Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is not my favorite "classic" novel I've ever read.
I've often heard this novel grouped with the novels by the Brontes and the Austens, however I think it falls very short of either of those.
I didn't find any of the characters very relateable until the very end. Maxim is aloof and distant. The Narrator is really nothing short of pathetic. And Rebecca sounds like the very worst sort of person imaginable. Even the side characters are turn-offs. The only character I felt was a decent person was Ben.
Now, I know you all are screaming, Hayley, your favorite book is Wuthering Heights!! How is that any different?? Well, I feel that the characters in Wuthering Heights have redeeming qualities (primarily their love for other people). In Rebecca, the love errs on the wrong side of infatuation, and it's very disturbing as it appears to be very one-sided.
There were several quotes I liked:
"We can never go back, that much is certain. The past is still too close to us."
"You have blotted out the past for me, you know, far more effectively than all the bright lights of Monte Carlo."
"I wondered how many people there were in the world who suffered, and continue to suffer, because they could not break out from their own web of shyness and reserve, and in their blindness and folly built up a great distorted wall in front of them that hid the truth."
Overall, I found the plot to be less than exciting and the characters to be less than enthralling.
Comments
Post a Comment