I don't know, I kind of disagree because it's literally never been a problem for me with any other book and it usually gives you a lot of insight into the culture and the time period etc. in which the book was written. Whereas the intro to this was basically just a summary of the plot, which I've never seen before in an intro. It had a paragraph on how Du Maurier was bisexual and then the rest of it was just the plot and how that relates to Rebecca's Tale, the officially sanctioned spin-off that it was trying to sell :/
Yeah, I'm sorry it was spoiled for you because I went in totally blind and I soaked it up like a sponge, lol! I remember thinking about midway through that Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca must've been two peas in a pod but at that point, I didn't know that "Danny" had been with Rebecca since her childhood. I had the hint that Rebecca might be somewhat evil when the narrator first met Ben on the beach. He said basically, that Rebecca threatened to send him to the asylum if he told anyone who he might have seen coming to her cottage. That's when I was thinking: *oh...ok, that's how she REALLY is; not at ALL the perfect lady of the manor.* Also, I hadn't thought about it but you're right...it's very much like Gone Girl. I loved it so much and I thank you for hosting the buddy read! Oh and...Beatrice was Maxim's sister. ;-)
I think having read it I'd have to credit it for pretty much creating the whole genre of psychological thriller :D Unfortunately, most psychological thrillers that I've read haven't been great... But yeah, it was a fun buddy read, I'm glad we did it!
It seems you may have missed a crucial point Rebecca made the night she was murdered. She teased Maxim by suggesting she had gotten pregnant from one of the men she slept with in London. She was threatening him with the idea that as the mother of "their" child, she'll be even more entrenched in his life that he could never escape her. So Maxim, already deciding he wanted her dead, took that as the last straw and fired the gun. In the end, Rebecca still won, because if she cant have Manderley, then no one would.
Very good review. I did not have that edition, so I was surprised by much of the happenings in the book. Some parts were predictable. But like you said, the writing made up for the not-so-good or predictable parts. 4.5 stars for me. Thanks for hosting the read-along. I will be reading Jamaica Inn next week.
Hi Dane! Your channel was recommended to me by Lu G, one of your subs. I’m so excited to subscribe and follow along! I’m an avid reader, too - and I loved Rebecca. Your friend! Erin
Hey Erin! Thanks so much for stopping by :) Yes, Lu is great, we really need to convince her to start a channel of her own haha :D What books have you got planned for the next few weeks?
Ah! That’s horrible that you were spoiled! I never read introductions prior to the book unless it’s nonfiction. Great review! Rebecca is one of my favorites.
I just don't understand why you'd read an introduction after reading a book in the same way as I wouldn't read an afterword before reading it. I just read from cover to cover haha, I was always told that's how you're supposed to read :D
Dane Reads ha! Yes I believe you’re correct in your reading order lol but I’ve been scorned before just like you! I would have been so angry being spoiled for something that’s supposed to be a surprise. It would be different if it was a story I already knew and it didn’t matter if it was spoiled in the intro.
Well I've been spoiled on stuff before and it hasn't really bothered me, but with this one you kind of need to not have been spoiled, otherwise the book falls a little bit flat. It relies on you not being spoiled to work
I literally had the same edition as you when I first read this book but I didn't even put 2 and 2 together about what the cover depicted.... D'oh! I'm interested to see what my thoughts would be rereading this book, because I felt much the same as you - reading it once feels like you're rereading it already. Have you ever thought about reading audiobooks?! Your slighty snide reading of the passages in this book are perfect!
I do listen to audio books but only if I've already read the book as I sometimes zone out of audio books :D So maybe I'll listen to the audio book if I ever re-read this, although I don't think I will do!
Great discussion video :) the introductions to classics are meant to be spoilery because they are written essay-like to go beyond the plot and discuss key themes or things related to the author, so yeah, always read them at the end hehe. I agree that the main character is extremely unlikeable; in Gothic lit most of the times, the villains are much more interesting, like the maid in Rebecca.Have you watched the movie by Hitchcock? it's really great! I totally agree with the thing about the setting because, while it is sublime, it does allude to death, as you said and to Rebecca's death particularly :) loved this video!
I've said to a few other people though, the idea of reading a book out of order makes me feel physically ill. I'd rather just not read a book than to read it out of order! And the intro to this didn't cover any of the themes or anything, it just summarised the plot. I usually like reading them first anyway because it adds something to the reading of it to know about the author's life and the world itself when the book was written, but there wasn't any of that in this intro. Just a summary of the plot and how that relates back to the authorised spin-off called Rebecca's Tale. I don't see the point of there being an introduction that you read afterwards because that's not an introduction. That's an afterword that's been put in the wrong place in the book >.
