I’m a big fan of David Fincher’s movies. Be it Fight Club (1999), Se7en (1995), or The Social Network (2010), I’ve always loved his work. I knew about Gone Girl (2014), but I never watched it. The reason was simple: I had the novel Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which I’d received in a surprise Book Box. I wanted to read the book first before watching the movie, so I avoided the film and thankfully managed to dodge all spoilers.
I don’t usually pick up novels that easily because I’m not much into reading. But once I start something and it hooks me, I rarely drop it. All I needed was that little push, and recently I finally started reading, which is why this entry even exists.
I hadn’t read any of Gillian Flynn’s other works before this, so I had no idea what I was walking into. At first, it felt simple: two people falling in love, getting married, and building lives around each other. Their personalities kept me interested, and the story didn’t let me drop it early.
The first chapter, “Boy Loses Girl”, was a complete trap by Amy Dunne, or really, by Gillian Flynn. Through Amy’s diary entries, I almost ended up hating Nick. But deep down, I had this feeling that things were not as straightforward, that this was only one side of the story. And just when I started to settle into that thought, bam! The chapter ended, leaving me thinking about how terrifying marriage could be.
The second chapter pulled me in completely. I got fully invested in the Dunne family drama and was ready to binge-read. But being an Engineer, I had to pause every now and then to “create new bugs and fix them on escalation” outside my 9 to 5 grind. Once Amy’s perspective took center stage, she became more and more of a sociopath, and honestly, I loved it. The way she pursued perfection and came up with things no one could even imagine was just brilliant. The more backstory I got, the more I enjoyed her character. At that point, I didn’t care about Nick at all. I was only curious (and terrified) about what Amy would do next, and a little scared for my own future partner, if I ever find one.
By the time I got to the third chapter, “Boy Gets Girl Back (or Vice Versa)”, I actually started questioning whether marriage was even a good idea. The chaos and unpleasantness Nick and Amy found themselves in felt almost unbelievable, just like Go’s reaction when she imagines them staying together despite all the drama.
After finishing the book, I finally watched the movie. And I genuinely loved the performances: Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne and Rosamund Pike as Amy were perfect. The movie is great, but honestly, the novel is even better. Now I am already planning to read either Dark Places or Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, or maybe just watch the Sharp Objects show, because Gone Girl left me hooked.