Here is the Q&A for the first section of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. There are some spoilers in the questions so if you haven't finished the first section come back to this post when you do!
In this book club with me are Meredith (friend, aspiring author and CMS contributor), Sue (mother-in-law), Katie (sister-in-law) and Pat (mom). Everyone brings a different life perspective to this story which was really fun to pull together. We did a mostly virtual club with the ladies answering questions via email.
Please let us know what you think! Answer the questions in the comment section at the bottom of the post or share them with us on Facebook. We'll have a discussion about part 2 next week and the final section the week after.
Gone Girl: Part 1 - Boy Looses Girl
Do you like the way the story was written?
Meredith: It grew on me. Originally I couldn't stand it, which is why it was so hard for me to get into. However as time went on I realized there was no other way to tell this story than from the minds of these two screwed up people.
Sue: Yes-easy to read and kept you guessing.
Katie: I loved the way the book was written. If it wasn’t written that way, I think it would have taken me longer than 48 hours to read it. It was such a page turner. Both characters were so intriguing (as was the plot, obviously) and I literally couldn’t put it down. While I didn’t necessarily connect to the characters, this style of writing definitely allowed for that opportunity.
Pat: I did NOT like the way the book was written. Two contrary styles 1st person and diary entries was hard to follow. It did add to the differences in their personalities so I guess it added to the underlying instability.
Did you feel any super strong feelings for either character? Or feel connected to them in anyway?
Meredith: For the first part of the book I hated both of them. Amy cause she was fake. Nick because he was an ass. Honestly that is all I can say about it.
Sue: No I never connected with the characters... More of an observer.
Pat: I really like Nick. Amy was distant because she was presented indirectly via diary entries. But you do want to choose a favorite from two very imperfect options. I wanted someone to root for... I picked Nick.
Erin: I connected with both of them at different points. I really connected with Amy’s diary entries about being a new wife because I feel some of those feelings being a new wife myself. But I also identified with Nick and trying to solve the scavenger hunt on his own before the police. I’m very independent and do things on my own all the time.
Do you think Amy and Nick really loved each other as people or did they fall in love with the idea of what they each represented?
Meredith: Honestly I thought her love was fleeting from the beginning. Oddly enough I found his love truer even after the affair was revealed. She was too wrapped up in becoming Amazing Amy that she couldn't act on her true emotions. Deep down her parents constant disapproval of who she turned out to be in comparison to who they wrote her to be, prevented her from ever doing something for herself. She married the guy they would have wanted her to marry. I do think Nick loved Amy. I think that he saw her to be Amazing and then as her faults were shown in her uncaring indifference to his family problems he realized that he didn't actually know her. He was an ass and down on his luck due to the lack of a job but her hatred towards him went much further earlier on I feel. In her diary she was loving and supportive in those moments after arriving in Missouri however she contradicted herself earlier on when she talked about her lack of desire to leave NYC.
Sue: They definitely fell in love with what they represented. It was the dude and the cool girl.
Katie: I think they fell in love with each other, but at the same time I don’t think they were being themselves when they fell in love. In the beginning they did make a pretty picture perfect couple. Especially being married now, I was shocked at Amy's reaction to Nick telling her they were moving to MO (I think at first she may have been sympathetic? But then I think she turned resentful). Like, if one of Ben’s parents was sick, or one of my parents, or something big happened like that...it would be no question. Family is so important to us that we would compromise and work it out. It seemed like Nick and Amy were "keeping score." With their jobs, relationship, family....everything. That is the worst thing for a long-term, successful, relationship.
Pat: Hard to say if they really loved the real person. The "idea" was what attracted them to each other. Hard to know who the "real" people are. But neither has true feelings we don’t see real emotion from Nick. He had to pretend the he is concerned and thinks about playing the part and how he is supposed to react. Because the marriage has declined and has to present it vs. what he feels (because he doesn’t know how he’s feeling).
Erin: I think that Amy was looking for her Able Andy when they met up again after their first meeting. So she changed what she wanted to fit Nick. Then when Nick needed her to really support him she wasn’t able because that isn’t who she is as a person. I agree, Danny and I would drop everything for each other, no second thoughts, no hard feelings.
