Ira Levin's Classic Novel "The Stepford Wives"

Kindle-Kunde: Loved every minute of reading this one

Germany on Nov 29, 2023

Cecile W.: J'ai adoré ce roman (comme j' "Un Bnheur Insoutenable", comme Rosemary's Baby", Ira Levin est un conteur hors-pair, et le lire en anglais est un plaisir car il n'emploie pas de mots ardus, mais ne s'abaisse pas non plus à employer un niveau de langage au ras des pâquerettes.
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Sur cette édition précise, au format Kindle, SPOILER ALERT : vous n'avez PAS intérêt à tenter de lire l'introduction, sous peine de connaître le fin mot de l'histoire avant même la fin de la 1ère page.

Alors, peut-être que dans le monde selon MÔ-SIEUR Chuck Palahniuk, tout le monde sait à quoi se réfère une "Stepford Wife", et pire encore, ce qu'il faut pour en avoir une chez soi (il dit TOUT, je vous dis, en 10 mots, c'est plié), mais dans mon pauvre petit monde A MOI, on ne savait PAS.
Et ce <@%ù=&*µ de type m'a littéralement POURRI la lecture de ce petit chef d'oeuvre .

D'où les 3 étoiles. Lisez, je vous prie "Stepford Wives", mais évitez comme la peste tout texte "commis" par le sire Palahniuk : s'il traite ses propres personnages comme il a fait de ceux de Stepford wives, vous n'aurez aucun besoin d'achater ses bouquins, car TOUT...

France on Nov 23, 2023

Karen Rothschild: Remarkably well written and creepy. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the story has held up well, and it was a lot of fun to read. Before reading it, I had a good idea of what a “Stepford Wife” was, but knowing the context makes it that much creepier. Highly recommended.

United States on Oct 29, 2023

AWAKE NOW: Wow! I saw the movie a couple times over the years but of course, as usual, the book was better! And much different. There are entire scenes in the movie that aren't in the book or are different. For instance, Joanna and Bobbie don't go to meet with Joanna's old boyfriend regarding the water analysis issue, they write a letter to a government agency instead. And the psychiatrist in the novel is patronizing and doesn't treat Joanna's concerns about Stepford as legitimate. Also, there's no climactic scene at the actual Men's Association House, the climactic scene takes place somewhere completely unexpected. The Joanna in the novel seems sweeter than the Joanna in the movie. Also, more clueless and naive. The Joanna in the movie at least seems to realize there's something wrong with her marriage, whereas the Joanna in the book doesn't seem to realize it until the end. When the guy from the Men's Association asks her to record herself reading the word list, she agrees right away. In the movie, she only agrees if he'll arrange a meeting of the Stepford wives. That meeting never takes place in the book. The Walter in the book is even more sinister than the Walter in the movie. In the...

United States on Jan 05, 2018

PresterJohn: I first saw the film directed by the late Brian Forbes, in the 1970's and am only now coming to the book. I had been absolutely blown away by Ira Levin's earlier work Rosemary's Baby and wanted to see if the Stepford Wives was as good. It isn't! But having said that, it is very readable, maintains good pace and drives towards its conclusion in at a pace that kept me turning the pages. Once the reader accepts the basic premise, the story remains focussed and coherent until the very end. Given the main character Joanne's antipathy towards Stepford housewives, the ending comes as something of a surprise and we are never clear how it came about. I thought this a bit of a weakness in the narrative. There are similar themes to those that worked so successfully in Rosemary's Baby. Joanne's developing sense of paranoia and the bland denials of the bland citizenry will have the reader unsure what is really happening. And as in Rosemary, there is a central character who seems to pull all the strings but Dale Coba is no Roman Castevet and disappears without trace after their first meeting. It almost seems as though the author lost interest in developing his role any further. I considered...

United Kingdom on Jan 02, 2015

sashaknits: I bought this in a Kindle sale for the bargain price of 99p! It's one of those classics that I know a bit about due to its prescence in pop culture, but have never read. Amusingly enough, it turns out I'd seen the Nicole Kidman film some years before but had completely forgotten about it, a friend had to remind me I'd actually watched it with her! I'm glad I'd forgotten about it at the time as I recall now it was rubbish and I'm sure it would've at least slightly tainted my enjoyment of the book.

Doubtful I don't need to say much about the plot as I'm sure you must've been in a big dark cave for a very long time to not know anything at all about it!

What I loved most was how Joanna's relatively minor fear of sinking into boredom having moved into in suburbia slowly and insidiously morphs into the fear that her mortal life is actually in danger. Early on she tries to talk herself out of what she suspects is happening because it all just seems too preposterous and, of course, the men use those exact same arguments later on which powerfully undermines her certainties in a very creepy way. I thought Levin did an amazing job of keeping both Joanna and the reader...

United Kingdom on Aug 11, 2014

Ed E. Stallings: Admittedly, I haven't read a lot of work by the author, but after reading this book I think I've figured out why his novels are so easily adapted to the screen and stage. If they're all like this work then they are probably all fairly brief with a good general plot, and leave a lot of areas that can be filled in with details that will lead the story one way or another by Hollywood writers. Brilliant and slightly infuriating.

The Stepford Wives was very short (in my opinion, anyway) and not a difficult read by any means. It fleshed out the characters that needed to be and left the rest as walking, talking figureheads. I think this actually worked in this case since, as you will see if you read the book, some of the characters are meant to be almost robotic and others are meant to be aloof, secretive, and even perhaps-evil. I find it to be more mysterious and eerie when those characters are NOT explained in much depth.

In fact, I think what makes this whole novel so creepy and terrifying in its own way is the not knowing. The author never actually reveals exactly what is happening in Stepford. At least not in any specific, scientific way. He leads you along several...

United States on Jan 27, 2013

kindler: I have not seen any film adaptations but like most people, am familiar with the references to the Stepford Wives. Written in 1972, it can now be considered as something of a classic, and something that has undoubtedly inspired a great number of subsequent authors and film-makers.

I bought the e-book version and it is very well edited and without any annoyances at all. However, it is a little uneconomical in price, at £5.31 (down from £7.99) for 139 pages. The dotted line indicating length is not much longer than a lot of the samples and short stories above and below it on my Kindle. That said, it is worth a read, especially if you have a voucher to use or find it in a sale (or pick up a hard copy for a reasonable price).

I won't go into the plot too much but I would like to respond to many of the comments that say the ending is disappointing or missing, or that it ruined the story/book for them. The ending is supposed to be that way and couldn't really be any other way if you think it through logically, based on who the narrator is and what happens to her by the end of the story (you are admittedly supposed to put two and two together and figure that out but I...

United Kingdom on Sep 18, 2012