Rebecca / Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier

classic, fiction

copyright 1938
read in November 2015

rated 8/10: really quite good

I enjoyed reading this book. And then I found that the afterword (by Sally Beauman) adds another level of enjoyment. Really quite good !

First, the start of the book. The very first sentence... This is the first time that I have read Rebecca -- yet that opening sentence is so familiar ! Is this a "classic" opening line ?!

Later, the arrival at Manderley, the servants lined up to welcome the new mistress of the house. This scene is definitely familiar... from the movie, The Man with Two Brains... Though I think that Two Brains was funnier :-)

And all the time I'm thinking, as I'm reading, that I know the ending... from references in a book by Jasper Fforde. This time I'm wrong. That was referencing Jane Eyre... Which makes some sense because, as the afterword tells me, Rebecca owes much of its plot to Jane Eyre.

And then there's P.G. Wodehouse... Rebecca is set in the Wodehouse world, with many Wodehouse characters. Except that each Wodehouse character is funny -- and likeable. Du Maurier characters are -- all except for two -- either likeable or sympathetic or both... but not funny.

But enough of the comparisons !

I enjoyed reading this book ! The characters and their lifestyles are fascinating and enjoyable. The house and countryside descriptions would suit the glossiest of tourist brochures. The plot -- the mystery -- is gripping.

Okay, there are lots of words... It's easy to read, but wordy.

Many of the words are the narrator, daydreaming. "I could imagine this happening, and that..." Many of these daydreams are descriptive, or setting the mood. Quite a few are -- as I understand it -- telling us of events where the narrator was not present. Clever ! A change from the usual, "I spoke with X and he told me that what had happened was..."

So I reach the end of the book... and it ends. Very suddenly... That's partly because I still have expectations based on my second-hand knowledge of Jane Eyre ! Even so, I think, What about those various loose ends ?!

Then I think again.

Sure there are loose ends. Unfinished threads of plot. Unanswered questions. Yet... The main story has concluded. I would love to have every incident explained. But the answers are simply, not relevant.

I take a breath. Accept and understand that not all questions will be answered. And think, Wow ! That was a great story !

Then I read the afterword. And think, Interesting !

I see the afterword as a feminist perspective on the story. And I think yes, interesting, good point. But...

The afterword gives me a new perspective. It opens my mind to aspects of the book which I had simply skipped over. Or seen differently and, I now believe, wrongly...

Not that I agree with all of the ideas of the afterword ! Most of it is valid and worth noting. Some of it is just a bit one-eyed... in my opinion :-)

The book is really quite good. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. And the afterword gave me a new perspective on the book that I had just read.

A very interesting and enjoyable reading experience.

====
"Let not the sands of time get in your lunch" ... per Ginger Meggs