When he said "My 5th lie to the police" did you try to figure out what the other 4 were? Did you lose trust in Nick at that point?
Meredith: For some reason when I read this line I immediately thought that Amy was framing him. Nick's uncaring nature leading up to the discovery of his wife's disappearance made me think he was a liar and that nothing he said could be trusted, however he also didn't have the panic stricken nature of a man who has committed his first crime of this magnitude. Something about his level of laziness made me think that he wasn't proactive enough to actually pull off a successful crime. There was an erratic nature to Amy's diary entries that made her seem off to me from the get go. She was too flighty, too care free, too forced at being this melodramatic diva. Plus she had an ego and therefore sitting in Missouri being bored was not going to appease her.
Sue: I was intrigued but kept going and didn't try to figure out the other lies.
Pat: My first thought was "What? You lied!" It surprised me. I didn't lose total trust but it made me wary.
Erin: I agree, I considered for a moment going back to try and pick out things I thought were lies, and maybe now I wish I had but it made me question everything that came out going forward. I couldn’t trust anyone.
When you found out about Andie…
Meredith: I was very disappointed with myself when I found out that Andie was the person on the other end of Nick's disposable phone. Before learning that she was his mistress I thought that it was Amy on the other end, that it had something to do with the treasure hunt and her framing him, which was part of the reason why he was not worried at all about her disappearance. I thought it was some kind of game that would return the success of Amazing Amy, get them money back, and restore the passion in their marriage. However once he started screwing Andie in his sister's living room I lost all respect for him. There was a part of me that wrote him off as a man being a man but really who can have sex with their mistress when their wife is missing. No matter the scenario of what happened to Amy nothing made up for what he did in that capacity. When the story unfolded the way that it did I definitely had to laugh and think that Nick got what he deserved. Amy may have had a LOT of screws loose but frankly in the end I wish more women were vindictive when it comes to cheating spouses.
Sue: Lost trust in him then and stopped feeling bad for him
Katie: I was disappointed in Nick for cheating.
Erin: I wasn’t surprised but I totally hated him. And I hated Andie for continuing to pursue him… she knew the pile he was in and if she really loved him like she said she did then she would have stayed away and come back into the picture further down the road when all the Amy dust had settled.
Amy's version of the year in Missouri vs. Nick's
Meredith: I guess I didn't really recall Nick's perspective of Missouri. Amy's version didn’t seem very convincing given her lack of desire to be there. Nothing about her character development leading up to Missouri came off as one day accepting her fate. She would have fought it tooth and nail. Plus Nick's aggressive nature, knowing that he was screwing his mistress didn't make sense. If anything he would have stopped sleeping with Amy because he had Andie and he enjoyed Andie. He got it whenever he wanted so why "rape your wife" in your drunkenness. Her diary was a bit extreme when paired with Nick's side of the story. Despite his infidelity there was an honesty to Nick. As the reader you knew he despised his wife, that he wasn't in love with her, he wasn't even worried about her most of the time which were his true feelings. The fact of the matter is only being in Amy's head didn't provide her with any credibility.
Sue: I realized they were really not on the same page.
Pat: Amy's version of MO and Nick's were so totally opposite. I thought they were disconnected.
Erin: I think the fact that they were so disconnected surprised me. Generally you have a similar outlook as your spouse and for Amy to say that she was really trying compared to Nick saying she resented him is a pretty giant difference. I blamed Amy for the disconnect. I mean, how often has a girl said “no, it’s fine” to a guy and he knows that it isn’t but takes her word for it!
How do you think each character’s upbringing contributed to the decline of their marriage?
Meredith: Nick had divorced parents, a nasty father figure, doting mother and an extremely close sister. Go’s life path was always one step ahead; Go lost her job first, moved home first and she acts more like a big sister than a twin. Amy is an only child with the Amazing Amy psyche. She had perfect parents who kind of forgot that they needed to raise a kid.
Sue: They were both very self centered.
