A Book Review: Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Roman Polanski's cinematic masterpiece, Rosemary's Baby, ranks number two on my list of "favorite horror movies of all time". Interestingly, the movie is based on a horror novel of the same name, written by Ira Levin, an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter.

I have always wanted to read Rosemary's Baby the novel, but I never had the chance. For some reason, my local library does not collect Rosemary's Baby, despite it being a horror novel of the same caliber as Stephen King's Carrie and The Shining. My chance to read Rosemary's Baby finally arrived, when I scooped a copy of it from a bargain sale at a bookshop. I bore this book home, and read it in a gusto.

How does Rosemary's Baby the novel compare to Roman Polanski's movie adaptation? Today, I would like to review this novel. Firstly, let me provide a synopsis for this book.

Synopsis:

New York, 1965.

Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse were just like any other young couple. Dreams and aspirations decorated the wall of their bright future. Guy was an ambitious actor, searching for a breakthrough role so he could kick start a fruitful career in acting. While Rosemary was a young housewife dreaming of having children and building a beautiful family. Together, Rosemary and Guy moved into Bramford, an old New York apartment building, styled after the fashion of Gothic Revival.

After Rosemary and Guy settled into their stylish apartment, they received special attention from an elderly couple living next door, Minnie and Roman Castevet, who showered Rosemary and Guy with overwhelming cares and hospitality.

“It's almost too good to be true”, thought Rosemary. Or perhaps, things were really too good in Bramford to be true? What dark, sinister motives could be lurking behind the warm and smiling faces of their friendly neighbors?

My thoughts on this book:

I like Rosemary's Baby (the novel) as much as the movie adaptation. Now that I have read the novel, I must say the movie stayed very faithful to the book, there aren't many differences between these two versions. Having said this, reading this book is still valuable. This is because the book shed light into Rosemary's personal thoughts and emotions that could not be easily depicted in the motion picture. In other words, while Roman Polkanski's movie adaptation is a visually striking, cinematic masterpiece, but reading the novel warrants a deep insight into the mind of the character. In fact, this probably applies to all movies adapted from novels, they are two mediums for telling the same story, each has its own merits, so they should be appreciated from different perspectives, and evaluated on its own term.

As for the novel itself, it is very short. Counting to 230 pages, Rosemary's Baby is a quick read. This atmospheric story moves at a very fast pace, and the writings will surely immerse readers in an ocean of suspense. Rosemary's Baby is simply one of the most unconventional horror stories ever told. The horror in Rosemary's Baby is not build on spooks or scares. Instead, this book sends waves of terror down your spine in the wake of paranoia. A paranoia that not only drives the plot forward but is also rich in symbolism.

Indeed, other than being an entertaining novel. The greatest value of this book is perhaps, it's symbolism, allegorizing the theme about “control”. Under this theme, the book explored the challenging topic about women's health in our contemporary world. This is a book about cultural progress, not only did the theme reflect the social-politcal clime in 1960s, but it is still relevant to our 21^th century world. Here I leave would-be readers to explore the interesting symbolism in Rosemary's Baby. However, I would like to say, this is the kind of book that deserves multiple readings, where a reader may discover new things upon a second, or the third reading.

Overall, I think Rosemary's Baby is an excellent novel. This book is still worth reading even if you have already seen the movie. If you have not seen the movie or read the book, then I highly recommend both versions to you. Rosemary's Baby is the most unique tale of horror ever told in the genre, and this book will intrigue you with thought-provoking allegories, exploring topics that are still relevant for our world today.