The latest selection for Bookclub was Ira Levin's The Stepford Wives. The way our bookclub works is we talk about the book, until discussion is exhausted, then, if one is available, we watch a film adaptation of the book we've just finished talking about. This usually opens up further discussion in what has been kept or changed from book to film.
In the case of The Stepford Wives, there were two film versions made nearly 30 years apart, so we watched them both. I thought for this post, I'd talk about the book and then the movies.
I quite liked the book, it was plain, straightforward and built a nice sense of mystery. Levin seems to very much like to leave a lot out, to keep you guess, so that things are never confirmed. It can be refreshing, with all the writing these days that feels like they have to spell everything out, because heaven forbid there be any un-answered questions! With out giving the ending away, I'll warn those who don't like that sort of thing, that the book ends abruptly on a fairly dramatic cliffhanger and the coda of sorts explains nothing. This way, the reader can apply their own interpretation.
I do think that part of the 'horror'/'thriller' aspect of the book would have been magnified back in the 70's when the book was written. At the height of the second wave feminist movement, the very idea that men could be doing something to their wives to make them hotter and enthusiastically subservient would have been more abhorrent back when women were struggling so hard just to be seen as equals. That said, while the initial shock might not be what it was, the more I find myself thinking about it the more I find the idea appalling.
Anyway, it's a good read for a bit of vintage thriller.
On to the movies!
The original film was made in 1975 only a few years after the book was first published. All in all, it's a fairly good adaptation of the book, being pretty spot on as long as you don't count the whole climax where they've taken liberties to fill in some of the blanks left by Levin or just make it simply more dramatic. It's not too bad, but not entirely the most enthralling movie ever.
The second movie came out in 2004 and is a (much) less accurate translation from book to film, BUT, it is by far more enjoyable! This movie had me laughing all the way through it's so well done! I don't even like Nicole Kidman, but this movie is good despite her. Bette Midler plays a fantastic Bobbie and her book titles are great fun. This movie is just plain fun. and has a much more satisfying resolution for those that need that sort of thing. Glen Close does a great job too, the Model Stepford Wife!
Find it on Goodreads
No comments:
Post a Comment