Well that seems kind of rude to have a HUGE spoiler on the cover x) Also, screw you Sally Beauman! I loved this story, and even though I knew the ultimate twist I still found myself enthralled with the suspense, and atmosphere of it all. The main protagonist was frustrating, but I empathized with her quite a bit so I didn't hate her like a lot of people seem too...Glad you still managed to enjoy it a bit :) I thought the movie was rather good too, all melodrama aside.
Yeah, we watched the movie the other day and it was great! The way I see it, the protagonist had to be how she was because that's what made her clash with Rebecca :D Yes, the suspense and the atmosphere in it were great, I've seen people say it's slow-paced but I didn't find that at all!
I read this a couple years ago. I wasn't really spoiled but I did decide to watch the 1940's movie before reading it. I really loved both the movie and the book! I love Mitchell and Webb but I haven't seen that clip before. I'm gonna have to go look at that whole video! I'm sorry you were spoiled before reading it, but great review!
Unfortunately I've always just read books from start to finish. I always assume that's the way they're meant to be read haha. I do the same with reference books etc. as well, I've never understood the point of "dipping in and out" of something or reading a book out of order
Dane Reads I mean, technically since intro's are usually tacked on at a later date, you'd still be reading the book in order if you just start with chapter one. Although, seriously, who gives away SUCH and important detail in their intro. I've seen small spoilers, but that sounds like the entire plot.
That doesn't work for me though because while that's chronological, it's not in book order. If you did that with Harry Potter then you'd read the ending of Deathly Hallows towards the start because JK Rowling wrote the ending before finishing writing the series. I know that I myself don't necessarily write from start to finish as well!
@@danecobain A recurring joke amongst Brazilian writers goes something like this: "Introduction is how we call that bit the writer only ever writes AFTER he ends the novel, the publishers only ever put BEFORE the novel and the reader always ignore, before and after the novel."
That's a bit silly to put spoilers in the introduction. Shame you were spoiled! I enjoyed Rebecca, but I liked My Cousin Rachel more :) You are funny in your reviews, I genuinely enjoy them :)
I came back! DID YOU DOUBT I WOULD? Well, I didn't forget. I do think Rebecca felt so similar to Jane Eyre, but in my opinion it was so much better and less boring. Equally as creepy, but much better still. I have to be honest, I was partly very excited about this video to hear you rant about that stupid introduction. I'm probably going to go back and read everybody's thoughts on the mail chain, but the system didn't work for ME. I got lost and it was messy, especially because I was sooo behind. Reading everything now will be so cool, I'm sure! Yeahhh, Manderley sounded so somber and dark. NOT nice. I never got nice feelings from it! It sounded soo unwelcoming from its first descriptions. You know what place seemed nice? Monte Cralo. But that's it for warm, fuzzy settings in the book, haha. The other day I stumbled across a certain edition of the book at the bookstore which had a red cover and curly font. That's when I realized why the title had always sounded so familiar! I've seen it around a million times and ALWAYS believed it was a book about erotica. Awesome review! I feel so bad that you were spoiled! If it makes you feel better, I was also spoiled when I read a brief synopsis of each of the characters to understand who was who. The useless website mentioned that Maxim had killed Rebecca too!!!! AGHHHHH
I didn't doubt you would, I'd forgotten though haha :D Ah see I didn't like the sound of Monte Carlo either because it sounded like there'd be lots of people there and I'm not enjoying being around people much at the moment haha. The Max killing Rebecca thing was annoying because I thought I knew the plot of Rebecca but I didn't know that and so it would still have been a surprise. But then the intro ruined it -.-
You know, I'm really in the mood to isolate myself from all other IRL human beings too. I want vacations sooo bad. It's very annoying when you think of what could have been but will not. I hope you never read any introduction as an introduction again. It's happened to me with other books as well!
I do plan to read it so I will stop watching. Thank you very much. I will suggest the short story Don't Look Now. I really enjoy that one. I only recently learned that it was made into a film a long time ago. :) I am sure this review is good but I'll skip it for now.
Yes, you should read Rebecca sooner rather than later as it was good, I just wish I hadn't been spoiled on it! I read The Breakthrough in the Penguin Mini Moderns series and enjoyed that, so I do want to read some more of her short stories :)
Haha, it was because I already knew a few spoilers from popular culture so I thought I was fine! And then suddenly it hit me with one I didn't know and I was like, "I HAVE MADE SUCH A MISTAKE."
