Reading the girl on the train is easier than navigating the subway in nyc or figuring out the schedule of your average commuter rail system. The girl on the train, hawkinss first thriller, is wellwritten and ingeniously constructed. The girl on the train by paula hawkins the boston globe. Heres where youll find analysis of the story as a whole.
Unlike her previous four works, romantic comedies written under a pen name, the girl on the train takes on the darker themes of domestic violence and drug abuse. Its a fairly short ride and is written in an accessible way. The girl on the train is a hokey mess the atlantic. Megan appears to be the book s most complicated character, both because we spend the least amount. New york daily news the girl on the train by paula hawkins is a psychologically gripping debut that delivers. The girl on the train study guide contains a biography of paula hawkins, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. There she meets all sorts of characters battling with various mental health issues of their own. The girl on the train is a gimmick, surrounded by goodlooking actors, in a story that seems inconsequential at best.
This study guide consists of approximately 46 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the girl on the train. The novel debuted in the number one spot on the new york times fiction best sellers of 2015 list print and e book dated 1 february 2015, 2 and remained. The cast is talented, the characters are real, and the story will resonate with you long after the. Out of our three point of view characters, rachel and megan both have dual personalities, but. Based on actual accounts, the girl from the train by irma joubert is the story of gretl and jakob. Rachel is a mess, an alcoholic commuter pining for her exhusbandwhos moved on with a new wife and a baby. This has led me to believe that 2015 didnt have better books in the mystery and thriller genre, hence the goodreads choice award going to the girl on the train. Girl is a short story by jamaica kincaid that was first published in 1978. Jan 15, 2015 girl on the train has 3 pov characters. At the end of the movie, we see rachel from the outside of the train, talking in voiceover about how her life is different now, just as she does at the end of the book. For a book structured around a train, it sure is filled with people going nowhere.
Hawkinss tale of love, regret, violence and forgetting is an engrossing psychological thriller with plenty of surprises. Feb 01, 2015 the girl on the train, by paula hawkins. Swear words including the fword, s, p, bch, h, btard, whore and arse appear frequently. She is smart, strict, and authoritative, but wishes the children well and does her best to take care of their needs on the train.
I had heard a lot of good reports about the book and it certainly lived up to its reputation. Vivian is one of the two main characters in the book. With emily blunt, haley bennett, rebecca ferguson, justin theroux. Janet maslin, the new york times the girl on the train marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. The girl on the train agenda characterssummary plotline character 1 character 2 social connections conclusionquestions jill greenlaw by paula hawkins climax rachel stabs tom with a corkskrew. The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other peoples lives, from the author of into the water. The girl on the train is a 2015 psychological thriller novel by british author paula hawkins that gives narratives from three different women about relationship troubles and binge drinking. See a complete list of the characters in girl and indepth analyses of the mother and the daughter. The girl on the train is the story of rachel watsons life postdivorce. The novel has a complexity that stems from its use of the firstperson voices of rachel, anna, and megan, which demonstrate the. The girl on the train character analysis course hero. The story takes you through so many emotions, sometimes many of them at the same time. The house she lived in with her husband, who still lives there, with his new wife and child. The girl on the train hurtles along, building up just the right amount of fear and menace along the way.
The novel gets harder and harder to put down as the story screeches toward its. Rachel sees the same couple breakfasting on their deck each morning as she passes by in her. Laura kasischke, author of the raising what a group of characters, what a situation, what a book. Every day, she takes the train in to work in new york, and every day the train passes by her old house. Her exhusband, tom, left her for his mistress, who he now has a child with. The girl from the train is an eloquent, moving testament to love and its power to illuminate our authentic selves. Characters from the 1985 book, the polar express and the 2004 film of the same name. Characters that appear in the movie how to train your dragon. Complete list of characters in paula hawkinss the girl on the train. Orphan train chapters orphan train by christina baker kline summary and analysis. Vivian thinks molly is doing this as part of a class requirement and is willing to help the.
She was born in ireland and immigrated to new york city with her family in 1929. Community content is available under ccbysa unless otherwise noted. This is an era of complex and mighty female characters who seethe and rage and avenge. The girl on the train, by paula hawkins paula hawkins gripping new thriller begins with bitter, dissolute rachel, who sees what she believes to be a perfect couple, every morning. Orphan train characters from litcharts the creators of. The book is presented from the point of view of the three lead female characters so it switches from one to the other. The girl might be on the train, but shes just sitting there, stewing, watching other people who themselves are sitting there, stewing. The novel debuted in the number one spot on the new york times fiction best sellers of 2015 list print and e book dated 1 february 2015, and remained in the top position for consecutive weeks, until.
