#StepfordSummerParty FINAL QUESTION
5. Let‘s talk about the ending! Did you like that it‘s left to your own imagination? Do you think Bobbie had a physical hand in eliminating Joanna? Any other final thoughts/ comments? THANK YOU ALL for the funniest 4 days 😘😘
And to all who did not join, sorry we clogged your feed with endless 70s nostalgia 🕺☮️
mabell Thank so much for an awesome time @Cinfhen ! You were the perfect Stepford hostess, and I have had so much fun!!! 💃👯🕺😘 7y
Cinfhen I‘m so glad @mabell Thank you!! 7y
peaKnit I really enjoyed this quick and nostalgic read, I probably missed out if I wasn‘t lured in by the 70‘s recipes😂 I would not have chosen this book on my own...for no reason really...so thank you! 7y
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peaKnit I felt like Bobbie was definitely part of the plan in the end (once she turned to the dark side) at least to trick her into trusting long enough to be caught by the men. 7y
Pamwurtzler I did like the way it ended - that contributed to the creepy factor. In the alternate ending that exists in my head, Bobbi and Joanna get away and then someone infiltrates the club to find out what‘s going on. 7y
Pamwurtzler Thanks @Cinfhen for hosting this! It was a fun few days! 7y
TheBookgeekFrau The 70s nostalgia was GOLDEN!!!! I really enjoyed it as a non-participant 😊😊 7y
mabell I like the version that exists in your head @Pamwurtzler ! Get away! Expose the evil plot! 😂 7y
DebinHawaii Thank you for hosting! It was good nostalgic fun. Brilliant job! In one sense I really liked the slight ambiguity of the ending & how chilling it was. I think Royal reading the Men in Groups book & cleaning his pipe & that last line... and Ruthanne!s 'or I won't enjoy the weekend' ...😱 So powerful! But it drives me a bit nuts too. I want to know if Walter had any regrets or second thoughts, what the kids thought, etc... So many ??? 🤔😆so it ... 7y
Cinfhen I thought Levin was a genius at setting a mood without any words or gory details @peaknit @Pamwurtzler @mabell in so few pages he manages to convey so much. The book alludes that Bobbie holding the huge butcher knife may have been the one to silence Joanna. That was heartbreaking. I like @Pamwurtzler alternate ending too 7y
DebinHawaii ...was probably the right way to end the book. It would have been a different story with more explanations and reasoning behind it. And I do think Bobbie went to the dark side (as much as a robot can) but probably in a way of 'helping' the men and Joanna to achieve this 'perfect' life. 7y
Cinfhen I‘m glad you enjoyed as an “outsider” @C.Perone 💕💕💕 7y
Cinfhen I remember feeling terrible when Bobbie‘s boys tell Joanna how much they prefer the new Bobbie. The one who stays home, bakes cookies and doesn‘t yell😢😢😢 7y
Cinfhen I too would probably have never picked up this book @peaknit so I‘m glad to share this with you all @Pamwurtzler @DebinHawaii you guys made this party a blast 7y
Librarybelle This was so much fun, @Cinfhen ! Thank you! I was so hoping Joanna would escape; part of me thinks that Ruthanne may get away (crossing fingers on that one!). Yes, Bobbie did go to the dark side...the men coached the robot to take care of Joanna. I wanted to scream at Joanna not to trust Bobbie, not to go towards her. I do wish the Men‘s Association was exposed. Sigh... 7y
TrishB I enjoyed watching from the sidelines 👍🏻 7y
mabell @Cinfhen Bobbie's boy saying that just about broke my heart. Is Levin saying that no matter the age, boys/men only look for the necessities from women - feed me, keep a nice home? 7y
CoffeeAndABook I thought the ending was brilliant!! So heartbreaking that it was probably Bobbie who wielded the knife. I think it‘s highly symbolic to what is actually happening. The men leisurely standing by, letting the women do the dirty work of slaughtering each other. Isn‘t it so chillingly true? Isn‘t a huge part of the pressure women feel and the frenzie of „being it all“ mostly because we‘re so hard on each other, always in competition with each other?? 7y
Cinfhen Good point @mabell @CoffeeAndABook 7y
Cinfhen Thanks @TrishB you‘ll have to join my 2019 summer party....book TBD 7y
