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October 2010: Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

Finished! Obvious comparisons to Jane Eyre but still deservedly its own novel.
Do you think you would stand by your husband if you found him to be a murderer? On the face of it probably not, but by the end of this novel you can't help sitting on edge hoping he'll get
away with it. Also, did Maxim choose his second bride because she was so subservient? Someone he could control the way he couldn't control the first Mrs De Winter? And Manderley! The shame to lose a house so beautiful.
 
^^I want to see it also. How are you liking it so far?

So far, so good. Some of the descriptions get a bit wordy for me, but I just remind myself that this novel was written in the 1930s. The characters are intriguing, and I definitely want to keep reading. I hope to put a good dent (if not finish it) this weekend.
 
Finished! Obvious comparisons to Jane Eyre but still deservedly its own novel.
Do you think you would stand by your husband if you found him to be a murderer? On the face of it probably not, but by the end of this novel you can't help sitting on edge hoping he'll get
away with it.
.I probably wouldn't either,but I also was hoping the same by the end.I think she was happy,like a wicked victory to find out everything about Rebecca after all her masocchistic thoughts,making Rebecca into a perfect woman.Two women,opposites in character,behavior and thought.
You should read the afterword,it says where and what were the circumstances when she was writing this book.



Also, did Maxim choose his second bride because she was so subservient? .
I think he wanted someone homely,he also didn't seem to be able to handle her emotional side in the begining if not thoughout the book.He wasn't used to tears and weakness? not a very good word but that's what I got.


Someone he could control the way he couldn't control the first Mrs De Winter?
Night and day one woman from the other.She was obedient.:whistling:

Did you notice how up to practically the 19th chapter,du Maurier was building up this character as a submissive,homely,quiet second wife and took away the attention from everything else around her?


Anne,it goes easy after the 20th chapter.:D
 
I finished Rebecca, and I liked it very much. Very atmospheric. Seems Max thought he could find happiness by finding a woman who was the opposite of his first wife. Though it was hard for me to think of her as homely because I could see Joan Fontaine in my mind's eye as I read.

This is a book that I wished I had read BEFORE I saw the movie. I've seen the movie many times, and it filled my mind as I read.
 
If anyone is interested in the movie version of Rebecca and has access to TCM, it will be on October 28th at 10PM.
 
I finally finished it and I loved it. The tension is slowly built throughout the book and Du Maurier continuously finds new plot lines to bring tension to the story as previous ones are revealed.

One of the questions I had permanently in my mind was why had they never returned to Manderley? I liked how that was only answered in the very last paragraph.

I also enjoyed how untill half the book we get the sense that the second Mrs De Winter is so inferior in every way to Rebecca and then, after the ball, and the big revelation, everything changes so drastically, including the second Mrs De Winter's personality. It just goes to prove how sometimes we make ourselves miserable just with our own insecurities. And speaking of the ball, that's when the book really started to appeal to me. I could see what was coming with the whole costume situation miles away but I could also tell it would be a key plot in the story...

Another thing I loved was the fact that
we never get to know second Mrs De Winter's first name
cause that contributed to her inferiority to Rebecca.


Do you think you would stand by your husband if you found him to be a murderer? On the face of it probably not, but by the end of this novel you can't help sitting on edge hoping he'll get
away with it.
I think the happiness to know Maxim
really loved her and never loved Rebecca
just blocked everything else out. And I'm not sure how I would react in a situation like that but I admit
I found his actions justified, Rebecca had it coming and I was also hoping he'd get away with it
.


Also, did Maxim choose his second bride because she was so subservient? Someone he could control the way he couldn't control the first Mrs De Winter?
I'm not sure it was just a matter of her being subservient.
I think he fell in love with her because she was the opposite of Rebecca and he never loved Rebecca so it would be natural that the opposite would attract him.
I only wished we were told
why he married Rebecca, I got the feeling he did it because that was what was expected of him and maybe he was also young
?


You should read the afterword,it says where and what were the circumstances when she was writing this book.
My edition doesn't have an afterword. I don't suppose you could sum it up for me?


I really wished TCM played the movie here also. The timing would have been perfect...
 
If anyone is interested in the movie version of Rebecca and has access to TCM, it will be on October 28th at 10PM.

I finally saw it,amazing,it's like the book came to life.The only thing I liked more about the film is Laurence Olivier,it gave more explanation to the Maxime character for me.
 
My edition doesn't have an afterword. I don't suppose you could sum it up for me?

Landslide,it says that she started writing it in Egypt,it was her first time that she accompanied her husband where he was posted.She was very unhappy and homesick,she hated that she had to be participating and be a certain kind of wife that she wasn't,meaning gatherings which she had to accompany her husband etc.She was more a recluise.

I am thinking this is the reason of the two different women,opposites,in the Rebecca novel.


btw, Rebecca movie is on you tube.:D
 
Thanks Libra! That does explain why the two women are so different. Maybe Rebecca is the woman Du Maurier felt she was expected to be but she felt more like the second Mrs De Winter? Inadequate and out of place?

I've been told it's on youtube but I haven't had the time to check it out...
 
I found a nice little hardcover, the kind with a ribbon place holder, on the used shelf at my favorite bookshop and I've decided that I shall go ahead and begin reading. I'm only about thirty pages into it, but some of the passages are so beautifully composed. I felt compelled to write the one down about the man belonging in the fifteenth century. :flowers:
 
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