A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life. When characters talk about abortions or advocate for them, they use phrases like get rid of and scrape out. The girl on the train by paula hawkins is a tight, suspenseful chiller with a dubious narrator, who tries to solve the mystery of a womans disappearance. Detailed analysis of characters in paula hawkinss the girl on the train. The girl from the train kindle edition by joubert, irma. Vanity fair the girl on the train has more fun with unreliable. Learn everything you need to know about rachel watson, megan hipwell, and more in the girl on the train. Lives of all three of them are interconnected somehow and then one of them goes missing. Its a book about the consequences and farreaching effects of war, but also a harrowing comingofage tale of overcoming tragedy and lasting friendship.
The girl from the train is a love story, but its not a romance. Ways girl on the train is different from the book girl on. But the girl on the train is more like the little engine that couldnt. The girl on the train, paula hawkins the girl on the train 2015 is a psychological thriller novel by british author paula hawkins. Readers sometimes conflate the likability of characters with a compulsion to care about their fate, but with a protagonist so. Rachel is going through a time of turmoil as she tries to recover from a heartbreaking divorce. Reviews the girl on the train has more fun with unreliable narration than any chiller since gone girl. Based on the novel of the same name, girl, interrupted follows susanna kaysen played by winona ryder who has a nervous breakdown and is sent to a psychiatric hospital. Tom is dead rachel and anna are questioned more of. The girl on the train, by paula hawkins the new york times. Every day, rachel rides the commuter train into london and passes the house that she used to share with tom. The girl on the train is the kind of book youll want to press into the hands of everyone you know, just so they can share your obsession and you can relive it. This category contains articles of characters in the how to train your dragon franchise and book series.
Jan 05, 2015 the girl on the train by paula hawkins is a tight, suspenseful chiller with a dubious narrator, who tries to solve the mystery of a womans disappearance. The novel has a complexity that stems from its use of the firstperson voices of rachel, anna, and megan, which demonstrate the literary technique of the unreliable narrative voice. Paula hawkinss pageturning debut thriller, the girl on the train tells the stories of three such women. The girl on the train by paula hawkins, paperback barnes.
Hawkinss girl is a less flashy, but altogether more solid creation. This didnt produce significant continuity for the plot and as the book droned on more life details were added which makes you wonder how anyone so damaged could survive in the world. Jan 08, 2015 hawkinss girl is a less flashy, but altogether more solid creation. Nothing is more addicting than the girl on the train. Im not sure if the book is antisex, but the subtext in this movie certainly. It moves from the family farm, to the warsaw uprising against the nazis which the russian red army, across the vistula river from warsaw, sat out, to the program that took german war orphans to south africa for adoption, and to the first. Learn all about how the characters in the girl on the train such as rachel watson and megan hipwell contribute to the story and how they fit into the plot. We spend over half the book with rachel watson, our titular girl on the train. Feel free to add relevant articles media files into this category. The girl on the train is full of backstabbing, none of it literal.
Jan 01, 2007 the girl from the train is a love story, but its not a romance. The characters who are depicted as enjoying sex in the girl on the train are ultimately all punished in some way. The director of the help and get on up also reveals why he wanted to venture into a thriller and what the future holds for the girl on the trains main characters. She is an intelligent, opinionated, and reflective seventeenyearold girl who lives with her foster parents, ralph and dina thibodeaus, at their home in spruce harbor, maine. Megan appears to be the books most complicated character, both because we spend the least amount. The girl on the train characters paula hawkins this study guide consists of approximately 46 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the girl on the train. When characters talk about abortions or advocate for them, they use phrases like get rid of and scrape out scott batters both rachel and megan at different times.
See a complete list of the characters in girl and in depth analyses of the mother and the daughter. The girl on the train is a psychological thriller with themes including substance abuse and domestic violence. Oct 07, 2016 the problem with the book, though, was that it was also frequently a hokey mess, and tate taylors new adaptation of the girl on the train takes the worst parts of the novel excruciating. The girl on the train is one of those books where you cant wait yet almost cant bear to turn the page. Scatcherd is the matron of the orphan train during vivianniamh, dutchy and carmine s ride. In your opinion, what is it about this book that captured the interest of millions of readers worldwide. The girl on the train is liable to draw a large, bedazzled readership too. Apr 09, 2017 the book is presented from the point of view of the three lead female characters so it switches from one to the other. The girl from the train by irma joubert, paperback.