Stingo, our narrator, in william styrons national book awardwinning novel, sophie s choice, begins with admirable intentions. Sophies choice begins as a young southerners odyssey to the unimaginable northto that strange land celebrated by his hero, thomas wolfe, who took the allnight train to new york with its riches, its women, and its romance. For these and other reasons, sophies choice has engendered almost as much controversy as the confessions of nat turner did in 1967. Feb 05, 2004 buy sophie s choice vintage classics new ed by styron, william isbn. Is it just me who thinks that the sophie s choice is overrated. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from prewar prosperity to auschwitz. Sophies choice novel project gutenberg selfpublishing. In addition to the storyform, youll also find any additional analysis or media related to the story in question more analysis south park. A contemporary casebook is a collection of interpretations and reactions to william styrons famous 1979 novel of the holocaust. Pakula directed the movie and wrote the script based on the novel of the same name by william styron. Jan 16, 2016 i was hesitant to read sophies choice because the only scene from the movie that ive seen is where meryl streep, as sophie, is forced to make her titular choice.
Shira nayman, an australian native, has just published a collection of short fiction about the holocaust called awake in the dark, a portion of which has been set to music. Every day, a letter comes to her mailbox that contains a few questions and then later in the day a package comes with some typed pages describing the ideas of a philosopher who dealt with the issues raised by the questions. And sophie s choice will probably draw similar accusations about styron s use of the holocaust. The movie takes place in the late 1940 s when a young writer stingo, moves in manhattan from the south. If the plotting is so masterful that a successful author was stymied by how it worked, would knowing the climactic scene ruin my own experience. The most poignant scenes in the book are pitchperfect on screen, and the concentration camp footage is heartbreaking.
A gutwrenching scene from the 1982 movie sophies choice, screenplay by alan j. Sophie s choice tells the story of three young friends who lived in brooklyn in 1947. It concerns the relation between three people sharing a boarding house in brooklyn. The film is dignified by meryl streeps rightly celebrated portrait of sophie, peter macnicols admirably alert playing of stingo, and marvin hamlischs lovely, affecting score. The book would be unsuitable for younger readers because of its explicit treatment of sex. Sophie zawistowska has been asked to choose which of her two children, eva or jan, will be sent to the gas chamber in auschwitz. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. She begins a strange correspondence course in philosophy. In this sophie s choice excerpt he describes a young polish mother, sophie, with her two small children, being transported in a crowded train by german soldiers during world war ii to auschwitz, the nazi concentration camp. Stingo, a novelist who is recalling the summer when he began his first novel, has been fired from his low.
There were several fifty or hundred page chapters i could have done withoutlong asides that did nothing to advance the plot and instead distracted from the narrative. The plot story within a story stingo writer from south travels to brooklyn little money most economical housing stingo, sophie, and nathan become great friends sophie holocaust survivor nathan schizophrenic drug. He selected william styron s 1979 novel, sophie s choice, and will lead a. Reading strategies for sophies choice wsj book club. Very few other american actresses, including emma, could have pulled it off. Youve reached the hub for any and all dramatica analysis of sophies choice. This study guide consists of approximately 80 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of sophie s choice. Much is made in the book of sophie s blonde, blueeyed good looks, how a certain amount of special treatment helped her survive the concentration camp, how it showed the nazis to be insane about the whole aryan thing, and how her blonde good looks gave the idiot narrator a stiffie. The heroine of william styrons sophie s choice is a creature of such extravagant and contradictory attributes that it isnt always easy, while reading the novel, to imagine her in the flesh. In the present, sophie and nathan s relationship increasingly unravels as stingo grows closer to sophie and nathan s fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent. The tale follows this writer who moves into a boarding house in brooklyn only to meet sophie and her emotionally unstable lover. Ill start with a positive, as there were many reasons to love this book. And sophie s choice will probably draw similar accusations about styrons use of the holocaust. Their entanglement in one another s lives will build to a stirring revelation of.
Nathan claims to have graduated from harvard university as a biologist. In the end, i think this book, full of the horrors of human cruelty, really confirms the interconnectedness of things. Sophies choice by william styron overdrive rakuten. Source book for the meryl streep film of the same title. It is described as an american classic or historical fiction, though it falls squarely into the category of adult literary fiction.
