Flowers in the Attic ¦ VC Andrews ¦ Review
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- My 2022 review of the Flowers in the Attic, the first book in the Dollanganger Series by VC Andrews.
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String Impromptu Number 1 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Let me know what you think of this one!
Good luck with the new job Josh! We will all miss you :))
I’ve paused the video to write this so you might touch on it in a minute, but wanted to mention Andrews on life having a very obvious influence on her writing style. The prose and the stilted dialogue. She injured herself at a very young age. After having her spine fused she was confined to a wheelchair. She relied on her mother who according to the original editor (if I’m not mistaken) was very controlling of VC’s life. I think that’s why the women are the more central antagonist and also explains her weird way of writing dialogue. For the most part she lived in her own head. She was very isolated and had few interactions outside of her own home. I read these books as a 12 year old and thought they were beautifully written. And continued to think so until I was in my late teens early 20s( I have read them numerous times) and it was once I got older and lost my flair for the dramatic that I realized how strangely the characters spoke. I’m not well spoken and have no education out side i or f high school so I’m sure this isn’t really saying what I want it to. But I do hope you get the gist of what I’m ATTEMPTING to say. Thanks for covering this I’m enjoying this review so far.
Finally got this one out of the library after being intrigued by this video last year. Surprised myself by absolutely loving it, the gothic themes, the melodrama, the religious discourse and the chord it struck post-pandemic. Thanks for the recommendation! Weighing up whether to read the next 3 🤔
If you enjoy camp and high drama, I would read the other three, and even the prequel. It is an absurd series, but it's still entertaining and fun.
I remember being fascinated by the covers of the book when my mom read the books Summer 1981. I was going into 2nd grade. I read all VC Andrews books in middle school. So glad my mom never limited my reading material.
I agree with you about your concern with these book's influence on young girls. V.C. Andrews was very isolated and I think she had a twisted idea about what love is. I think she had love mixed up with desire and obsession. And Chris is really more like an abusive older brother than a romantic interest.
This is why my mom wouldn't let me watch the movie. Which actually left all the inceat parts out. So, I read the book...
As a csa and trauma survivor I found these books validating and cathartic. I didn't feel so alone in some of my thoughts.
What I took from the rape scene was that Cathy blamed herself, just as many sexual assault victims do. She thinks that he fell for her because she's an evil temptress; she was too sexual in her clothing and dancing; the grandmother was right about her being corrupt, all along. Those are Cathy's thoughts, or at least they seem to be her mindset. I didn't get the impression that she was at fault, nor Chris. I think isolation and codependence on each other in times of crisis turned them towards each other, perhaps the same way that Corinne and Christopher did.
Um HELLO we LOVE a man who reads VC Andrews AND analyzes her work! Your character descriptions, especially Cathy’s, were spot on. And you watched the films as well! I think I’m swooning 😘
I'm new to your channel, via this video, and it's quickly becoming one of my favourites on UA-cam. Flowers in the Attic seems to be having something of a 'moment', and I re-read it recently; I was experiencing a bit of a reading slump, and V.C. Andrews helped me out of it. I re-lived the summer of 1988, during which I would devour each of her books in a day, then go straight out to buy the next instalment in a local second-hand bookshop!
Thanks,, I'm glad that you're enjoying the channel. I can definitely see Flowers in the Attic being a good book for that purpose.
I was obsessed with V.C. Andrews as a teen and now revisiting as an adult. Good stuff. ✨✨📚
It was a real pleasure hearing you review something a bit trashier! I would definitely love to hear you expand on this concept of literature as a didactic or moralistic tool. It definitely sounds to me like people don’t want literature to teach them something, per se, but rather echo what they already believe about the world, and they tremble when they’re confronted with something dissenting or seemingly at odds with their morality.
Yeah I think you are right on the nose with that. I couldn't tell you how many discussions I've had to sit through about books where people condemn the book simply on the grounds that it doesn't reflect "modern" moral beliefs, as if that were an aesthetic quality and something that really matters.
I'll definitely think of doing something more on this in the future; I am supposed to be planning a talk on this subject for a philosophy event in the summer, so if that goes well I might be able to adapt it to a couple of videos!
Just read it. So excited for this video.
I'm obsessed with VC andrews books
uffff, I'm a loyal fan of yours and this one, this vid takes the cake!!! I've been meaning to return to this series, mainly because of the mix of camp and gothic sensibilities you mentioned! V. C. Andrews is excellent when it comes to nailing that vibe; she always told 'modern' gothic stories with plenty of camp to keep you smiling through the spots your where you can't suspend your disbelief.
by any chance, have you read My Sweet Audrina? I feel like that one could be Andrew's magnum opus. if you haven't, I'd love to hear you thoughts if you ever read it!
Glad you liked the video! I've not read any other of Andrews works, but I might take a
look at the book you suggested. I'll let you know my thoughts if I do!
