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    The Life and Death of Sophie Stark
    The Life and Death of Sophie Stark
    The Life and Death of Sophie Stark
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Life and Death of Sophie Stark

    Written by Anna North

    Narrated by Roger Wayne and Amanda Dolan

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Sophie Stark begins her filmmaking career by creating a documentary about her obsession, Daniel, a college basketball star. But when she becomes too invasive, she finds herself the victim of a cruel retribution. The humiliation doesn't stop her. Visionary and unapologetic, Sophie begins to use stories from the lives of those around her to create movies, and as she gains critical recognition and acclaim, she risks betraying the one she loves most.

    Told in a chorus of voices belonging to those who knew Sophie best, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is an intimate portrait of an elusive woman whose monumental talent and relentless pursuit of truth reveal the cost of producing great art.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 30, 2015
    ISBN9781494583972
    The Life and Death of Sophie Stark
    Author

    Anna North

    Anna North is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the author of two previous novels, America Pacifica and The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, which received a Lambda Literary Award in 2016. She has been a writer and editor at Jezebel, BuzzFeed, Salon, and the New York Times, and she is now a senior reporter at Vox. She grew up in Los Angeles and lives in Brooklyn.

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    Reviews for The Life and Death of Sophie Stark

    4.5/5

    7 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is the story of a girl who just has trouble fitting in. She just doesn't seem to feel some things in life the way other people do. So, she becomes an observer and what better way to do this than to take a camera and make a documentary about a boy at her school. As she ages she refines her skills as a movie maker but continues to tell other peoples' stories as an observer and never fully as a participant. The book is written in the voices of the people in Sophie's life. I really loved the book as a realistic portrayal of alienation.
    • 3/5
      The title character, Sophie Stark, is an acclaimed Indie film maker and this story flows with the same kind of feel as her movies. It's arty and a little uncomfortable but deep and interesting. It reads as a "behind the scenes" type documentary.
    • 5/5
      The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North is one of the most thought-provoking and uniquely written novels I have read in recent memory, narrated by those who knew Sophie best. Sophie’s career as a filmmaker is on a rapid slope upward, leaving her with little left for those that are close to her. In her career’s rise to critical acclaim, she stops at nothing to feed her artistic creativity, which at times puts her at odds with those she loves. While the true-to-life films that she creates reveal her passions and talent for filmmaking, Sophie learns, perhaps too late, that there is a price to pay for her obsession with her career. This is my first experience reading North, and her writing in The Life and Death of Sophie Stark has left me wanting to read the other works by this talented author. I would highly recommend The Life and Death of Sophie Start to all who enjoy literary fiction and to group discussion groups.
    • 4/5
      The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North is a highly recommended novel that exposes the truth behind the artist.
      Acclaimed filmmaker Sophie Stark is an enigma, even to those who know her best. This haunting novel tells us about the life of Sophie through the voices of six different individuals who knew her best. Each chapter is the voice of one of these six individuals, while not a word is heard directly from Sophie. What we gather and learn about her character is all filtered through the experiences of others.

      The six voices include: Allison, Robbie (Sophie's brother), Jacob, Daniel, George, and Benjamin Martin. Allison was romantically involved with Sophie and the story of her family became Sophie's movie Marianne. Robbie is ever protective of Sophie and in college helps her with her first movie, Daniel, a documentary of her obsession with college basketball player. Sophie makes a video for musician Jacob and they get married briefly. She betrays him when the story of his mother becomes her next movie, Woods. Daniel was the college basketball star in her first movie. George is a successful screenwriter who Sophie uses for his contacts and makes the movie Isabella. Benjamin Martin is the film critic whose reviews of Sophie's films are included between each chapter.

      It is clear that Sophie is an enigma even to those who know her best. We know that Sophie has always been a loner and found it difficult to connect with other people. She was born as Emily Buckley, but changed her name. She unapologetically uses people and their lives to further her art. Does she really feel love or care for anyone besides herself and her vision? She is driven and focused. Her vision for a film and her creative process supersedes all personal relationships. Clearly she is talented, but what cost does she extract from those around her while working on her films? Is the final creation of art enough to excuse personal betrayal? Must a great artist always be tortured?

      North's writing is excellent which helps make The Life and Death of Sophie Stark an engrossing literary story puzzle. The individual stories each add some essential pieces to the puzzle and work together to make a more complete picture of who is Sophie Stark. They don't explain everything. This is a puzzle with missing pieces. What North leaves us with, after these stories from those who knew her, is that the legacy Sophie Stark has left behind is her films that, presumably, might fill in some of the missing holes and help explain her life.

      Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group for review purposes.
    • 5/5
      Sophie Stark is the complex unlikable character at the center of The Life and Death of.... She's the focus of the novel, yet her voice is never heard. She's never given the chance to tell her own story. Yet through the eyes of others the reader gets a sense of who Sophie Stark is and that image is perhaps more telling that than if Sophie herself told the story. It's through these voices, these implications that Sophie is a real bitch, that the reader begins to see Sophie as the persecuted as well as the persecutor. Anna North's novel certainly succeeds in creating characters who are multi-dimensional and interesting. The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is an excellent portrayal of the darker side of people. The language and pacing fit the story well. And the questions of victimhood are raised so subtly that one must either be ignorant of their existence or applaud the author for her craft. All in all, The Life and Death... is a very strong book. Perhaps the concluding chapters weren't quite as sharp as the bulk of the book, but they did what was needed to finish the story. This novel did make me question my own criticism of art. I tend to err on the side of caution when judging a book or piece of music or whatever... but from time to time I speak my mind. I think honesty is important, even in art, but one must weigh it against perspective. Artists need to be open to criticism if they are going to expose their works to the world; in the same breath, critics need to keep in mind that artists are merely human and that their words can harm. Even without this extra consideration, The Life and Death of Sophie Starks deserves the five stars I award it.
    • 5/5
      I received this book via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.hmm i have literally just put my kindle down & i am thinking about what i am going to put in this review! So unusual.Told in a chorus of voices belonging to those who knew her best, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is an intimate portrait of an elusive woman whose monumental talent and relentless pursuit of truth reveal the cost of producing great art, both for the artist and for the people around her.What a different story.. i have never read anything like this book i really enjoyed it it was engaging in a really strange way.I hope i find other stories like this to read as it was so different. I highly recommend it as it makes you wonder how people would speak about your life & your role in theirs.Very thought provoking.