He meets a couple in his apartment building sophie, a catholic and nathan, a jew. If you are in a good place emotionally, then sophies choice will change all that. William styrons novel of choices, hobsons and otherwisethis novel was chosen by members of on the southern literary trail as a group read for september, 2014. Sophie s choice by styron, william and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Sophies world summary from litcharts the creators of.
He learns that sophie s father, a polish college professor, hated jews. I first heard someone using this phrase and then read the book to find what the deal is about. Nathan attacks stingos writing, claiming that it amounts to the first. Stingo, a young aspiring writer from the south who befriends the jewish nathan landau and his beautiful lover sophie, a polish survivor of the german nazi concentration camps.
Set a few years after world war iis demise, it chronicles the days of a survivor of that dreaded german affair. Stingo is the outsider in the conflict between the embattered jewish community and the nazis. A gift of a role for meryl streep, who is duly awarded her second best actress oscar as sophie zawistowska, a survivor of the nazi camps in germanoccupied poland unable to escape the trauma of her past in postwwii brooklyn, naive young writer stingo peter macnicol finds hes helpless as sophie is drawn into a destructive relationship with the disturbed nathan landau kevin kline. Sophie s choice is a 1982 american romantic drama film that tells the story of a polish immigrant, sophie, and her tempestuous lover who share a boarding house with a young writer in brooklyn. Nov 26, 2015 the viewer of alan pakulas screen adaptation of sophies choice has a better time than the reader of the novel. Sophie is more introverted, with a traumatic story that happened to her during the war. Sophies world summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. It concerns the relationships between three people sharing a boarding house in brooklyn. The movie takes place in the late 1940s when a young writer stingo, moves in manhattan from the south.
Picking up nathan s book of emily dickinson poems, stingo recites ample make this bed, as if he were delivering a eulogy at a funeral. A frightened polish mother stands in line for the german concentration camps, holding her. In other ways the film is just as unsatisfactory as the book. Sophies choice is the story of a concentration camp survivor named sophie and. Sophies choice won the american book award and sold more than three million copies worldwide, but the novel has remained controversialfor its perceived treatment of women, its mixing of sexual comedy with high tragedy, and its legitimacy as an. Chapter literature selectionfrom sophies choice by william styron the main character of this novel is a polish catholic woman named sophie who lives in the united states. Get all the key plot points of jostein gaarders sophies world on one page. Aug 10, 2010 i still maintain that, as to sophie s choice book, streep s sophie is a beautiful realization of that character. What first struck me about sophies choice was the prose. Sophie s choice is a novel by william styron published in 1979.
William styrons novel of choices, hobsons and otherwise this novel was chosen by members of on the southern literary trail as a group read for september, 2014. Winner of the national book award and a modern classic, sophies choice centers on three characters. Published in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the original publication of sophie s choice. The film ends with stingo leaving brooklyn, the screen going misty, and an image of sophie s face fading into view. If theres one thing thats always bound to become an awards darling, its fiction pertaining to the holocaust. Mar 06, 2007 listen to sophie s choice audiobook by william styron. The whole time i kept trying to love the story and the characters, since its supposedly a classicbut unfortunately it never happened. Complete summary of william styrons sophie s choice. Stingo is led up to sophie and nathan s room where he finds they have committed suicide.
It contains the major themes of his previous fiction, embodying his loves of the south and of literature, his experience of war, and his quest. This awardwinning novel of love, survival, and agonizing regret in postwwii brooklyn belongs on that small shelf reserved for american masterpieces the washington post book world. Sophie s choice is centered on a scene in auschwitz where sophie has just arrived with her tenyear old son and her sevenyear old daughter and a sadistic doctor, presumably doctor mengele, tells her that she can only bring one of her children. Analysis and discussion of characters in william styrons sophie s choice. Stingo, the narrator, is a southern boy, born and bred, who moved to new york with the ambition of becoming a writer. Open road media 0 21 0 summary this awardwinning novel of love, survival, and agonizing regret in postwwii brooklyn belongs on that small shelf reserved for american masterpieces the washington post book world. Sophies choice is the title of a 1979 novel by william styron, and in 1982 sophies choice was made into a critically acclaimed film starring meryl streep. More than once in this smugly autobiographical novel, styron pouts about how his last book, the confessions of nat turner, drew accusations of exploitation, accusations that i had turned to my own profit and advantage the miseries of slavery. It concerns a young american southerner, an aspiring writer, who befriends the jewish nathan landau and his beautiful lover sophie, a polish but nonjewish survivor of the nazi concentration camps. Sophie s choice the book versus the movie very different. Winner of the national book award and a modern classic, sophie s choice centers on three characters.
