The Double Bind (Vintage Contemporaries) by Chris Bohjalian
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.19 You Save: $10.81 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Double Bind (Vintage Contemporaries)
Book Review: An excellent novel!
Summary: 4 Stars
I am astonished at the number of negative reviews of The Double Bind. This is an extraordinary book dealing with the collapse of a young woman's grasp of reality. The story asks the reader to enter into the world created by Laura, in her efforts to make sense of a brutal incident in her past. Sone of the minor characters in the novel are decried by some readers as a failing. However, the story takes place within the context of the day-to-day life of ordinary people and through Laura's friends and co-workers we view her gradual disintigration, as she falls deeper and deeper into her delusion. The story takes place in Vermont of recent date and her obsession with fictional characters from The Great Gatsby becomes the manifestation of her mental state. We all knew they were fictional! Yet it is through this obsessive searching that we come to understand who was involved and what actually occured just seven years earlier. I found this to be a fascinating story, an excellent depiction of a mental breakdown and the disasterous effect of a horrible trauma on a fragile personality. As the denouement takes place, the book ends as we would wish it to end for all such afflicted persons, which is getting help they need.Book Review: The Great Gatsby Legacy In Burlington, VT?
Summary: 4 Stars
Chris Bohjalian has consistently written novels that challenge the reader and address timely topics while submitting his characters to controversial situations. That being said, I truly enjoyed "The Double Bind" but felt a little cheated that one of the blurbs on the back cover referred to a "big twist ending" that distracted me during the reading.
Knowing that a twist was coming - and understanding that the continuous references to the fictional characters from F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" had to represent something else - made the twist fairly recognziable for me. However, this did not take away from the satisfaction in reading this complex novel about a social worker who becomes obsessed with a box of old black & white photographs left by a deceased homeless man who was one of her "clients".
Once the revalatory twist is exposed in the novel's final pages it forced me to reflect further on the actions of the protagonist, Laurel Estabrook. Her tragic past and how she is forced to deal with it is the heart of this fine novel.
Book Review: Weird and Wonderful Literary Mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this an engrossing story centering around a young social worker who had been the victim of a brutal attack several years prior. Laurel's life becomes intertwined with that of a homeless man who possessed some mysterious photos. In her investigation of the photos she finds they hold a personal connection to herself as well as the characters from Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The lovely twist of an ending surprised and also cleared up what I thought were a disturbing writing style and odd character details but are actually clues to what is really going on. The included vintage photographs done by a homeless man were a nice touch and I wished for more of them. Very Enjoyable. This is my first Bohjalian but surely not my last. Since there are many references to The Great Gatsby throughout I think if there is anyone left on this earth who has not yet read Fitzgerald's book I would suggest that they read it prior to The Double Bind.Book Review: What a BIND!
Summary: 4 Stars
Laurel Estabrook meets a homeless man and befriends him at the shelter where she works. After his death she finds herself going through photographs taken by him and is shocked to discover a photograph of herself on a bicycle. She had suffered a brutal assault later that day following the photo. It left her physically and mentally damaged. So, how and why does he have this photo?
As she obsessively investigates the homeless man's life, Laurel seems to be unraveling. Her friends are concerned and confused. The mystery of THE DOUBLE BIND continues right up until the last shocking twist.
If you like mysteries and classics, this is the book for you. Our book club not only read this, but read the GREAT GATSBY afterwards in order to pull it all together.
Really an interesting tale that will shock you just when you think you know what to expect!
Book Review: Gatsby on the Rocks with a Twist
Summary: 4 Stars
After 24 years of reading and hundreds of books, I am still a sucker for the plot twist. All is not as it seems in this novel where "The Great Gatsby" treads lightly over that semi-permeable line between fiction and reality. Bohjalian is an incredibly talented writer, one who had me grasping at straws outside the realm of "willing suspension of disbelief," and convincing myself I knew what was true and what was going to happen.
Looking back, I cannot believe I fell for the misdirection, but it makes me want to reread the novel with a new perspective. I gave this reading four stars because for some reason the story did not pull me in until near the end, but a second reading might yield different results. I would recommend this novel, especially for lovers of Gatsby, but see it through to the final page because I assure you it's worth it!