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The Silver Linings Playbook
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Discussion for The Silver Linings Playbook
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Diane , Armchair Tour Guide
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rated it 4 stars
Apr 30, 2013 08:13PM
Start discussion for The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick here.
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I am really enjoying this so far. I want to see the movie when I'm done. I am picturing Bradley Cooper as I read the book. ;)
I haven't read the book yet - but really enjoyed the movie
Unfortunately I saw the movie first. It's a great movie though and it's hard not to compare the two. The book is entirely written in the first person (Pat) whereas the movie brings Tiffany much more onto centre stage (well the actress Jennifer Lawrence did).I always wonder what miraculous path is taken in bringing a first novel like this to the silver screen. I would say that the pacing and plot development are tailor-made for a screen play but I'm surprised that the quirky characters got past the marketing people. It is charming and quirky and, so far (I'm on a kindle so I can't say the page number - 40 percent read) really enjoyable.
Enjoyed it - want to see the film now too! Must admit I did skim a few of the sport bits as didn't understand them but loved the pre-match entertainment! Clever revealing of time scale and why he was put in the institution. I thought there were some well drawn minor characters - mum, dad, brother's wife - could picture them all.
I really enjoyed the book. It was very different from what I thought it would be, but in a good way. Definitely quirky. I'm going to try to get hold of the movie weekend.
I enjoyed the book too. It was a bit weird for me at the beginning but once I understood what was going on I really enjoyed it. However, it sometimes was quite difficult for me to understand that a formerly absolutely normal person as Pat would suddenly start living in a world completely of his own without much grab of reality. I know that he just blocked certain memories from his mind. But that he didn't know that he had been in "the bad place" for years seemed quite unrealistic to me.I definitely want to watch the movie now as well. I just read the summary at wikipedia and it seems like the changed quite a bit.
I plan to start this this weekend. Excited to read this book.... and then watch the movie. Yeah.
Just getting started and I have to say when I am reading Pat's thinking I feel like his thinking is very young - not like what u would think for a thirty year old man. - maybe it has something to do with his mental illness?
And another Spoiler alert for The Scarlett Letter and one for The Bell Jar.
I think the immaturity of his thinking is due to the mental illness.The book spoilers are the one thing I don't like about the book.
Yes now that I have read more I really like the author giving this point of view from Pat's perspective where I can see his thinking and it is very childish. He is unable to make certain connections in his thinking. I thought he had bipolar disorder and maybe I got this from a preview from the movie? I don't know if they reveal Pat's actual diagnosis in the book but this doesn't seem to be bipolar. I feel like he has some form of autism with his not liking to be touched and his angry outbursts that are difficult for him to control and just how his brain works. I really think the author is actually kind of brilliant now.
Ellinor wrote: "I enjoyed the book too. It was a bit weird for me at the beginning but once I understood what was going on I really enjoyed it. However, it sometimes was quite difficult for me to understand that a..."If he has some form of learning disability and he probably was heavily sedated for a lot of time in the hospital he does have a lot of lost time and I think the way his brain works he has a lot of difficulty with things like abstract thinking. He has very concrete thinking and I think it is very possible he would have difficulty with this understanding of time and lost time and trying to make sense of it - that it is actually something very confusing to him.
Pat's behaviour also seemed very autistic to me. I'm just wondering if it's possible to develop autism at an adult age when you've been "normal" before.
I too thought that Pat was either autistic or immature or both. Maybe I'll understand why after I finish the whole book.
Yeah I dont know about that? I don't know the whole story yet but the only other thing I can think of would be a traumatic brain injury?
I think he was a teacher so, rather than a learning disability, could he be suffering from the drugs - is the phrase 'chemical cosh' apt in this case. Would they make him ultra sensitive to touch or is it part of his fixation with his ex-wife?
My theory is that he may have suffered a severe nervous breakdown which may have caused him to regress behaviorally. I am sure he is probably on some heavy duty psychotropic drugs that may also affect his cognition and thought processes.
I've just finished the book and it could possibly be brain injury or mental breakdown changing his behaviour. (I'm assuming his behaviour was normal before since he was a teacher.)I have not read any other book by the author, so I'm wondering whether it is because he mainly writes young adult fiction?
About to finish. Then gonna view this spoiler - not to mention the spoilers of tons of books within this one -jeez loise
Ellinor, that's the same reason why I only rated the book 3 stars. It just feels weird not to understand why Pat is how he is.And those book spoilers!
By the end I only gave it 2 stars. Got bored toward the end - don't love all the football. But I can say it can be very probable that he suffered some brain damage and it caused some cognitive impairment that could have resulted in change in personality and the way he thinks and reasons. Also he seems to me to have some PTSD. I think this is inferred - a head injury - but not clear - especially to readers with no medical or mental health background.Anyone else think the father was a total ass?
Yes - perhaps just totally out of his depth and under the thumb. Pat's mum seem to have taken charge.
Sue wrote: "Yes - perhaps just totally out of his depth and under the thumb. Pat's mum seem to have taken charge."Sue I need a translation for "out of his depth and under the thumb "?
not coping with the situation and only doing what his wife tells him - she calls the shots.
