Bookish Ramblings # 11: Reading, Re-Reading and Experiences (Sharp Objects)

By Carmen, 18 January 2019

Hello Everyone,

I’ve decided to record my experience of reading and re-reading ‘Sharp Objects’ by Gillian Flynn.

I first read this book in March 2015. The next time I read it was a little over three years later in December 2018. For me this is a bit of a heavy book – one that deals with some serious and dark topics.

I’m going to highlight how the reading and re-reading experience has gone.

Read: March 2015.

One of the first things I noticed was the dark tone this book had.

The second thing I noticed was how dysfunctional a lot of the characters were.

Since this book is from Camille Preaker’s POV, I felt most of the dysfunction coming from her, then the second most dysfunctional character was her mother.

Here’s the thing: I only noticed the dysfunction on a very surfacy level.

Re-Read: December 2018.

All I can say is: WOW! What a difference 3 years can make.

Here’s the things I noticed the second time around:

One of the first things I noticed was the writing style: Camille wasn’t one for saying much, but leaving things unsaid spoke a lot.

The second thing I noticed this time around was Adora Preaker’s character – I took a lot more notice. The only thing I’ll say; is that she is a very manipulative character – privately and publicly. She only shows people what she wants them to see. Camille saw the blatant manipulation that went on behind closed doors – something that the public never saw.

And I still noticed the dark tone that wove itself throughout this book.

The TV Series.

I feel that this lent to what had gone on in the book – as well as enhanced it.

There’s an element of what’s going on in the present, as well as clips of what has happened in the past. There was a nice balanced tone to the series in terms of mood.

The roles of both Camille and Adora were well played.


Having said all that, I’m going to be lightly touching on things that I’ve noticed about the controversial topic of mental illness.

Thoughts.

One thing I’ve noticed, and this is most likely due to a number is reasons, and something that is seen in ‘Sharp Objects’ – is that there is A LOT that goes on behind closed doors, that the public don’t see. With some of these sort of illnesses, there’s a bit of manipulation that goes on.

And usually, it’s the people around the person that has the mental illness that have to come into contact with this.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that there are times when the person with the mental illness sees themselves as a victim, and sometimes this plays out in public as well.

There also might be some of these people that might have been though some traumatic things, and I’ve got the idea that sometimes this is where the mental illness can start.

Last Word:

Sometimes unfortunately there is also the situation where the person that has the mental illness might not want to get help, or to even get better. Sometimes they would rather sit where they are.

But, you also get people that have mental illness that are responsible and that choose to get help – even if it’s only years down the line that things start getting better.

I feel it’s always better to sort things out – no matter how long it takes.

Enjoy,
Carmen