Cinfhen I feel like RuthAnne is definitely the next victim @Librarybelle 😫and yes, so typical: men have their perfect robot kill her best friend (edited) 7y
CoffeeAndABook Wow, yes, @mabell , that might be exactly what he‘s saying ... and I agree, it was very sad coming from Bobbie‘s son. 7y
CoffeeAndABook And @Cinfhen I‘d also like to thank you - this was a fabulous buddyread, reading this book was such an enrichment, your party was the best!! ☀️👗🍸🌸 I loved being a part of it (except yesterday 😢I was completely booked), you were the perfect host, thoughtful and fun!! I‘d do some #daytimedrinking with you again in a heartbeat 😘🍷🍷 7y
bookandbedandtea Despite my usual desire for information, I liked that we aren't shown the transformation and are left to assume that the men had Bobbie do their dirty work. It increased the menace of an already disturbing story. Thanks for hosting this @Cinfhen I doubt I'd have read it otherwise and I truly enjoyed it. 7y
Bookzombie Thank you for hosting this @Cinfhen ! It was a blast to reread. I like the way that Levin left this to our imagination. I think the book would have had to be quite different if he had wrapped it up in some other way. I don‘t think I thought about Bobbie taking out Joanna when I read it the first time. It makes sense though. The women are programmed to be devoted to their husbands and do their bidding, I think. 7y
Bookzombie I‘m going to have to rewatch the movies. I was on Wikipedia and there were also three TV movies. Revenge of the Stepford Wives, The Stepford Children, and The Stepford Husbands. I feel like I remember seeing The Stepford Children when I was a kid. 7y
Cinfhen You girls were the best BuddyRead buddies🙌🏻 thanks so much @Bookzombie @bookandbedandtea and here‘s to plenty more #daydrinking experiences @CoffeeAndABook 🍷🍷🍷🍷 7y
mabell @Bookzombie @Librarybelle Yes, doing the husbands' bidding, or Bobbie thinking "I'm so much better. I want to help Joanna be her best too" 7y
TrishB Will look forward to it 👍🏻 7y
Cinfhen I was thinking about the children @Bookzombie especially the daughters.....what happens to them? (edited) 7y
Bookzombie @Cinfhen I know! Maybe they think they can train them since they are all young. They will follow their mom‘s patterns. Or maybe they plan to replace them when they are older? So disturbing. 7y
GripLitGrl Excellent points @CoffeeNBooks @mabell i do love have you were left to come to you own conclusions on what happened it made it that much better of a read. especially since some of it's still relevant today. Sorry i was late to questions. Thanks for hosting this super fun buddy read @Cinfhen i dont think i would've read the book if it weren't for you. Had a blast partying with all of you👗🍸#StepfordSummerParty 7y
Cinfhen 😘😘 @GripLitGrl you have a permanent invite to all my parties 7y
Mdargusch Oh my gosh! This has been so much fun @Cinfhen - thank you for hosting such a great party! As for Bobbie, I‘m assuming those dirty men could program her to do whatever they wanted! Of course they would rather have a robot kill her. 🤖🤖🤖 7y
Mdargusch Ps, I hope I‘m invited to your next party! 7y
Cinfhen After bailing on #LoneDove and #Dunces and struggling with #GWTW Im glad we found a book to bond over @Mdargusch 💜 7y
Cinfhen And the WHOLE DARGUSCH family is on my VIP list @Mdargusch 🤩 7y
Bookzombie I wonder about the friends from New York. Won‘t those friends wonder about the change in Joanna? Are they just going to cut off contact? Also, her parents were mentioned. Her mom even tells Joanna she could take a page out of the neighbor‘s book or something like that. What about the rest of the world? 7y
RealLifeReading I joined in pretty late but it was such fun all the same! Thank you so much @Cinfhen for this! The book has been on my TBR for a far too long time and this was the kick I needed to actually read it. I think I was scarred by the Nicole Kidman movie 😂😂 7y
Reviewsbylola It‘s funny, because I remember the movie being much more clear cut. Having that ending already in my head, I kind of filled in Levin‘s ambiguousness that way. 😂 7y
