1938 – DaneCobain.com

Title: Rebecca

Author: Daphne du Maurier

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 432

Rating: 4*/5

Daphne du Maurier – Rebecca

First off, whatever you do, don’t read the Virago Modern Classics edition. The front cover is a spoiler for the last page and the introductory essay is a spoiler for the other 431 of them. I already knew a little bit about the story line of Rebecca because of its parodies in popular culture, and particularly Mitchell and Webb which ruined the scene with the dress from the portrait, and what I didn’t know was spoiled by Sally Beauman’s introductory essay. And from what I understand, that was only there in the first place to try to get you to buy her “award-winning Rebecca’s Tale, authorised by the du Maurier estate.” Yeah, I won’t be reading that.

Because of all that, this entire read felt more like a re-read, even though it’s the first time I’ve ever picked it up. And that’s a shame, because it took a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me. Sure, it was good to read it to see how du Maurier told the story, but none of it took me by surprise, as I imagine it would have if I’d read it in 1938. I’ve also never read Jane Eyre, which apparently it’s based on, so maybe I would have got more from it if I’d read that.

The unnamed narrator is bland and boring, at least for the majority of the book, but that’s a deliberate ploy on du Maurier’s part. Still, it was kind of irritating to have to read her whittering on about stuff, especially when you already know what’s going to happen and that it’ll make most of what she’s even going on about completely redundant. Maxim de Winter and Mrs Danvers were much more interesting.

Daphne du Maurier

I also found it entertaining because I didn’t trust Rebecca and then it turned out that I’d sussed her character out when everyone else in the book was taken in by her. But that wasn’t outright spelled out or spoiled for me and so even though I called it, at least I called it myself. I was also taken by surprise by a twist towards the end when they called upon Rebecca’s former doctor, but I also thought it was a little too convenient.

Overall, based on my reading experience, Rebecca just scrapes a 4/5, and only because I’m generous and based on the strength of du Maurier’s writing. Without being spoiled, it would have been an easy 5* and a contender for my book of the year. Oh well.

Daphne du Maurier – The Breakthrough

Click here to buy Rebecca.

Graham Greene – The Lawless Roads | Review

Title: The Lawless Roads

Author: Graham Greene

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 224

Rating: 4*/5

Graham Greene – The Lawless Roads

This book was tricky to rate – I veered between three an four out of five. But there’s a pretty simply reason for that – it can be difficult to read at times, and the small print also makes it feel as though you’re not making much progress. For some people, it might be off-putting, but it’s worth persevering with, especially if you’re interested in the subject matter.

This book is interesting because it tells the real story of what happened when Graham Greene travelled around Mexico in 1938, just before the start of the Second World War. He was there on commission – the Catholic church wanted to find out more about the state of religious persecution in the country. As a result of this, the book has two particular quirks which simultaneously make it harder to read and more intriguing. The first is the references to religion, which might not make much sense unless you, yourself, are a Catholic. And the same goes for Mexican words and place names – unless you pay attention, they all start to sound the same.