Since last week I have started a phycological thriller novel called The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The Girl on the Train is about a middle age women, Rachel, took the same commuter train every morning and gradually saw inscrutable senses at a stop. Rachel was keen to collect the senses into a whole story line as if a puzzle since the train only stopped for an minute. Though I am yet to finish this novel, I have several thoughts to share.
My first instinct is that there must be something wrong with Rachel for her to envy ordinary after reading opening chapter. Every morning Rachel saw a golden, perfect couple living peacefully in their relationships and sumptuous house. While Rachel was imaging what their lives would be all day long, she had given the couples imaginary names —- Jason and Jess. As a reader, I do not see any good reason that why Jason and Jess made Rachel envious. Jason and Jess were certainly living in a pleasant lives, and it should be extremly ordinary to maintain a healthy relationship like them. Therefore, Rachel did not envy Jason and Jess. Instead, she was desperate about herself for not having a common relationship like every couple in my assumption. As I read further, I found out Rachel did divorce once five years ago.
The point of view in the novel confused me. There are two narrator in alternative chapters, Rachel and Megan. However, it is as if a new story began in every chapter. I believe this is because there were no connective relationship between Rachel and Megan until Rachel recognized Megan as her “imaginary Jess”, whom I believe they will meet eventually.
Through reading The Girl on the Train, my initial intuition of the story plot was right, and I was somehow confused by the narrators. I will continue to read the novel since I am always interest in a story plot like this —- finding and revealing a mystery by any means.
