I recently just finished du Maurier’s “Rebecca” for the first time. Let me start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The descriptions were extraordinarily evocative and the characters were quite realistic. I was especially impressed by the narrator; du Maurier does a fantastic job highlighting this protagonist in a very natural light m. I’ve never seen anyone describe so eloquently the intricacies of anxiety and its ability to consume someone on a day-to-day basis. The story focuses so much on inner dialogue and the “what ifs” and “almosts” of the narrative, which is something I actually quite enjoyed.
Having said that, I felt like most of the plot points were very expected. There was nary a moment in the story that I didn’t see coming: Rebecca being a vile human and perfidious wife, her having been rude to Ben, Maxim having never loved her, the fancy ball dress the narrator wore being a replica of the one Rebecca wore the year before, Mrs. Danvers— who I have no clue why is a missus— burning down Manderley. In fact, most of these, minus the ball gown moment, I knew from only reading 20% of the book. The first chapter even ends with a nod to the burning down of Manderley, and the moment Mrs. Danvers appeared, I KNEW she was involved somehow.
This is not to say that all books must have some unique and unforeseen revelation, which is why I am convinced these moments were intentionally obvious. They came about so naturally in the progression of the story that it had to have been done on purpose.
Or, and this is why I made this post, am I just simply a product of the times— a 21st century man? This book was written nearly 100 years ago, and since then, the archetype of the cheating wife and the sham marriage trope has been repeated again and again throughout literature, television, and movies (e.g. “Mad Men”, “Gone Girl”, “House of Cards”, er.,). Perhaps my prior consumption of media has made me biased. I am also 25, so I’ve had nearly two decades to digest these various stories and characters.
With that all being said, I still thought it a lovely book. I just can’t see how anyone would read it and be SURPRISED. Anyway, that’s my little rant 🙂
TL;DR: I saw every plot point in “Rebecca” from a mile away. Maybe I’m just a product of the 21st century.
by PinkToucan_