The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin, Peter Straub Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Stepford Wives
Book Review: Great read
Summary: 5 Stars
THE STEPFORD WIVES is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. The book is very well paced and will keep you turning pages, until you've turned the last page. Joanna Eberhart moves from a big city to the small village of Stepford with her husband and two kids. She finds the women in this town a little strange, they appear to have no brains and to be soul-less, enjoying the chores of being a housewife and taking care of the kids. She meets Bobbie, to whom she immediately befriends. Bobbie agrees that something isn't up to par. When they move her husband joins the Men's Association. Bobbie and Joanna wonder what happened to the Woman's organization, that disbanded a few years ago. When their friend suddenly turns into one of those women, they start to wonder if there's something in the water or the air that is making these women turn into these housewives with no other aspirations. Bobbie & Joanna decide to try to uproot and move their families. Then Bobbie goes away for a weekend with her husband, and boom she comes back a changed woman as well. Joanna's suspicions are piqued and she heads off to do some research, and finds out a man who once lived in California at Disneyland, who made robots, is the president of the Men's Association. Their initial friend came in July, and four months later, had changed. Bobbie came in August, and a month after their friend, also changed. Joanna knew she was next, and with her proof, she went to her husband and told him she was leaving town with the kids, only to find they were gone! She knew she was next, and escaped, only to be found by the men who tried to convince them that they weren't turning women into robots. They convince her to go to Bobbie's and she will cut herself to prove she's human, and then suddenly, Joanna is one of them. The implications of this is truly astounding and quite frightening. It was a quick read, quite a short book but fast paced.Book Review: Hollywood can't kill it
Summary: 5 Stars
An amazing horror/dystopian fiction from one of my all-time favorite authors. Forget the Hollywood treatments (as interesting as they are). This is the source material, not a satire. Creepy, chilling, and provocative in a ll the right ways.
Scott Nicholson
The Red Church vs. They Hunger
Book Review: Horror-fied
Summary: 5 Stars
I was dying-haha-to know what happened to the main character after seeing all those commercials with Nichole Kidman leaping back from that robot of herself. "Did that really happen? Is that really a story?" Coming from the man who wrote, "Rosemary's Baby" anything is possible. Its quite short and quite disturbing. After finishing the story, I didn't want to turn out the light. But nothing was going to get me! It wasn't the same horror as a classic horror movie, slash and trash the girl... It was almost like a "threatening" horror. What would happen if women lost everything---what if it were all taken away and replaced with what your husband and children want as a wife and mother? It makes me think about how central a womans role is in her household....the whole story makes me think---totally! Disturbing, very disturbing. I can't help but wonder what a man would feel and say about this, or a woman who has grown children and a lifelong relationship with her husband. Would these people feel powerless, unsettled? Or just creeped out with a smile on their face? Whatever the feeling, the marvelous and unusual feeling, this story evokes these strongly in me. It was published the year I was born....
Book Review: Intelligent and engaging
Summary: 4 Stars
Like many others, I was able to read this short story in one sitting. It is a very well-written book in my opinion, and the main characters of Joanne and Bobbie are well-developed and interesting. With the new Mathew Broderick movie coming out, I imagine there will be a lot of renewed interest in the original story. I think it is somewhat of a misnomer to call this book "science fiction." Though judging from the trailers the new movie has a lot of explicit science fictiony scenes, the book does not. In fact, in the end the true nature of the Stepford Wives is never revealed, and it is up to the reader to draw his own conclusion based on a series of clues and hints the author reveals in the book's three chapters.
I must admit, I was initally disappointed with the story's anti-climactic ending, but it has since grown on me. This is a highly intelligent story that does not patronize the reader. I think it will easily be regarded as a 20th century classic decades from now.
Book Review: Interesting and Quick
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great Filler book. It is a very fast read, and kept my attention for the most part. The beginning was a little slow, but about halfway I couldn't put it down. It's kind of a creepy story line and makes you think about what you would do in that situation. I would recomment this book especially if you're looking for something short to pass the time.