The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Virgin Suicides
Book Review: "the insufficiency of explanations"
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading Eugenides masterful Middlesex, I decided to go back and read his much slimmer debut novel in the hopes it was at least partially as good. While it's not quite as amazing as Middlesex, it is quite good in its own peculiar way. However, those who like their novels to answer the questions they raise should be forewarned, as they will likely find it a rather unsatisfying experience.
Set in the early '70s in the tony Detroit suburb of Grosse Point, the story's premise is outlined in the very first paragraph: over the course of a year, all five of the teenaged Lisbon sisters commit suicide. This year is described in an unusual second-person plural voice which is that of a group of neighborhood boys (now men) who, some twenty years later, are reviewing the results of their "investigation" into the suicides. (There doesn't seem be any particular point to laying this out as an investigation, as opposed to a memoir, and this framework is a little shaky in that various "exhibits" and "attachments" are referred to in the narrative, but unavailable to the reader.)
So while the reader is aware from the start that this is a tragedy, the expectation is that the story will go on to explain why this occurred, what drove the girls to do this. And while the story beautifully details that dismal year, and reports on all the speculation by the neighborhood adults who project their own worldviews onto the tragedy, it concludes: "We were certain only of the insufficiency of explanations." And that is presumably the main point of the book --that suicide cannot ever be explained because we can never have access to the person's thoughts and emotions. This also explains the use of the second-person perspective, as Eugenides implicitly rejects the notion of the omniscient narrator. The boys' obsession with the sisters is another enigma, and becomes almost as creepy and dark as the suicides, as we learn of their all-night vigils and serial-killeresque hoarding of Lisbon sister-related artifacts.
The writing has a certain dreamy ethereal ambiguity to it--there's definitely the haze of memory and a certain degree of nostalgia, but overlain with the essential mysteriousness of the five girls. We only get to know two of them particularly well: Cecilia, a kind of proto-goth who dyes her underwear black, and Lux, who attempts to find human connection via hedonism. In a sense, the book is kind of gothic horror story, shot through with moments of black humor (such as the when the men of the neighborhood struggle to remove the fence Cecilia impales herself on). The film version is utterly faithful to both this tone and the storyline itself.
Book Review: **
Summary: 2 Stars
The success of and reverence for this novel mystifies me. I thought it was half-baked, with no great psychological insight or originality, frankly, and, despite a lot of prententious writing (or perhaps because of it) found the narrator(s) to be, underneath all the "thinking," surprisingly unreflective. The boys seemed detached and cold. And a few incidents were strung over many pages. Also the "symbolism," the pagan metaphors and Catholic references, seemed contrived and geared to make the text seem "literary" rather than add genuine heft and depth to the story. Such things should be organic, and not placed in a narrative merely for the sake of giving it literary cachet.Book Review: ..
Summary: 3 Stars
The storyline is good, but I just felt it could have been put out better. I didn't like the eerie feel throughout the novel. After I read the novel, I watched the movie, but the novel was better.. However, I feel that the movie portrayed the eerie feeling perfectly. Although the story of five beautiful sisters committing suicide is very interesting, the way Eugenides made it was rather dull. Sorry to sound so negative.. I'm just saying that its a good read, but not the best of books.Book Review: ...JUS LIKE CECILIA! READ IT
Summary: 5 Stars
well....i loved (and still am loving) this book. Mind, you itscares the HELL outta me. But, as a *mature* teen i find it a greatread, disturbing and rather explicit, but excellent. ciao!Book Review: A Great Sleeping Pill. Hope its flammable
Summary: 1 Stars
This book was recommended to me by Amazon.com, and after reading the great reviews, I could not wait to dig in. I am glad there are books for anyone;s taste, but this book was consistently boring. I have ordered many books which I have enjoyed on the recommedations found at Amazon.com, but I am saving this one to start a fire next winter.