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A review by vegantrav
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North
5.0
We meet and get to know indie film director Sophie Stark through the people in her life: her lover, her brother, her husband, a college student who serves as the subject of one of her films, a newspaper critic who reviews her movies, and a producer.
The portrait of Sophie is Sophie as seen by those who know her. But the Sophie they show us is an almost autistic Sophie: she has difficulty relating to other people; she does not interact with people in accord with the typical social norms; she is blunt, frank, awkward, and often affectless.
Sophie expresses herself primarily through her art, through her films. But even her films, though highly praised, are somewhat enigmatic--just like she is.
But through the people in her life, we do come to know Sophie. We even come to love Sophie through those who love her--because of their love for her. We become enchanted and entranced by this mysterious young filmmaker.
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark tells us, already in the title, that Sophie dies. So her death is not surprising to us, but it is tragic--not because of some great promise unfulfilled in her cinematic career but because Sophie is a lost soul who never finds herself. She never quite fits in; she's an alien in a strange land; and eventually she decides to depart. It's sad that she could not find a home, could not find peace, could not really be understood or even understand herself. And, of course, it's sad that she is lost to those who love her.
The storytelling in this book is wonderful. The author, Anna North, presents the experiences of a group of average, ordinary people (the people in Sophie's life), and she tell their stories so beautifully that they become fascinating to us, which in turn makes Sophie's life fascinating.
I had no expectations going into this book of how good it might be, and I was surprised at just how good it is. This novel is a nearly perfect exemplification of a character study.
The portrait of Sophie is Sophie as seen by those who know her. But the Sophie they show us is an almost autistic Sophie: she has difficulty relating to other people; she does not interact with people in accord with the typical social norms; she is blunt, frank, awkward, and often affectless.
Sophie expresses herself primarily through her art, through her films. But even her films, though highly praised, are somewhat enigmatic--just like she is.
But through the people in her life, we do come to know Sophie. We even come to love Sophie through those who love her--because of their love for her. We become enchanted and entranced by this mysterious young filmmaker.
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark tells us, already in the title, that Sophie dies. So her death is not surprising to us, but it is tragic--not because of some great promise unfulfilled in her cinematic career but because Sophie is a lost soul who never finds herself. She never quite fits in; she's an alien in a strange land; and eventually she decides to depart. It's sad that she could not find a home, could not find peace, could not really be understood or even understand herself. And, of course, it's sad that she is lost to those who love her.
The storytelling in this book is wonderful. The author, Anna North, presents the experiences of a group of average, ordinary people (the people in Sophie's life), and she tell their stories so beautifully that they become fascinating to us, which in turn makes Sophie's life fascinating.
I had no expectations going into this book of how good it might be, and I was surprised at just how good it is. This novel is a nearly perfect exemplification of a character study.