CarolynM I think the atmosphere of the book, the menace and creeping dread, came from not knowing what was really going on, knowing something was very wrong with these people but not how or why. The ambiguity of the ending was consistent. Also, I think it's that not knowing the details that makes your mind keep turning it over once you've finished reading. 7y
CarolynM @Cinfhen @mabell @CoffeeAndABook I think the view expressed by Bobbie's children is probably a fairly accurate representation of the way children see their mothers (and fathers and other care givers for that matter). Their immaturity means they relate everything to their own comfort and convenience. I think Levin included this bit very deliberately to highlight the immaturity of the desire for a "perfect" wife. 7y
CarolynM Thank you so much @cinfhen for throwing such a fun party. It's been a blast! I've only thrown in a couple of comments in the discussion because I didn't have a lot to add to the excellent points already made by the others. It's been lovely to read and party with such an interesting and insightful group. (edited) 7y
mabell @CarolynM What a terrific point! I love that! It's a very plausible explanation! 7y
SledgeReader This has been so much fun! I wish I hadn‘t been derailed today with summer Sunday realities! @Cinfhen is a fabulous hostess! I won‘t say “perfect” because that‘s the last thing I want to put on my friends after reading Stepford Wives. 🤪 it was heartbreaking to see Bobbie‘s role in the demise of Joanna. (I think she did it, Friends. It was a BIG knife.) And I think the process perpetually repeats itself. 7y
GripLitGrl @Cinfhen 😊 thanks so much I'll be at all the ones i can make it to! They are too fun to pass up💕💕 7y
erzascarletbookgasm I know the 2004 film was different from the book (saw the film years ago), so like @Pamwurtzler I was hoping for a different ending. 😆But I like how the book ended, Levin is brilliant. I think the ending is my favourite part- the horror of it, the living doll wives can be ‘programmed‘ or persuaded to do what the husbands command. 6y
erzascarletbookgasm In my interpretation, Bobbie killed Joanna, and those men (forgot their names) just stood to watch/wait and prepare to clean up the mess by getting the car ready! 6y
erzascarletbookgasm I had a fabulous time with this party! All the buddy readers are fun and interactive, provided much excellent points & views. Thanks so much Cindy, you‘ve been a terrific host, well organised, interesting discussion topics, with fun prelude before the discussion day. Make sure I‘m in your next party‘s guest list! 😘 6y
Cinfhen More insightful comments @CarolynM I‘m so glad your library had a copy!! And I‘m soooo happy you joined the party! I look forward to our next party @erzascarletbookgasm @RealLifeReading @SledgeReader and all my buddy readers...my party planning wheels are spinning🤗🤗🤗 6y
batsy @CarolynM Nicely put about Bobbie's son's comment and relating that to the immaturity of the men's thinking. How terrifying it is when grown men with power and physical strength think like children. 6y
batsy Thank you Cindy & everyone, I had a blast ? I didn't know what to expect with the book & it was riveting. I do think Bobbie might have been a "tool" in the elimination of Joanna :( To me, the ending was chilling & effective. Aside from the overt feminist issues he was dealing with, I also think that Levin captured a lot of the underlying anxieties of 70s-era American society; changing social norms, politics, environment. All in this slim book! 6y
mhillis I like ambiguous endings so it worked for me. Thanks for hosting such a great party!! 6y
asiriusreader @Cinfhen An awesome party! Thanks for being such a perfect host. I hope that I can join in the fun on the next one! I agree with all of you who said Bobbie likely wielded the knife against Joanna. Only makes sense, given that she was now a robot controlled by the men who needed a dirty job done. I wonder who did the ‘jobs‘ when the husbands would have their wives at home for a weekend? Did they always have a wife do it? And I also wonder about ... 6y
asiriusreader ...the Stepford daughters. What fates awaited them? Again, thanks @Cinfhen !! 6y
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