Ponder Post: The Girl on the Train

The plot of this mystery book is compelling. A woman sees "something" out the train window during her daily commute, shocking her out of her reverie. The descriptions on the train and in the stations are very vivid. I felt as if I, too, was swaying and jolting along on the screeching tracks as the woman makes her observations. If you are a rail commuter or have ever ridden a train during commute hours, the descriptive language in the train sequences of this book will transport you back into that railway car, making the experience all the more palpable from the comfort of your easy chair.

The author Paula Hawkins writes each chapter alternately from the point of view of one of three distinct women. The "I" in each chapter can refer to Rachel (the woman on the train), Anna, or Megan. A glance up at the chapter heading, which reads the name of the relevant women, keeps this voice-changing writing style from being disorienting. Before too long into the book, the interrelation among these women is clarified. Rachel lives under a cloud of sadness and she is inclined to indulge in alcohol when she is depressed. She is frequently inebriated and so when she goes to the authorities with information on the "something" she has seen, she is confused, and the police detectives dismiss her as an unreliable witness. Rachel begins to sleuth on her own.

The chapters, were not presented in chronological order although within each chapter an associated date and time of day is cited fairly precisely. The dates and times drove me crazy. I kept flipping back and forth to see in what sequence certain actions occurred. I was berating myself for not taking notes and recording a timeline as I read the book. Keep in mind this was a book I was reading for pleasure. There was no test at the end. Understanding those dates and times was not necessary to enjoy the book. It was only a self-inflicted burden. 

I wish now that I had not been so anal and just enjoyed the wild ride the book provided. This is the first work of fiction for an author who has been a journalist for fifteen years. Perhaps that is why dates and times of day so precisely peppered the pages of this novel. I almost believe now, in retrospect, that the author wanted to make me similarly confused as the lead character, grasping vainly at straws to organize her thoughts and create a feasible timeline of events. The unique vehicle for revealing the secrets of this "whodunnit" mystery is not the discovery of clues but rather the recovery of memories from the deep crevices of Rachel's often fuzzy, muddled mind.

I stayed up well past midnight to finish the suspenseful, action-filled, final forty pages of this book. The twists and reveals in the plot were unforeseen. I can imagine a screenplay being written for a movie thriller like Psycho based on an adaptation of this novel. From a quick peek at Amazon I learned that Dreamworks has picked up the movie rights to this book. 

I bought The Girl on the Train on impulse because it had the word "train" in the title and the phrase "Alfred Hitchock for a new generation" on the back cover and I thought my husband Frank would like it. I read it first though, ostensibly so I could tell him if it was good or not. It was really, really good, even if it was a bit confusing initially. But The Girl on the Train had an intentional reason to be confusing, so I forgave it for being befuddling. That was part of its cleverness.