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Statistics
- Title - The Stepford Wives
- Author - Ira Levin
- Genre - Transgressional Horror
- Publication Date - 1972 (Original Year), 2002 (Perennial Edition)
- Series - None
Preview
For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true. It is. For behind the town's idyllic facade lies a terrible secret - a secret so shattering no one who encounters it will ever be the same.
At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage youth on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs. The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon.
Review
This is one of two novels Ira Levin is most famous for when it comes to his writing. The other novel he is famous for is Rosemary's Baby which I have read too. Now with all of Ira Levin's novels, there is an underlying message and most of the time, the message has a lot to do with the influence of morality and the progression of the human mind compared to that morality. Ira Levin is a master of psychology that both Stephen King and Chuck Palahniuk both take praise towards him. I, being an author myself, find his novels intriging and love the underlying message within the novels he writes as well.
Now most people around this time have not read the novel since it originally was published back in 1972. Also, more people are into being spoonfed imagination per say watching television or movies which is fine and entertaining but I like to work the gears in my head. Nevertheless, when it comes to The Stepford Wives more people are going to associate that title with the movie than with the book, despite the book being different from the 2004 movie remake. So in all fairness, I am going to do some relatives to the book and movie as well as state some differences that make the book a worthwhile read.
The underlying theme of The Stepford Wives is that men, as well as certain parts of society, would go against the movement of women who are free-thinking, especially in the feminist movement. Now feminist back then were strong and powerful and understood equality. Feminist now are more about advantage and that defeats the point of what feminist wanted back in the 1970s. In the 1970s however, this movement was just starting so it was such a big deal for women to be thinking more freely and show more interest outside of the home. The men in the novel are all successful, either they be lawyers, doctors, scientists, or engineers and they strive to keep their wives in what American culture calls a "Stepford Wife".
A big difference between the 2004 remake and the book are the switch in roles. First off, the wives have a more dominating role in the 2004 remake instead of the men. Next, there is a gay couple in the 2004 remake which is the big deal for this decade while the big deal back in the 1970s was segregation and the equal rights for Blacks movement thus Ira Levin introduces a black family into a dominat white community. The only other major difference is that the novel is really a sad ending where the movie is a happy ending. Also, the twist in the movie is well recognized while the there is no real twist in the book except on per say the ending.
All in all, this is a very good read especially if you are a strong-willed and strong-minded woman. It is short and sweet thus I like that but the price could be steep for a novel that is less than 125 pages. It is $12.00 total and that is steep for that amount. I worthwhile buy if you are into underlying themes as well as rationalization, philosophy, and/or psychology.
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