynies' which put into words some of the things I felt about it. Only some, though.

How unreliable is Stingo as a narrator, do you think?

Original poster
ThatllDoPig · 17/01/2012 14:21

Do you mean unreliable in the way he relates Sophie's 'truth' ? Interesting. His overwhelming fascination with her suggests that she can do no wrong in his eyes. The only thing he sees that isn't perfect about her (for Stingo) is her love for Nathan rather than him. But then, ultimately, she is a victim caught up in every situation. She never seems to have any power, due to the weight of the times and the personalities she is surrounded by, so maybe this is an accurate and reliable presentation. What do you think?

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Francagoestohollywood · 17/01/2012 14:37

I read it a few yrs ago.
I enjoyed reading it, it is harrowing, but there are other books that have depicted the horror of the holocaust and ww2 with more sincerity.

I agree that Sophie is a victim, of everyone, including Stingo.

Gigondas · 17/01/2012 14:58

It was a while ago but the abiding memory of Sophie as a victim (sort of like in tess of the d'urbervilles) as much as the choice .

Agree that it's not so much a book about the holocaust - this book which I must have read 20 years ago has haunted me far more about war winter in the morning

Original poster
ThatllDoPig · 18/01/2012 09:00

franca what do you mean about Sophie even being a victim of Stingo? I know at the end he tries to bulldoze her into his life and future, but this is never really going to happen. The part when they go to the beach and they have sexual contact seems the only part of the book where she takes control of a situation. I thought the way she treated Stingo had echoes of the way that Nathan treated her (on the trip to Connecticut).

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Francagoestohollywood · 18/01/2012 10:14

Thatlldopig, I think that Stingo had an idealised vision of Sophie, and was also totally incapable of really understand her feelings and the severity of her emotional scars after she survived one of the most unique and most brutal ordeal ever.
He was incredibly simplistic in his "dream" of marrying her (and if I remember well he was even contemplating of having children together), he was absolutely incapable to understand her, imho.

Gigondas, thanks for the link. A square of sky is one of my best loved books about the prosecution of Jews.
As far as fiction goes, if you want to read a good novel about the brutality of the war, I recommend Agota Kristof "the book of lies".

Original poster
ThatllDoPig · 18/01/2012 12:23

I think I see what you mean, he victimised her by his selfish inability to understand her. He only accepted her suffering if it didn't affect his unrealistic dream of a future together. He wanted to make her into what he wanted rather than have true compassion for who she was and what she had experienced.

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Francagoestohollywood · 18/01/2012 14:16

Yes, exactly, Thatlldo Smile

valiumredhead · 21/01/2012 18:27

I LOVED the film but hated the book. Stingo reading the poem A Country Burial makes me weep every time!

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