I love the soundtrack for the 80s film I listened to it while reading the book
I do like that film a lot, even if it takes some liberties with the novel!
Finally a review of Flowers In the Attic that I actually liked! I agreed with almost everything you said, and those things I didn't agree with I could still understand from your point of view. I subscribed
Thanks I'm glad you liked the video; I'll probably look at the other books in the series in the future too.
I read the series as a child and I'm revisiting them currently - I'm honestly shocked I even had access to them at the age I did 😂😂 this is literally one of the wildest stories I've ever read. If you want to experience it from a different perspective, check out Nicole Dollanganger - yeah there's a reason for that stage name lmfao a ton of her work is inspired by the Dollanganger Saga in the imagery and symbolism and stuff - plus some other true crime cases and suchlike things tossed onto the discography - beautiful, devastating music. Cannot recommend her music enough if you're into this series.
Yeah it is interesting how so many people read these books when they were young! I suppose a lot of it goes over the head though when your little, and sometimes you almost don't see it as dark as you do when you are an adult.
I think most things can be explored in literature. I read the first 2 books in the series. It made me uncomfortable, and that’s what I really liked about them lol i liked your review, and I agree with it 100%
I never read the “Flowers of the Attic” books, but I have a familiarity of the stories. The interesting aspect of these stories is it’s one of the few instances in fiction where incestuous relationships among siblings isn’t vilified as it often is. “Game of Thrones” walks a tricky line whether the Lannister siblings’ incestuous relationship is villainous or not.
Yeah it's done in a very naturalistic way, even if the characters feel guilt and are shamed, you don't get the sense that VC Andrews is moralising for or against it. It's very similar to Wuthering Heights in that way I think. Obviously Catherine and Heathcliff aren't true brother and sister, but at least socially they are. :)
The book is written in Cathy’s first person point of view. Us readers are living with her and her siblings in the Attic. It seems to lack common sense because the characters are children and teens! They do not know any better about the situation their own mother put them in! They are literally imprisoned in a mansion and do not know right from wrong since they do not have any other people to learn from. They didnt go to school like normal children and suffered the effects of solitary confinement. When we read the book we are losing our common sense and social skills just like the 4 kids in the story. Hence we are living inside Cathy’s point of view in that attic. The story id about a set of chrildren being mentally, physically and emotionally abused by their own family members, none of it makes sense rationally. Thats the point of the whole story
Once again I love how you inspire me to read more❤️ I’ve been sitting on this book for a quit of few months. I consider this my sign to finally start reading it:) I’ve seen this book on some ‘most disturbing books ever written’ lists. Would you ever consider reading other disturbing books like 120 days of Sodom by Marquis De Sade or Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy?
Thank you! I would say that the book isn't as extreme in how disturbing like Sade's work, which is quite sensationalist. Flowers certainly has a sensational component but it's not extreme. I think the disturbing part comes from how the incest plays out between Cathy and Chris. As I said in the video, Andrews doesn't make obvious moral judgements in the text and by and large they develop a healthy relationship, which is what makes it disturbing.
Let me know what you make of it though once you read it! :)
Absolutely I will. Thank you:) and I must clarify, I understand the extreme comparison I made between Sade’s 120 days of sodom and flowers in the attic. They are on the list for very different aspects of disturbing material. I was just curious on what you would consider reading for disturbing books. In all honestly I would love to hear you talk about any book I’ve read or consider reading. Lol I just love listening to you talk about books:)
it's not really unrealistic. Have you not seen true crime before?This stuff does happen.
I think there's a concentration of too many improbable events in the story. Improbability is what is meant by unrealistic here, not impossibility. Of course incest happens, and people kill for inheritances. But the way it occurs in this book is bizarre and far-fetched at times. It's not as zany as the subsequent books, but it's still out there, and I'd hardly call it gritty realism.
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall True! Not gritty realism. Yet there are cases where women actually lock their kids in attics and starve them to death. They treat them worse than these characters. But I see what you mean about the multiple components.
I can't really understand Andrew's "hype". The books made me unconfortable from start to finish, and not in a good way. In a very annoying way. The only thing to carry me trough the series was my OCD.
Glad you're back! Best wishes all the way from Brazil!
Not the perfect WASP family!! 😂
Love the dolllanger series
People reading the book and treating it like Dora the Explorer expecting it to teach them something about morals, is the most stupidest thing ever
Read my sweet audrina
I might give it ago at some point... maybe... :P
It's BONKERS!
Best book of the series.
I think I agree with you there. I also quite liked the prequel, typos, inconsistencies and all! :P
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall Garden of Shadows is okay to me. Can't say I like it the same as Flowers.
isnt the books about the dark cult? vc andrews was probably raised in the dark cult, similar to the stories by Brothers Grimm