Paula Hawkins has created contemporary novel, The Girl On The Train, which has solidified her place as a good author. When read and evaluated through the eyes of Victor Nabokov, I could find different ways Hawkins proves she is a storyteller, teacher and enchanter. With her diligent use of suspense and detail, along with the use of multiple unreliable perspectives, Hawkins puts readers through a psychological game of critical thinking. The farther into the story you get, the more questions you raise and that is how she is able to keep you on your toes and engrossed in her fictional world.
The entire plot revolves around the disappearance of one of the three narrators, Megan Hipwell. Her disappearance/murder is the background force that kept me, as a reader, engaged. It serves as the constant throughout the story, but wasn't always the biggest event happening. There was always something else overshadowing Megan and it usually involves Rachel Watson --another narrator and main character-- sticking her nose where it doesn't need to be while simultaneously being the drunkest person in London. …show more content…
The Girl On The Train is written similar to a Hitchcock movie. Lacking the typical thrill of Psycho, the book still manages to use the key element of suspension. In true Alfred Hitchcock fashion, Paula Hawkins uses her imagination to conjure up a tightly woven plot that constantly shifts with every perspective change. Due to Rachel's constant blackouts, every time she remembers any, and I mean any, memory, they can't be trusted. It's a whole new level of unreliability and there are times Rachel, herself, isn't sure if what she is saying is actually the truth. Therefore, Hawkins uses these shaky grounds as the foundation of the mystery. This is her “genius” that Nabokov talks about (Nabokov 1029). Bouncing back and forth between the three points of views is how she enchants her
The entire plot revolves around the disappearance of one of the three narrators, Megan Hipwell. Her disappearance/murder is the background force that kept me, as a reader, engaged. It serves as the constant throughout the story, but wasn't always the biggest event happening. There was always something else overshadowing Megan and it usually involves Rachel Watson --another narrator and main character-- sticking her nose where it doesn't need to be while simultaneously being the drunkest person in London. …show more content…
The Girl On The Train is written similar to a Hitchcock movie. Lacking the typical thrill of Psycho, the book still manages to use the key element of suspension. In true Alfred Hitchcock fashion, Paula Hawkins uses her imagination to conjure up a tightly woven plot that constantly shifts with every perspective change. Due to Rachel's constant blackouts, every time she remembers any, and I mean any, memory, they can't be trusted. It's a whole new level of unreliability and there are times Rachel, herself, isn't sure if what she is saying is actually the truth. Therefore, Hawkins uses these shaky grounds as the foundation of the mystery. This is her “genius” that Nabokov talks about (Nabokov 1029). Bouncing back and forth between the three points of views is how she enchants her