Rebecca

Rating:
Summary: Rebecca
Review: "Rebecca" is one of the most haunting novels I have ever read. The opening sentence alone is enough to give one the shivers: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

The novel started as a project to see how long the author could go without naming her main character, and ends up as being a fascinating read. Maxim de Winter is a man with secrets, and his new bride, who feels Rebecca's oppressive spirit everywhere in their new home, is an honest and brave character with whom all readeres should be able to identify with. She is made of stronger stuff than any romance novel charcter I've ever read.

Rebecca herself, although her voice is rarely heard and she lives on through memories of the inhabitants of Manderley is still a force to be reckoned with. Rebecca's loyal servant Mrs. Danvers (quite possibly the creepiest personal maid/housekeeper in literature) will make your skin crawl.

The book has an astonishing ending and I guarantee that anyone who picks the book up will not only be unable to put it down, but when the last page is turned, will start to reread it immediately.

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Summary: The greatest mystery novel of all time
Review: A long time ago, I heard a phrase that struck me as odd: "They had everything -- money, power, love -- everything, except happiness." How could that be? The only answer I could come up with was health problems. A couple of years later, I read "Rebecca" and now I know.

Maxim De Winter meets a shy, young, naive girl in Monte Carlo. After a very short courtship, they marry. The girl comes from a family of no distinction and previously worked as a companion. Maxim De Winter comes from a semi-aristocratic family. He has a lot of money and a house called Manderly. Manderly is a famous landmark and has even been featured on post-cards. After their honeymoon, Maxim and Mrs. De Winter come to his house which is haunted in every way imaginable by the memories of Maxim's first wife, the beautiful, intelligent, the darling of the society -- Rebecca.

It is in this house that Mrs. De Winter finds herself very unhappy although she has Maxim's love, money and power... You just have to read the book to find the most shocking truth.

This book is very dark, following in Gothic traditions. It presents very interesting characters...It is a novel to be savoured.

Rating:
Summary: A special book...
Review: I think the book is good. The story is about Maxim de Winter, a rich man, who goes to Monte Carlo and who marries a quite young woman there. He takes her back to his lovely country home, Manderley. But in Manderley there is still the ghost of his first wife Rebecca who destroys the happiness of the couple. The autor had a very good idea, to start with the end of the story. Like that the book gets a special touch. But apart from that the beginning of the book is a little bit ardious and boring to read. But it becomes better and better up to the final scene which is very exciting which isn't a happy-end. The whole book is filled with emotions and unexpected expressions.The variation of feelings of the unknown narrator are descripped in a way which allows the reader to go into this person and to feel with her. The feelings change from love to hatred. The book also shows how soon that hapiness can be destroyed and what it means to be compared the whole time with a perfect person, even though that the course of the book shows that there doesn't existe a perfect person without a mistake in the world. I think it the book would be better when the beginning would be shortened and instead of that to embellish the end.

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Summary: Classic Romance for every reader
Review: I've given this book four, rather than five stars because I haven't read many books which I thought were perfect. Even this one has its flaws (such as a rather pedestrian narrative style). But those flaws are minor in comparison to the truly compelling characters and gripping tale woven by Du Maurier. I only just recently read this for the first time and I was surprised to find that it was a much better read than I thought it would be. I love the Hitchcock movie and was worried that the book wouldn't be as good, but boy was I wrong! The suspense is chilling from the moment the new Mrs. De Winter arrives at Manderley. Du Maurier's greatest achievement is to have created a narrator who is so young and inexperienced that Rebecca (who of couse is never present in the novel) seems more alive than our heroine! In a way, the heroine (who remains unnamed, in what must be one of the master strokes of the novel) becomes more interesting as she, like Mrs. Danvers, becomes more and more obsessed with the dead Rebecca. The slight hint of a lesbian attachment between Rebecca and "Danny" adds spice to the otherwise conventional romance aspect of the novel. In fact, I found this story interesting as a tale of intimate relationships between women - even Maxim, the main male in the book fades into the background as Rebecca beomes more prominent in everyone's memory. I could not put this down and was glad to find that I liked it as much as the movie!

Rating:
Summary: Truly A Classic
Review: This book was recommended to me several times before I broke down and read it. I am a lover of classic films, yet this is one that I had never seen, for some unknown reason. A good friend suggested that I read the book to truly enjoy the story to its fullest. And boy, was she right.

Although not my usual genre of choice, this is a true classic. The main character, the 'second Mrs. Dewinter' is a simple girl, swept up in a romance with a rich widower while she is on vacation as companion to a pushy, well to do woman. She leaves her employer to marry Max DeWinter, not anticipating all this union entails for her.

She is drawn into the shadow of Rebecca, the first Mrs. DeWinter, and fights to measure up, and to retain her sanity in Max and Rebecca's home, Manderley.

Not helping matters at all is Mrs. Danvers, a maid of sorts, who was utterly devoted to Rebecca, and bitterly resents the appearance of this plain, uneducated, unrefined girl trying desperately to fill the void left in the house when Rebecca died suddenly, under mysterious circumstances.

The second Mrs. DeWinter, never referred to by name, finds herself fighting to find her own place at Manderley, and in Max's heart, as well as seeking the approval of Mrs. Danvers and the other household servants, and Rebecca's friends and relatives, as she slowly comes to the realization that not all was as it seemed with Max and Rebecca, and the grounds of Manderley are the burial place of many secrets, perhaps better left undisturbed.

This is a wonderful story, full of colorful and engaging characters, and one of the best of the more 'modern' classics in 1900's literature.

Rating:
Summary: A pleasing book
Review: This wonderful book bored me quite a bit of the way through, but maybe that is because I am a high-school student, and I had to read it. Without pressure, most books are much more pleasing. However, looking back, thinking about it, I love this book. Du Maurier is a talented author. She has created a grand environment, the immense Manderley. She has also made great and intriguing characters: the young, timid narrator, quite often the only one who is left not knowing what is going on (she is never referred to by her first name); the rich, enigmatic Maxim De Winter, the narrator's husband; the loyal servants, including the ever-active Frith and the bumbling Robert; the unforgettable Mrs. Danvers, always seeming to lurk in the shadows, always looking upon Mrs. De Winter with a keen eye of expectancy and detest; the tactless Beatrice; Maxim's agent, Frank Crawley; and of course, the dead, ever-present, haunting Rebecca. The narrator comes to Manderley, completely new to this lifestyle, and forever falls in the shadow of Rebecca. She learns of Rebecca's fate, having drowned in the sea after her boat capsized. She learns everything about the ways of Manderley, and tries to follow these unwritten laws. Then, a ship crashes somewhere near Manderley, and a diver is sent to survey the damage. When he comes up, he reports the discovery of Rebecca's ship! He also reports a body found in the cabin. Could there have been another passenger onboard? Did Rebecca even drown at all? Could she have been murdered? I won't spoil the big surprises, suffice to say this is where the plot twists and you begin to see the shades of gray. And of course, the last surprise, which is even foreshadowed on page 3 or 4, is given on the last page for the final eye-opener.