We are reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Please post your thoughts and questions about the book here.
Happy reading!
* Waste of time. Wouldn't recommend it.
** Didn't like it much.
*** Average.
**** It is a good book.
***** Liked it very much. Would strongly recommend it.
We are reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Please post your thoughts and questions about the book here.
Happy reading!
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"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
Whew!!
s10cr
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
Read the first chapter. Quite depressing, but I'm thinking it sets the tone for the rest of the book?
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
And why does that chick feel it necessary to remind us every couple of lines that she's young and inexperienced.
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
wow! I keep getting lucky with these things. Just happened to find Rebecca in a used book store, bought it, read it, liked it, but have so many questions about certain bits... I'm too tired to think straight about them now. Maybe tomorrow I'll hit Sparknotes and then put up some thoughts.
100,000 lemmings can't be wrong. ~heard from a friend
Life is the first gift, love is the second, understanding the third. ~ Marge Piercy
Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God;
but only he who sees takes of his shoes. ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Started reading Rebecca during the weekend and am enjoying it (read about 80 pages). I agree with Papaya that that first couple of chapters were quite depressing but the way the author draws the reader into the story is very clever I think. We are given a glimpse into the present before being taken back in time to the point when everything started. I am a little annoyed with the author's technique of being economical with the information shared. Like I still don't know the name of the heroine (do we ever find out?) and just found out that Mr de Winter's first name is Maxim. Of course all these little things make me want to read more; I feel more drawn into the story.
The heroine: I am really thinking that she should have read more Brontes than Austen! All that daydreaming and fairy tales regarding their future!
Maxim: Is he a controlling, calculating man? Why does he want to marry an inexperienced girl after being married someone like Rebecca? His speach regarding which flowers should be picked and which shouldn't gave me the creeps! Also, when they were talking about their wedding, he says: 'You forget I had [church] wedding before.' Uhm, he is forgetting that she hasn't had any weddings before... In short, unless something drastic happens, I won't be liking Maxim! Has he got something to do with Rebecca's death? As I was reading, I couldn't help remembering 'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning.
Last edited by Scheherazade; 08-22-2005 at 03:58 PM.
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"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
*blinks* Rebecca's dead?
Eagle's still en route, come on, I'm already behind, oy, all those prods I can already feel nudging
I have a plan: attack!
Yep, very much so!Originally Posted by Jay
Re. Maxim (again): His surname (de Winters) has reminded me that of Winterbourne (very symbolic) from Daisy Miller by Henry James, whose coldness and indifference caused Daisy's death in a way. Is de Winters' surname significant in a similar way?
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
Without saying too much (since most of you still seem to be reading), I must say I think the symbolism in the book is really lovely - including the fact that we don't ever get to know the narrator's name. I definitely think there's a reason for it, annoying as it is.
**SPOILER**
The costume party has to be the best symbolic bit of all. Maybe that's all I'll say for now. You can debate with me later.
**unspoiler
And I still have lots of questions, mostly regarding the way the book begins and ends. Keep that beginning in mind as you read, so maybe you'll catch something I missed...
100,000 lemmings can't be wrong. ~heard from a friend
Life is the first gift, love is the second, understanding the third. ~ Marge Piercy
Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God;
but only he who sees takes of his shoes. ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I can't help wondering whether the 'he' mentioned in the first chapter of the book is Max or someone else... Has something else happened during the time elapsed? Like she has fallen in love with something else? Also, she says something like 'Manderley no more'... Is the house going to get destroyed or something?
*hangs head* I don't like Max... Have a bad feeling about him. Maybe I am wishing she falls in love with someone else.
I have put this one aside for the timebeing as I have to read Master and Margarita quickly.
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
oh, good book, I read it because someone on this site recommended it. I didn't fully understand why it was good until I read a little background and it made sense for the time period.
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
Has anyone finished reading this book? Or still reading?
I am resuming reading it as of today and hoping to finish it this week sometime. I have read about 1/4 of the book and I am almost sure Max had something to do with Rebecca's death!
I can understand why a plain Jane like the heroine would fall in love with someone like Max but why do you think he wanted to marry her?
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"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
I'm thinking because "the heroine" (and I use that term loosely) is unlike Rebecca ().
The more I read the more I dislike the narrarator.
Edited to take out adult content
Last edited by papayahed; 08-22-2005 at 03:42 PM.
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
~~~ I have finished it! ~~~
From where to begin???
Maxim ------> I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!!!!
I still don't like this chap! Seems like he simply likes using women; he used Rebecca as long as it suited him and then got rid of her very conveniently. And now he is doing the same with the narrator! I am glad at least he didn't get away without any punishment...
Rebecca----> It is amazing that, I think, at the end, she is still the winner!
She reigned while she was alive and she was still in control at the moment of her death and even afterwards. Maybe she did deserve what happened to her but still... She seems to be the triumphant one. Even the novel is named after her. We don't even know the narrator's name. And at the end of the novel she said: 'If I can't have it, you won't have it either!'
Jane Doe (a.k.a. the narrator) ----------->
Throughout the book, I hoped that she would somehow see the light, gain some wisdom and become mature and it didn't happen. This female Walter Mitty impersonator (her constant daydreaming really annoyed me - talk about living in a dream world!) annoyed me more and more by each chapter. It is very ironic that she ended up doing exactly what she had been doing in the beginning. She was a travel companion for the American lady initially and at the end of the novel she became a travel companion for Maxim.
How could she not realise that Mrs D would be tricking her with the dress suggestion. I thought it was Rebecca who was in the painting actually. Also, Ben's words were pretty suggestive; amazing that Jane did not pay him any attention.
And what was going on between Mrs D and Rebecca actually? It was more than simple adoring on Mrs D's side surely?
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"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
New quizes on Daphne Du Maurier and Rebecca have been added to the Forum: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/quiz.php?
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"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
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