Sophies choice 1979 is one of william styrons betterremembered novels. After that, it felt wrong not to go on, but i read as fast as possible so i could escape these awful pages. Winner of the national book award in 1980, sophies choice is often considered styrons best work. His stifling ninetofive job at a publishing company kills his spirit and his hopes, and the. Stingo, a novelist who is recalling the summer when he began his first novel, has been fired from his lowlevel.
Twentytwoyearold stingo is a southern transplant trying to make his way in. I was hesitant to read sophie s choice because the only scene from the movie that ive seen is where meryl streep, as sophie, is forced to make her titular choice. It provides a thorough exploration of the novels plot, characters and main themes, including the. Sophie s choice is a rare film, literate, deeply moving and gifted with an absolutely aweinspiring performance by meryl streep. In the novel, which is set during world war ii, the title character must choose between the lives of her two children while imprisoned in the nazi concentration camp auschwitz. A summary of themes in jostein gaarders sophie s world. Sophies choice is a tragic tale that was produced in 1982 and stars meryl streep as the main polish immigrant next to kevin kline as her unstable lover and peter macnicol as a writer. The film stars meryl streep, kevin kline, and peter macnicol. Sophies choice, novel by william styron, published in 1979, that examines the historical, moral, and psychological ramifications of the holocaust through the tragic life of a roman catholic survivor of auschwitz. Chapter 1 discusses the events surrounding stingos move from manhattan to brooklyn. In terms of the immediate plot, sophie is the object of stingos infatuation turning to love, a fact that presents. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
Stingo, a young aspiring writer from the south, and the jewish scientist nathan landau and his lover sophie, a polish catholic survivor of the german nazi concentration camps, whom he befriends. I still maintain that, as to sophie s choice book, streeps sophie is a beautiful realization of that character. A contemporary casebook xi portrait of vichy france. William styron, the wellknown american novelist, received the pulitzer prize in 1967 for the confessions of nat turner. Throughout most of the book, i loved the story almost as much as the writing. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. In fact, i would say that if you dont happen to be in a good place emotionally, avoid it. It seems like a sick joke that the worst cruelty towards mankind is fodder for media portrayals. Sophies choice, novel by william styron, published in 1979, that examines the historical, moral, and psychological ramifications of the holocaust through the tragic life of a roman catholic survivor of auschwitz set in the late 1940s, the novel is narrated by stingo, a young southern writer who is the authors thinly veiled alter ego. The narrator, stingo, a young southern writer, moves into a brooklyn boarding house, where he meets his.
Apr 01, 2006 william styron s sophie s choice presents an example of such a genuine moral dilemma. I have thought it might be possible to make a stab at understanding auschwitz by trying to understand sophie, who to say the least was a cluster of contradictions. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of sophie s world and what it means. This book will demonstrate, however, that sophies choice is styrons most audacious, original, and artistically successful novel to. His books include lie down in darkness, the long march, set this house on fire, the confessions of nat turner, sophies choice, this quiet dust, darkness visible, and a tidewater morning. Set in the late 1940s, the novel is narrated by stingo, a young southern writer who is the authors thinly veiled alter ego. Nathan, his charismatic but violent jewish neighbor. Sep 03, 2014 this month s wsj book club host is thriller writer lee child, author of the bestselling jack reacher books. He was awarded the pulitzer prize for fiction, the howells. Sophie s choice questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on sophie s choice. William styrons 1979 novel sophies choice consists of a story within a. What i didnt expect, however, was to deal with a narrator whos mind was centered around sex in his every waking moment, and a story that evaded its own plot for more than 400 pages. Sophie s choice is a 1979 novel by american author william styron.
When stingo visits a man who knew sophie s father, he discovers shes been lying to him. Also of relevance was the celebration, in october 2006, of the birth. Sophie and nathans relationship is endangered both by sophie s ghosts and nathans obsession with the holocaust, as well as his violent temper and increasingly apparent mental illness. Sophie amundsen is fourteen years old when the book begins, living in norway. The plot ultimately centers on a tragic decision which sophie was. In the present, sophie and nathans relationship increasingly unravels as stingo grows closer to sophie and nathans fragile mental state becomes ever.
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