Sunday, July 8, 2012

Book Recommendation - Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

This past week I went up to the Finger Lakes with a few friends for six days of relaxing, swimming and drinking. Well, they did a lot of swimming, anyway. It took me 3 days to grow the balls to swim out past the dock and even then I'm pretty sure the folks alllll the way across the lake could hear me shrieking in pure, unadulterated terror. Because water makes me feel... uncomfortable. In an "ohmyfuckinggodI'mgonnadie" kind of way.

 I'm almost in the water.

So, instead of doing a whole lot of swimming, I did a whole lot of reading.

One of the books I absolutely devoured was called Dark Places: A Novel.


The synopsis:

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her. 

This book is both a mystery and a tale of self-awakening. Gillian Flynn's writing style is stark yet incredibly descriptive. The first two sentences, in fact, had me sucked in immediately:

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you can stomp on it. 

There are certainly some dark themes in this novel, and the story switches between present day and the tragic, violent past. The main character, Libby Day, is a self-hating, depressed smart-ass, yet somehow ends up being endearingly flawed, as she navigates through the memories of a family that didn't have much of a chance at happiness in the first place.

But not all is murder and mayhem in Dark Places. Somewhere, between the past and the present, there comes the realization that there can always be, no matter how bad the past was, a light at the end of the tunnel.

16 comments:

  1. Oh goody. I have 6 weeks of camping in WY without electricity coming up. Going to refer back to other Twitarded suggestions to fill my time and mind.

    Plus, I think I'm going to bail on 50 Shades before I get to book three. I read it all as FF, why did I like it better then?

    Also, as I've pimped before, "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed is a great read of a sort of self-discovery without being saccharin. Don't be put off by it being an Oprah book.

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    1. SIX WEEKS?!?!?!?! OMG, are you CRAZY!!! I had to re-read that line as I thought for SURE you must've said six DAYS!

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    2. yes, I'm probably crazy. Though camping for 6 weeks is surely not my most egregious proof of that point.

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    3. Wow. That is a serious commitment. I'm not sure if I'm astonished by your fortitude or concerned about your sanity. ;)

      Sounds like a great time, IMO. Have fun!!

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  2. Oh, and maybe you should try water wings, JJ.

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  3. Ooh, I love Gillian Flynn! Dark Places and Sharp Objects were both fantastic reads, I highly recommend picking them up. Her newest, Gone Girl, is next on my TBR list, and I've heard some good things about it.

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    1. Reading Sharp Objects right now. Still early into it but Amma is a fucking psychopath.

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  4. I think I need a week there, too (I'm not going in the water but I'll take the lake breeze on the dock, thanks).

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  5. Perfectly timed rec. I have 8 weeks left on my summer break and just finished the last book on my list. Thanks!

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    1. what were the favorites on your just-finished list?

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    2. 8 weeks of break?? What does that mean, exactly?

      And please tell us what books you liked!! I'm always looking for more!

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    3. My favorites: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, The Taker (The Reckoning book #2 is on my list to read), Divergent, Insurgent, all of Chelsea Handlers books, The Uglies 1-3.

      8 weeks left, baby! I took the summer off to spend with the boytards, go to Disney World, and lay by the pool. I've been off work since 5/9 and don't go 9/12. It's been lovely.

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  6. Ooooh, on it! It's kinda shitty and hot out today, so a trip to the air conditioned magic that is book store seems to be a great idea.

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  7. I have read so many "dark" books recently I am beginning to have weird dreams. Me thinks I need to read some happy books for a while lol

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  8. My to-read list could stretch to the freaking moon by now, and I have two dozen more sitting in my Amazon "saved for later" cart waiting for me to find the time to read them.

    In the mean time, I'm rereading Twilight for the first time in probably two years. <50 pages in and I already have that familiar tug, and that constant brain distraction here-but-not-really-here thing going on. Oh Twilight.

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  9. Oh you Jerkface... I need another book recommendation like I need a gah damn hole in my head. Geez... I'm never going to get another lick of housework done. Ever.

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