Sputnik Sweetheart

Sputnik Sweetheart- The strengths and weaknesses

Sputnik Sweetheart: Captivating, exhilarating and surprisingly readable. This post-modern novel is filled with cleverly thought out questions and elements of the surreal. This Japanese translated novel is full of great strengths which help to make it such a readable book. The use of metaphors throughout are particularly strong as the reader is able to get a deeper, more meaningful insight into the story, they also lend the novel a rather poetic twist. The plot itself is both fascinating and capricious; it keeps the reader guessing through the duration of the story. An added strength is the narrative voice. Seeing the book in the main from K’s point of view is most interesting because he is a relatable character and we are able to see how the relationship between himself and Sumire grows. Another strength of the novel in my opinion is the way the sentences are formed and structured. The varied sentence structure conveys the rhythms of real speech, how it would be spoken in real life, thus again proving the novel to be relatable. The most obvious strength is the surreal labyrinth which is created along with a unique sense of authorial freedom. Combined, the two give the book an overall sense of the unknown, which leaves the reader feeling much more satisfied than if they were being spoon-fed the entire story.
Nevertheless, whilst the novel has much strength it also carries a number of weaknesses. Some people may not enjoy the way that, as the reader you are left to come to your own conclusions. We make our own judgements concerning the characters and the story as a whole. Consequently the real essence of the story may be lost during the translation of the novel from Japanese to English.

WSS Comparison

A Comparison of Jean Rhys’ novel Wild Sargasso Sea and the BBC’s film adaptation

Having read Wide Sargasso Sea I had high expectations for the film adaptation by the BBC. From part one of the book I felt involved and motivated to continue reading as the fast paced story unravelled. However after watching the film I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed. Although it provided us with the fast paced action which the book promised I felt that it did not fulfil the true representation of the character of Bertha as a whole.

In the book Bertha was presented to us as a mad woman, but whose actions can be justified. Yet in the films adaptation she appeared to be acting in a crazy manner. I believe that the film presented us with a bias view of bertha as it skipped over the majority of Berthas childhood and so Bertha’s behaviour cannot be so easily justified. In this respect anyone who has not read the book would not have the knowledge of Bertha’s early life and can therefore not make the same allowances and judgements as those who have read the book. Consequently I do not think that the film has given a fair portrayal of Bertha.

On the other hand I think that the depiction of the emancipation of slavery and status were both done in a clever and insightful manner. Rochester’s demeanour and his treatment of Amelie is well portrayed and reminiscent of both the book and the era; this is noticeable especially in view of the evening in which Rochester and Amelie have sex and how he offers her a gift of money the morning after. I think that the film adaptation was particularly strong on the theme of sex throughout which was not as focused upon during the book. I believe that this was largely played up in order to interest the viewers and I think that it was a little superfluous.

On the whole I think that it was successful and worked well as a film but I did not enjoy it having already read and enjoyed the novel of Wild Sargasso Sea. I felt that the novel was good enough not to have to resort to including such graphic sex scenes as that of the film. Overall I would have to say that I much preferred the book in comparison to the television adaptation.