Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were a reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Imagine if something happened to your brain, like trying to plug a false memory into your head, only to discover your entire life was a lie. Your best friend wasn’t your best friend, and tries to kill you for blabbing about something you don’t remember saying, much less knowing. That’s Douglas Quaid right now, and it’s about to get worse.
Chapter 9: “Wife”
This was a well-written scene, as Quaid learns that his life is a lie. As Lori talks more about how the eight years was actually six weeks it makes more and more sense, becoming more and more torturous for him. Lori isn’t all that helpful, trying to seduce him to hide the fact that Richter is coming. Oh, we’ll get more into him and his part in screwing over Cohaagen’s poorly thought out scheme. If Harry is responsible for the beginning of the plan falling apart, Richter is the one responsible for the rest of it, and it shows Cohaagen’s failures in whom he hired for what.
The best part of the chapter, however, is where Quaid starts putting two and two together: why he has the muscle memory and mental conditioning of a fighter, why he felt more emotion for the woman on Mars than his own wife, stuff like that. This is where the book shines over the movie as you get to see the wheels turning in Douglas Quaid’s head..or whoever he really is. Not that it matters. He needs to start running.
BW Media Spotlight 