David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "unlikable-characters"
The Girl on the Train
The three principal characters in THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN have much in common. They're not very likable, they're depressing, and they don't have much taste in men.
Rachel is the girl on the train. She's lost her job for drinking on the job. Her husband has left her for another woman, and to top matters off, he's had a baby with his new wife, with whom he was carrying on an affair while still married to Rachel. That's what broke up Rachel's marriage; she couldn't have a baby. She takes the train to work every day to fool her land lady roommate (the nicest woman in the book) into thinking she still has a job. The part about the train has to do with two people she sees almost every day on their veranda. She doesn't know them, but she convinces herself they're the happy couple. She even gives them names. They live a few doors down from where she used to live with her husband Tom.
The second woman is Megan. Megan lives with a horrible secret I won't reveal here. Let's say, psychologically, it has affected her. She's the woman in the ideal couple, but she's far from ideal. She sleeps around; she even makes a move on her therapist. It's not clear whether he sleeps with her, but Rachel does see them kissing from the train. Megan also winds up dead. That's the best part of the book as far as suspense is concerned. I read a lot of mysteries, and usually I can tell who did it within the first fifty pages, but there are several candidates here, and I didn't know who killed Megan until the author told me.
The third woman might be the creepiest of all. She had an affair with Tom and she knew he was married. She even reveled in it. The woman is close to a sociopath. She only cares about her own little world, her husband and her baby. When she is confronted with a physical threat she runs away. Some might argue that she's only protecting her baby, but it seems to be more than that. She also does something creepy during the denouement to someone who can't defend himself/herself.
I really don't see how this book has stayed on the best seller list for most of the year. As I said above, about the only redeeming quality is the “who done it” aspect. It's also hard to believe that Megan, who worked at an art gallery before it closed, would babysit for people she barely knew, that is unless you consider that the author needed her to. Her horrible secret also involves a baby. This is called author intrusion, and it's a bad “no no” for literary critics.
Rachel is the girl on the train. She's lost her job for drinking on the job. Her husband has left her for another woman, and to top matters off, he's had a baby with his new wife, with whom he was carrying on an affair while still married to Rachel. That's what broke up Rachel's marriage; she couldn't have a baby. She takes the train to work every day to fool her land lady roommate (the nicest woman in the book) into thinking she still has a job. The part about the train has to do with two people she sees almost every day on their veranda. She doesn't know them, but she convinces herself they're the happy couple. She even gives them names. They live a few doors down from where she used to live with her husband Tom.
The second woman is Megan. Megan lives with a horrible secret I won't reveal here. Let's say, psychologically, it has affected her. She's the woman in the ideal couple, but she's far from ideal. She sleeps around; she even makes a move on her therapist. It's not clear whether he sleeps with her, but Rachel does see them kissing from the train. Megan also winds up dead. That's the best part of the book as far as suspense is concerned. I read a lot of mysteries, and usually I can tell who did it within the first fifty pages, but there are several candidates here, and I didn't know who killed Megan until the author told me.
The third woman might be the creepiest of all. She had an affair with Tom and she knew he was married. She even reveled in it. The woman is close to a sociopath. She only cares about her own little world, her husband and her baby. When she is confronted with a physical threat she runs away. Some might argue that she's only protecting her baby, but it seems to be more than that. She also does something creepy during the denouement to someone who can't defend himself/herself.
I really don't see how this book has stayed on the best seller list for most of the year. As I said above, about the only redeeming quality is the “who done it” aspect. It's also hard to believe that Megan, who worked at an art gallery before it closed, would babysit for people she barely knew, that is unless you consider that the author needed her to. Her horrible secret also involves a baby. This is called author intrusion, and it's a bad “no no” for literary critics.