Personally I couldn't stand the writing style, it was so overdone on descriptions of things and the plot plodded along at a snails pace until the last 50-100 pages. The protagonist is the very embodiment of weak female characters. She was an absolute wet lettuce the entire book, incapable of making any sort of decision by herself to the point where she just sat around like an idiot instead of speaking to her husband. I found it impossible to root for her so it sucked the air out of the story for me. As to your experience with the introduction this is unfortunately a common thing amongst classics (the one for picture of dorian grey is much the same) the problem is they're intended as 'an introduction to study/analysis of the text' not as some sort of prologue. It's meant to give you some insight and context for after you've read it. I've argued for ages that these should be put at the back of the book.
I didn't like that she was such a weak female character but I also think that was the point and had to be done to contrast her with Rebecca! I actually thought that the writing style saved it haha, so I guess it just goes to show that what one person likes is a turn-off for someone else. I also actually thought the inverse, that the pacing was good at the start and built suspense and then too much happened at the end. I would have cut out the entire part where they consulted the doctor and stuff at the end!
and the lesson is don't read the introductions to classic novels until you've finished the book itself
I don't know, I kind of disagree because it's literally never been a problem for me with any other book and it usually gives you a lot of insight into the culture and the time period etc. in which the book was written. Whereas the intro to this was basically just a summary of the plot, which I've never seen before in an intro. It had a paragraph on how Du Maurier was bisexual and then the rest of it was just the plot and how that relates to Rebecca's Tale, the officially sanctioned spin-off that it was trying to sell :/
Yeah, I'm sorry it was spoiled for you because I went in totally blind and I soaked it up like a sponge, lol! I remember thinking about midway through that Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca must've been two peas in a pod but at that point, I didn't know that "Danny" had been with Rebecca since her childhood. I had the hint that Rebecca might be somewhat evil when the narrator first met Ben on the beach. He said basically, that Rebecca threatened to send him to the asylum if he told anyone who he might have seen coming to her cottage. That's when I was thinking: *oh...ok, that's how she REALLY is; not at ALL the perfect lady of the manor.* Also, I hadn't thought about it but you're right...it's very much like Gone Girl. I loved it so much and I thank you for hosting the buddy read! Oh and...Beatrice was Maxim's sister. ;-)
I think having read it I'd have to credit it for pretty much creating the whole genre of psychological thriller :D Unfortunately, most psychological thrillers that I've read haven't been great... But yeah, it was a fun buddy read, I'm glad we did it!
Lu G I’m here on your rec, Lu - thanks again! xox Erin
And thanks for the shoutout as well, Lu! :)
It seems you may have missed a crucial point Rebecca made the night she was murdered. She teased Maxim by suggesting she had gotten pregnant from one of the men she slept with in London. She was threatening him with the idea that as the mother of "their" child, she'll be even more entrenched in his life that he could never escape her. So Maxim, already deciding he wanted her dead, took that as the last straw and fired the gun.
In the end, Rebecca still won, because if she cant have Manderley, then no one would.
Sounds about right! It's been a while since I read it, to be fair!
Very good review. I did not have that edition, so I was surprised by much of the happenings in the book. Some parts were predictable. But like you said, the writing made up for the not-so-good or predictable parts. 4.5 stars for me. Thanks for hosting the read-along. I will be reading Jamaica Inn next week.
I'm still very glad to have read it and it was a pleasure to buddy read with you, Patrice! Let me know what you make of Jamaica Inn!
Hi Dane! Your channel was recommended to me by Lu G, one of your subs. I’m so excited to subscribe and follow along! I’m an avid reader, too - and I loved Rebecca. Your friend! Erin
Hey Erin! Thanks so much for stopping by :) Yes, Lu is great, we really need to convince her to start a channel of her own haha :D What books have you got planned for the next few weeks?
I just finished “Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit”
Oooooh, have you started your new channel? I'll have to subscribe! I watched a documentary series about Bobby Kennedy on Netflix a few weeks ago!
Yes and me too - the series was so good!
Agreed!
Ah! That’s horrible that you were spoiled! I never read introductions prior to the book unless it’s nonfiction.
Great review! Rebecca is one of my favorites.
I just don't understand why you'd read an introduction after reading a book in the same way as I wouldn't read an afterword before reading it. I just read from cover to cover haha, I was always told that's how you're supposed to read :D
Dane Reads ha! Yes I believe you’re correct in your reading order lol but I’ve been scorned before just like you! I would have been so angry being spoiled for something that’s supposed to be a surprise. It would be different if it was a story I already knew and it didn’t matter if it was spoiled in the intro.
