As REBECCA progresses we may need to go off topic, or add information that may act a SPOILER..

This is the SPOILER THREAD....

I'm going to answer Pauline's question here....




Pauline - you are right that the style needs some getting used to and this will become more evident as the book progresses. It was written in 1937 - two years pre WW2 when the English country house system was very much alive and well....when I read this book I have a very clipped English voice in my head - not the English of Davina Porter when she does Claire but more like the actress Helena Bonham Carter in the King's Speech.

Daphne du Maurier was very much a product of the upper class elite, and as such her writing style will reflect this . Her language may sound stilted almost to the point of being economical with words, and yet she creates beautiful imagery and can speak volumes in just a few sentences - she can also do "menace" with great skill ....

The BBC did an excellent production in 1997 with the actress Emilia Fox in the role of Mrs de Winter and incidentally the actress Geraldine James, who narrated the abridged version of Outlander on audio, was also in the same production....

I'm listening to the audio of Rebecca (since I'm reading Thrones) and the reader does have a "Carter' accent which is lovely. Stilted is a good description as there are many pauses in conversations but I think that they add to the effect of the story especially as it pertains to characters from different generations and society.

As I mentioned before I read Rebecca when I was very young and have always considered it a favorite book. This time through I am surprised at how outdated the narrative seems. Since the book has not changed, I guess I have to omit that I am seeing this story and characters through a very different lens. Forty years later and I guess my life has changed my perception of romance! I am having trouble with our very weak woosie leading lady. Claire would want to shake her!

Janet, that is an interesting take. It may deserve a thread of its own. Revisiting stories we loved in our youth. How do they compare now?

I remember loving Rebecca when I first read it. I think I read it somewhere in my highschool years, or possibly sooner. I loved the story at once and I loved the tone of the writing at the time, but I also adored Victoria Holt novels--anything Victorian or gothic. Perhaps if I reread it, and I am quite tempted to throw work demands to the wind and do just that just to see how differently the novel will resonate.
Thanks for the inspiration.

Actually, I just went to find my copy and started reading. Look at this line:
"Then, like dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me." Now I love this kind of eerienees. But here's the thing about the language. The narrator uses sudden as a noun.

Here is what Dictionary.com has to say about "sudden"



Therefore the narrator was possessed of an unexpected occurrence and was able to pass through a barrier.

Janet, I hadn't caught that before.

Just wanted to share one of my favorite literary trivia questions:

"What is the name of the main character in "Rebecca"?

Ummmm, narrator??

I read Rebecca a long time ago, and then a couple of years back when I handed it to one of my teens. I don't think the main character is ever given a name. When I saw the movie/mini-series (I've seen several, all years ago....) she was nameless there as well.