Katie: I think Nick resented Amy because she had money. I think Amy resented her parents because they created this fictional "Amazing Amy" that she was constantly being compared to, and that she could never live up to- which was probably why she wasn’t herself when she met Nick. They both had such f-ed up childhoods, but in exact opposite ways. Nick came from an abusive home (perhaps he was becoming the same way with Amy?), and Amy seemed to be constantly looking for attention.
Pat: Both portrayed as unusual and in Amy's case weird. "Only child Amazing AMY“ and “Twin with Demented or Terminal parents”. Who thinks of those 2 coming together? I guess it adds to the dysfunction. Their marriage never had any depth; they only went through the motions. Amazing Amy would drop NYC life and head to MO she expected to emulate her parent’s relationship. Amy goes through the motions and plays the role and hopes that it all just mirrors what she is supposed to be feeling.
Erin: They’re both incredibly self centered which doesn’t work in a relationship. Nick, even though he is a twin, has never had to share or sacrifice for another person. Amy was an only child who never wanted for anything and never had to consider anyone else’s needs before her own.
Amy translated every situation in her life into a quiz. Do you do this when you consider your options when you need to make a decision? Do you (and did she) answer truthfully or with what you think the right answer should be?
Meredith: Oddly enough...this only happens to me when I have been drinking (so I do it quite often). I sit there with an alcohol induced haze and think "should I hook up with this rando?" and then rationalize this is what I will feel if I do it and this is how happy and proud I will be with myself if I go home alone and get some sleep. Usually I don't listen to myself and I bring the dude home. Sadly this is only a half joke. I enjoy playing devil's advocate when debating people on topics and I guess you could say I do it in my own life internally as well. I don't make it a multiple choice test in my head but I definitely mirror what Amy says. However unlike Amy I don't find the RIGHT answer which will make me into Marvelous Meredith and then twist the facts of life to make it work for me and get what I want.
Sue: I do tend to answer these quizzes like I think the "right" answer will be...I think Amy would definitely do the same.
Katie: It’s funny....I was never truthful in those quizzes from magazines. I always chose the answer that I wanted to be, not necessarily who I actually was, or which answer was really me. Granted, these quizzes were like, "Are you a good flirt?", and I was taking them when I was a lot younger, but still. I obviously come from a family of over analyzers, so yes, I feel like I do think about all of the options when making decisions...specifically big ones.
Pat: I don't do the "quiz" thing. I do look at options but don't play the games she did. I don't think Amy EVER presented herself.
Erin: I act on instincts. I have learned to become more analytic but only because I know that I’ll have to answer Danny’s questions about decisions I need to make (see: Katie’s comment about a family of over analyzers).
Do you think Desi or that other girl had anything to do with Amy's disappearance?
Meredith: Nope. The story was about Nick and Amy, the fall guys were just that fall guys and I think that was obvious from the beginning.
Katie: No. But it’s a weird part of the story and it has to mean something.
Pat: I thought Desi and the other girl were peripheral I did not think they played a part in the story other than historical.
Erin: I didn’t think they were involved but I did want to know more about their interactions with Amy and why she had this terrible history with stalkers.
Are you convinced Amy is dead?
Meredith: Not in the least.
Sue: No
Katie: I think she is dead....but it’s like an episode of SVU- if it’s too early in the episode and they already found the perp then you know there are definitely going to be some twists. The whole beginning of the story reminded me so much of the Drew Peterson story, that I thought she was definitely dead....but again, it was too early in the book!
Pat: I am not convinced she is dead but I am leaning in that direction. There aren't any clear clues as to what happened.
Erin: Honestly, maybe? I see the story going in a few different directions. And yeah, I have watched a lot of SVU and know that half the story is left so I’m not convinced but I wouldn’t be surprised if she is.
What do you think is in the shed?
Meredith: All I knew leading up to the shed was that Amy wasn't dead because there were two more sections.
Sue: I didn’t know
Katie: Ahhh! I had absolutely no idea what was in the shed!
Pat: In the shed... I thought we’d find her body.
Erin: So, I know I just said that I think she might be dead but I thought that we’d find her waiting for him, alive, as the last piece of the scavenger hunt. Or that her body had been dumped there after the struggle at the house.
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