Well I've been spoiled on stuff before and it hasn't really bothered me, but with this one you kind of need to not have been spoiled, otherwise the book falls a little bit flat. It relies on you not being spoiled to work
I literally had the same edition as you when I first read this book but I didn't even put 2 and 2 together about what the cover depicted.... D'oh! I'm interested to see what my thoughts would be rereading this book, because I felt much the same as you - reading it once feels like you're rereading it already. Have you ever thought about reading audiobooks?! Your slighty snide reading of the passages in this book are perfect!
I do listen to audio books but only if I've already read the book as I sometimes zone out of audio books :D So maybe I'll listen to the audio book if I ever re-read this, although I don't think I will do!
Great discussion video :) the introductions to classics are meant to be spoilery because they are written essay-like to go beyond the plot and discuss key themes or things related to the author, so yeah, always read them at the end hehe. I agree that the main character is extremely unlikeable; in Gothic lit most of the times, the villains are much more interesting, like the maid in Rebecca.Have you watched the movie by Hitchcock? it's really great! I totally agree with the thing about the setting because, while it is sublime, it does allude to death, as you said and to Rebecca's death particularly :) loved this video!
I've said to a few other people though, the idea of reading a book out of order makes me feel physically ill. I'd rather just not read a book than to read it out of order! And the intro to this didn't cover any of the themes or anything, it just summarised the plot. I usually like reading them first anyway because it adds something to the reading of it to know about the author's life and the world itself when the book was written, but there wasn't any of that in this intro. Just a summary of the plot and how that relates back to the authorised spin-off called Rebecca's Tale. I don't see the point of there being an introduction that you read afterwards because that's not an introduction. That's an afterword that's been put in the wrong place in the book >.
Well that seems kind of rude to have a HUGE spoiler on the cover x) Also, screw you Sally Beauman! I loved this story, and even though I knew the ultimate twist I still found myself enthralled with the suspense, and atmosphere of it all. The main protagonist was frustrating, but I empathized with her quite a bit so I didn't hate her like a lot of people seem too...Glad you still managed to enjoy it a bit :) I thought the movie was rather good too, all melodrama aside.
Yeah, we watched the movie the other day and it was great! The way I see it, the protagonist had to be how she was because that's what made her clash with Rebecca :D Yes, the suspense and the atmosphere in it were great, I've seen people say it's slow-paced but I didn't find that at all!
I read this a couple years ago. I wasn't really spoiled but I did decide to watch the 1940's movie before reading it. I really loved both the movie and the book! I love Mitchell and Webb but I haven't seen that clip before. I'm gonna have to go look at that whole video! I'm sorry you were spoiled before reading it, but great review!
At least the 1940s movie changed the plot though! :D
Lol. I've learned never to read the intros for fiction. (I've seen enough to peak my interest. I'll be back once I get around to it.
Unfortunately I've always just read books from start to finish. I always assume that's the way they're meant to be read haha. I do the same with reference books etc. as well, I've never understood the point of "dipping in and out" of something or reading a book out of order
Dane Reads I mean, technically since intro's are usually tacked on at a later date, you'd still be reading the book in order if you just start with chapter one. Although, seriously, who gives away SUCH and important detail in their intro. I've seen small spoilers, but that sounds like the entire plot.
That doesn't work for me though because while that's chronological, it's not in book order. If you did that with Harry Potter then you'd read the ending of Deathly Hallows towards the start because JK Rowling wrote the ending before finishing writing the series. I know that I myself don't necessarily write from start to finish as well!
@@danecobain A recurring joke amongst Brazilian writers goes something like this:
"Introduction is how we call that bit the writer only ever writes AFTER he ends the novel, the publishers only ever put BEFORE the novel and the reader always ignore, before and after the novel."
@@edisonlima4647 Ha!
Thanks for this review. Totally agree. 3* for me
Any time, thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :D
That's a bit silly to put spoilers in the introduction. Shame you were spoiled!
I enjoyed Rebecca, but I liked My Cousin Rachel more :)
You are funny in your reviews, I genuinely enjoy them :)
I've got My Cousin Rachel and Frenchman's Creek on my TBR :) And I don't know any spoilers about them so yay :D
I was wanting to read it but it does have similarities to Gone Girl 👧
Yes but at least it was a lot better than Gone Girl haha
Dane Reads haha true
I came back! DID YOU DOUBT I WOULD? Well, I didn't forget. I do think Rebecca felt so similar to Jane Eyre, but in my opinion it was so much better and less boring. Equally as creepy, but much better still. I have to be honest, I was partly very excited about this video to hear you rant about that stupid introduction.
