This second novel by Paula Hawkins, whose first novel, The Girl on the Train, was wildly popular and generally well received critically, has been faulted by many reviewers for having 'too many characters, insufficiently differentiated from one another.' As far as this goes, I have to agree to some extent. There are indeed some characters who show up very rarely, and by the time one sees them again, he has forgotten how they fit into the story. And there is a bit of a problem with 'voice' here and there. The main characters, Jules and Lena and Erin, are well drawn and instantly recognizable as individuals. Other, more minor characters seem rather flat and neutral -- plot devices rather than people.
Having said this much, however, I will be quick to add that this second novel represents a significant growth for Ms. Hawkins in novelistic maturity. It is a much more complex novel than the first and explores some deeper themes of human experience, of human weakness, of emotional trauma and all-too-human reaction to the same. Hawkins does nicely with filling these pages with the 'water' in her title, through image, prose, insinuation -- that fluid element, that darkly compelling, deep and dangerous element in which we find ourselves either on the edge or fully immersed.
For me, this is a courageous novelistic effort wherein the author has pressed at and expanded her own abilities as a story-teller. There is a hint of Faulkner here, and of DH Lawrence, and, one hopes, of the Hawkins to come when she composes her third novel.
Having said this much, however, I will be quick to add that this second novel represents a significant growth for Ms. Hawkins in novelistic maturity. It is a much more complex novel than the first and explores some deeper themes of human experience, of human weakness, of emotional trauma and all-too-human reaction to the same. Hawkins does nicely with filling these pages with the 'water' in her title, through image, prose, insinuation -- that fluid element, that darkly compelling, deep and dangerous element in which we find ourselves either on the edge or fully immersed.
For me, this is a courageous novelistic effort wherein the author has pressed at and expanded her own abilities as a story-teller. There is a hint of Faulkner here, and of DH Lawrence, and, one hopes, of the Hawkins to come when she composes her third novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment