It doesn't happen often that I read a book after I've seen the screen adaptation. I've been watching the TV show You since it was first released, but while the book has been on my list for absolutely ages, it always kept getting bumped down, maybe because I was content enough with the show that I didn't feel the desperate need to read the source material. But then the Ladies of Horror Fiction featured You for the November edition of their monthly read-along*, and it was just the nudge I needed to check it out. So was it worth the wait? Let's see - but, I'll warn you now, I'm going to be doing some book/show comparisons here.
When Guinevere Beck innocently walks into Mooney's Bookshop where Joe Goldberg works, it's obsession at first sight for Joe. He pursues the oblivious Beck relentlessly, manufacturing chance meetings and carefully manipulating their budding relationship. He's determined that he and Beck will have the happy ending he's convinced they deserve, and he's not going to let anything or anyone stand in his way.
You is written in stream-of-consciousness style, talking directly to Beck in the second person, which means the entire book is just one big window into the mind of an obsessive, sociopathic creep. A thoroughly disturbing, unlikeable one at that. Joe is the very definition of an unreliable narrator, constantly justifying his own awful actions and judging everyone around him. (I can confidently say that he would judge the hell out of my literary tastes. Sorry Joe, 20th century classics where very little actually happens just don't do it for me!) His obsession with Beck is relentless and disturbing. He breaks into her apartment to steal her dirty knickers, he hacks her email account and follows her everywhere. The discomfort ramps up over the course of the book, and by the final few chapters you realise what a great choice the narrative style was for this plot, it almost feels like he's talking to you the reader instead of you (Beck), which really intensifies the disgust and horror. Sometimes the most horrifying stories aren't the supernatural ones, they're the ones that could really happen, and happen to you. Sometimes this perspective does get a bit rambley, but I think the window into Joe's head is a good choice overall, and I'm particularly tickled by how absolutely obtuse he is to his own actions while condemning everyone else for the same things, even if he did get a bit ridiculous at times.
If we take the show into consideration, Penn Badgeley and the screenwriters gave ShowJoe more depth, guilt, and a softer side in his protective relationship with his neighbour's son Paco. They made him - dare I say it - sympathetic. Though I felt gross doing so, I found myself rooting for ShowJoe quite a bit. BookJoe on the other hand was creepier, darker and just straight up more evil. He doesn't seem to have any of the guilt, panicked justification and regret over his actions that ShowJoe does. I dearly wanted to see him get his comeuppance and see justice served rather than rooting for his survival. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure which I prefer! Both interpretations have their merits and weaknesses, and both kept me hooked. For me though, the real weakness of the book (and the show, for that matter), is Beck. I just don't understand why Joe is so obsessed with her. She's shallow, narcissistic and treats the people around her like disposable garbage. She ghosts Joe repeatedly, and yet he keeps coming back for more. He's not even the only person that's fixated by her, Joe has a fair bit of competition. Not one of the supporting characters is likeable either, so I did find it find it hard to be bothered when anyone got on the wrong side of Joe. Maybe horrible people are just attracted to other horrible people and everyone else should just step back and let them get on with being horrible to each other. Leave the sweet, reliable Karen Mintys out of this!
All in all, this is a combination of Patrick Bateman, Misery, and an uncomfortable lesson in making sure your phone has a passcode. It was a close call, but given I ended up reading the narration in Penn Badgley's voice, I think the show has to just about edge into the lead. There were so many elements added into the show that I really enjoyed and added to the characters- like Joe's neighbours, and Beck finishing her book in the end. Preferring the show to the book?? What on earth has come over me? Am I still allowed to write a book blog or am I persona non grata now? Do you disagree? Let me know!
As a side note, this is yet another book with a glowing review from Stephen King on it. Does he even write books anymore or is he just a full time reviewer? Maybe I should ask him for some tips.
*I was so hyped when I found out about this read along. October was The Last House on Needless Street but I came to it very late in the month and so missed most of the discussion. Determined to be more involved this month I started reading You straight away... and finished it before anyone else had started. Evidently I need more practice on the timing here.
Comments