I'm probably going to go back and read everybody's thoughts on the mail chain, but the system didn't work for ME. I got lost and it was messy, especially because I was sooo behind. Reading everything now will be so cool, I'm sure! Yeahhh, Manderley sounded so somber and dark. NOT nice. I never got nice feelings from it! It sounded soo unwelcoming from its first descriptions. You know what place seemed nice? Monte Cralo. But that's it for warm, fuzzy settings in the book, haha.
The other day I stumbled across a certain edition of the book at the bookstore which had a red cover and curly font. That's when I realized why the title had always sounded so familiar! I've seen it around a million times and ALWAYS believed it was a book about erotica. Awesome review! I feel so bad that you were spoiled! If it makes you feel better, I was also spoiled when I read a brief synopsis of each of the characters to understand who was who. The useless website mentioned that Maxim had killed Rebecca too!!!! AGHHHHH
I didn't doubt you would, I'd forgotten though haha :D Ah see I didn't like the sound of Monte Carlo either because it sounded like there'd be lots of people there and I'm not enjoying being around people much at the moment haha. The Max killing Rebecca thing was annoying because I thought I knew the plot of Rebecca but I didn't know that and so it would still have been a surprise. But then the intro ruined it -.-
You know, I'm really in the mood to isolate myself from all other IRL human beings too. I want vacations sooo bad. It's very annoying when you think of what could have been but will not. I hope you never read any introduction as an introduction again. It's happened to me with other books as well!
Love Rebecca! I’m due a reread soon
Good plan! I'm probably not going to re-read it any time purely because it already felt like a re-read, but I will be watching the movie soon!
The movie is great too. One of my grannies favourites
I was amazed by how quickly it came out, too! The book was 38 and the movie was 40!
Ahhh clicking away because spoilers!! I'm guessing this one is definitely worth the read?
It is worth the read, yeah! As long as you avoid the spoilers :P I gave it a 4/5
Had to stop watching at 0:22. I'll come back once I read it!
Good call! Keen to hear what you make of it :D
I'll be back when I finish the book.
I'll be waiting ;D We watched the movie of it last night as well!
Aaaaah I love gothic lit.
Yes, I'd like to read more of it!
Genuinely i dont like the story soo much.. I am not going to re-read this book..
I felt that i already know the end and the story☹️☹️
I alas was spoiled on it by the introduction and so I really did already know the story -.-
I do plan to read it so I will stop watching. Thank you very much.
I will suggest the short story Don't Look Now. I really enjoy that one. I only recently learned that it was made into a film a long time ago.
:) I am sure this review is good but I'll skip it for now.
Yes, you should read Rebecca sooner rather than later as it was good, I just wish I hadn't been spoiled on it! I read The Breakthrough in the Penguin Mini Moderns series and enjoyed that, so I do want to read some more of her short stories :)
That's horrible! Oh God! I'm so sorry! Lol. Why didn't you stop reading the introduction when you saw the first spolier?? Lol.
Haha, it was because I already knew a few spoilers from popular culture so I thought I was fine! And then suddenly it hit me with one I didn't know and I was like, "I HAVE MADE SUCH A MISTAKE."
Personally I couldn't stand the writing style, it was so overdone on descriptions of things and the plot plodded along at a snails pace until the last 50-100 pages.
The protagonist is the very embodiment of weak female characters. She was an absolute wet lettuce the entire book, incapable of making any sort of decision by herself to the point where she just sat around like an idiot instead of speaking to her husband. I found it impossible to root for her so it sucked the air out of the story for me.
As to your experience with the introduction this is unfortunately a common thing amongst classics (the one for picture of dorian grey is much the same) the problem is they're intended as 'an introduction to study/analysis of the text' not as some sort of prologue. It's meant to give you some insight and context for after you've read it. I've argued for ages that these should be put at the back of the book.
I didn't like that she was such a weak female character but I also think that was the point and had to be done to contrast her with Rebecca! I actually thought that the writing style saved it haha, so I guess it just goes to show that what one person likes is a turn-off for someone else. I also actually thought the inverse, that the pacing was good at the start and built suspense and then too much happened at the end. I would have cut out the entire part where they consulted the doctor and stuff at the end!
Dane Reads I agree that too much happened right at the end, that should have all been spaced out throughout the book.
I dunno man, because I didn't think that all of the stuff at the end should have happened at all haha