As far as Pat's diagnosis is concerned, although it is far from clear to me too, I would go with mania or possibly bipolar, which would explain the depression. I find it a bit hard to read the book with a fresh outlook after I have seen the movie. I never know what is better: to see the movie first or read the book. Sometimes they are extremely different. Has anyone one ever read "Out of Africa"? "Corelli's Mandolin"?I read "Out of Africa" after seeing the movie, which for some odd reason ( I have to have a serious discussion with my unconscious about this one) is my all time favorite movie and the only movie I have seen 5 times. The book is exquisitely written and I read it all with Meryl Streep's voice in my head! I loved the book but the character Denis Fitch Hatton, whose relationship with the narrator is the centerpiece of the movie is merely alluded to, in a page or two, and he is presented as a mere acquaintance. I loved both the movie and the book because they were so different. Corelli's Mandolin is beautifully written but the movie was such a piece of trash that we walked out. As an aside, the thing I remember most vividly about reading Corelli's Mandolin in which de Bernieres writes about the invasion of the Italians and the Germans in Greece, is that I told my husband how lucky we were to live in a country that could never be invaded like Greece. That was two weeks before 9/11.
I think Sarah's comments just about gave me permission to give up on the book. There are too many good books out there. Time to move on for me.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin was a great book though it fell apart just a little at the end. It was like it went on for fifty pages too long. The only weakness I'd find in the movie Silver Lining Playbook - the movie mind you - was the end. How he fell for Tiffany (and vice versa) was a little staged, a little sudden. That's much better in the book.I like this book quite a lot. To me it talks about the madness of love (his obsession with his wife, his completely distant father, Tiffany's sex romp to forget the cruel death of her husband - and most of all her fake letters. There's a little bit of that in all of us. Mercifully, for me, it was my twenties, long gone. But yes, there's that kind of madness in parallel with unbridled overwhelming love.
Sarah wrote: "By the end I only gave it 2 stars. Got bored toward the end - don't love all the football. But I can say it can be very probable that he suffered some brain damage and it caused some cognitive impa..."I'm not a football fan either, but for me, the whole Eagles thing was just parody. It quite made me laugh. As far as head injury, Quick very much fills us in - just near the end - his wife bashed him over the head with a CD player (he was trying to kill her lover) and then he hit his head on the faucet of a bathtub on the way down (thus the scar on his forehead). Don't know quite how medically accurate all this is, but, as in my other post, maybe it's all a little metaphorical anyway. I enjoyed it as a dark, quirky comedy (with yes a silver lining ending).
re the movie: I don't think he "fell" for her at the end...I think it developed through-out, but he didn't realize it - there is IMHO a difference
What is IMHO?. Just finished the movie today. Different characters completely. The movie took a few liberties which really changed who the characters were.
I had to look that one up too. Sometimes known as "in my humble opinion." I do agree with Dee now that I think about it. That's maybe one of the things this book is about. How you can think you're madly in love with someone - obsessed as I said - and really, almost unknown to yourself, be falling (in a much more healthy way) for someone else. Such is the human psyche.
and its soo true...I look back at my history and past boyfriends and you think you are in love...and now its like, WTF did I see in him ;)
I am glad Sarah asked about IMHO. I too was just about to look it up, although I kind of guess WFT. For the longest time, I thought that LOL meant "lots of love" until someone popped the question. Aside from all the people who must have been wondering who this lunatic cracking up all over cyberspace was, I can't imagine the number of others I must have alienated by laughing my head off over their misfortunes while thinking I was providing love and support. Now I find it prudent to clarify.I agree with Dee that, at least in the movie, the falling in love happened organically, and yes, such is the human psyche. As Pascal said, "The heart has its reasons that the reason doesn't know."
Glenn, you might be right about the length of Corelli. The truth is that I don't recall, but de Bernieres tends to be long-winded and for me his "Birds without wings" was about 200 pages too long. But IMHO (LOL) sometimes we don't do justice to a book. It has to be the right time, the right place and the right mood. Maybe I can't enjoy Quick's book because the movie is too fresh in my mind and I find myself annoyingly trying to match the pieces. I noticed that you gave it 3 stars, although you liked the book. Gee, you are a tough grader! What do you give a book you don't like? A black hole?
I just saw the French movie "In the house", and I may be biased but I thought it was really good. I don't know if it is playing in your neck of the woods but it has been playing in LA for almost a month, which is a good sign. French movies rarely make it to two weeks.
This really is a case Jocelyne where the book and movie are quite different. Liberties were taken which really changed the characters all together.
I would like to watch the movie now that I've read the book.Generally prefer to watch the movie after because it gives me space to read the book and picture characters. Instead of having the image of the movie's actors stuck in my head.
Sarah, I know that you did not care for the book, but did you like the movie? I agree with Jessica that it is generally better to see the movie afterwards. I once tried to read The English Patient after seeing the movie; it turned out impossible for me. In the case of Out of Africa, the two are so different that it almost did not matter. The book, from what I rememer had a lot more to do with the fauna and flora of the area as well as the socio-cultural aspects of it.
I did like the movie, yes.
I think I'm in the minority here because some of my favorite scenes in the book involved football. (I am a huge NFL fan). I think that the author accurately protrayed how many men communicate and relate through sports. I thought the book compassionately protrayed those with mental illness or other problems. Looking forward to watching the movie.
I'm at about 45% of the way through and I can't get Bruno Mars out of my head. At least I think that's him. i should have bought you flowers, and held your hand... The book probably has a darker story behind why nikki has left than what Mars was going for. But hey, whatever. Guess I'll see later.
Jessica wrote: "I love that song."Me, too.
Diane wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I love that song."Me, too."
Pardon me for being dense, but what song are we talking about?
Jocelyne wrote: "Diane wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I love that song."Me, too."
Pardon me for being dense, but what song are we talking about?"
Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" I think?
LauraJ quoted part of the lyrics in post #45.
I am coming late to the party but my library had it in audiobook. I just started it this morning.
Around the World in 80 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (other topics)A Farewell to Arms (other topics)
The Silver Linings Playbook (other topics)
