"psycho bitch"

Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as Nick and Amy Dunne in the film adaptation of Gone Girl

(If you have read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, you would know exactly what my title is referring to, but hey I shan't spoil it for those of you who haven't read it yet.)

I read Gone Girl within a span of two days (and during office hours ironically), because it was that thrilling and fast-paced, with the two intertwining narratives hurtling along as you unravelled more plot twists and revelations regarding the two highly unlikable characters, Nick and Amy Dunne. The novel also notably charts the deterioration of a relationship - its sickness, malignancy and poisonous nature, proffering an extremely nihilistic view of marriage so to speak, but a very compelling one nevertheless.

In fact, the subject matter and tone reminded me of a poem I covered in Literature class:

XVII

At dinner, she is hostess, I am host.
Went the feast ever cheerfuller? She keeps
The Topic over intellectual deeps
In buoyancy afloat. They see no ghost.
With sparkling surface-eyes we ply the ball:
It is in truth a most contagious game:
HIDING THE SKELETON, shall be its name.
Such play as this the devils might appall!
But here's the greater wonder; in that we,
Enamoured of an acting naught can tire,
Each other, like true hypocrites, admire;
Warm-lighted looks, love's ephemerae,
Shoot gaily o'er the dishes and the wine.
We waken envy of our happy lot.
Fast, sweet and golden shows the marriage-knot.
Dear guests, you now have seen love's corpse-light shine.

–– An excerpt from Modern Love by George Meredith

Disturbing yet fascinating isn't it? In fact by the novel's denouement I would suggest that the novel is an extrapolation of this series of sonnets by Meredith, but updated for the modern era. 

The originality of the plot also gripped me throughout (until I eschewed lunch with my colleagues in favour of staring wildly at my laptop screen like the anti-social bastard I am), with the first and second acts impressing me greatly. However, I honestly disliked the final act because of its outlandish and slightly unrealistic nature, with the ending feeling unsatisfactory and anti-climatic due to my heightened expectations that were based on the novel's exhilarating set-up.

I guess it might be a blessing in disguise that Flynn has reworked the entire third act of Gone Girl for David Fincher's film adaptation, which will be released later this year. I certainly hope it would be more realistic and more resonating than the hollow resolution of the original text.