Customer Reviews

ROSEMARY'S BABY.

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Probably most people myself included, have come across "Rosemary's Baby" for the first time through the eponymous Roman Polanski film adaptation. That movie remains one of the classics of the horror genre, as well as one of the most iconic movies that have defined the 60s. I finally got around to reading the book, and ended up enjoying quite a bit in its own right.

This is one of the most unsettling horror stories out there. Much of this is due to a remarkably simple, yet powerful, premise. Ira Levine takes the most innocent and wholesome situation imaginable - a young, upwardly mobile New York women named Rosemary gets pregnant and progresses through her pregnancy - and turns it into something infernal, devious and unholy. This contrast is augmented through a simple narrative style and straightforward language that belies the potentially sinister circumstances through which Rosemary progresses. Furthermore, until the very end it is not clear whether all the commotion is justified, or it's just a product of Rosemary's own imaginings.

The movie version is very faithful to the book, and I was able to imagine all the scenes as I was reading it. Nonetheless, the book is very engrossing and suspenseful in its own right. In the written form many allusions and parallels with the nativity narratives become more noticeable, at least for me. In the end, this is a story about the travails of motherhood, and the incredible sacrifices that mothers are willing to go through for their children. Today, while I am writing this, it just so happens to be Mother's Day and I find it particularly suitable to reflect upon these matters.