The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Virgin Suicides
Book Review: A Haunting Tale Not Nearly as Simple as it Seems
Summary: 5 Stars
On the surface, the book seems very simple, an American Beauty-esque tale of how modern suburbia is unfulfilling, combined with a sort of coming of age story. It is a unique story, where we never really understand the main characters, while getting to know very minor characters. The story is artistic without losing it's wicked sense of humor or it's entertainment value. Author Jeffrey Eugenides provides far more than a simple story, however; he gives us a multi-dimentional tale with strong undercurrents and quiet symbolism. The book is about the sad fate of the Libson girls, certainly, but on the other hand Eugenides uses the girls merely as a focal point for themes (often using strong symbolism and light subtext) about the place of religion and government, about the nature of humans, about, I might even venture to say, the meaning of life. Consider, as you read, the deeper significance of the reoccuring religious icons, the mini-christ figures, the fate of the neighborhood's elms. The Virgin Suicides is as rife with symbolism and metaphor as Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", but unlike Hawthorne, manages to stay very readable. To have such heavy symbolism and not create a pretentious book is a very difficult balance, but Eugenides pulls it off with nothing short of brilliance. The writing is fluid and the prose beautiful. Eugenide turns the most mundane into the most haunting and beautful, with very Earthy black humor and a strong grasp on reality. The book is both dreamy and true to life, a paradox which perhaps is the greatest strength of the book.
Though some may find it's ending somewhat unfulfilling, (for the characters have not really grown from where they started, something that your high shcool english teacher will tell you is imperative for a book) there are libraries full of books that can offer you character growth, and few indeed can offer such appealing prose and such powerful emtotions and ideas as The Virgin Suicides offers. I'm running out of space here, but the bottom line is this: you need to read this book. It's funny, it's tragic, it's powerful, it's true to life. Very few authors can boast a better-crafted first novel. Get the book and find out for yourself.
Book Review: A Haunting and Sad Tale
Summary: 4 Stars
First, I must commend Jeffrey Eugenides for the way he uses a chorus of young boys to narrate the novel. We never know who exactly the "I" of the story is, if indeed there is an "I." But we see not only the pain of five girls subjected to an extremely strict mother, but the pain of the boys whose adolescence -- whose entire view of women -- are forever marked by the fate of the Lisbon girls. Just don't read this book if you are seriously depressed!Book Review: A Journey Into Suburban Mythos, But....
Summary: 4 Stars
From the very first paragraph, even from the title, we know what happens: five beautiful sisters commit suicide. The question is, why? The answers are sought, in retrospect, from the point of view of the men who were once teenage boys obsessed with these girls. Eugenides' lyrical, entrancing prose creates a fascinating world within the minds of the boys, and in the process involves the reader in a long lost, innocent suburban world that only ever existed in retrospect. However, what seems so mysterious to the boys, i.e. the reason for the girls' seeming madness and subsequent suicide, is blindingly obvious to the reader, and some of the plot twists seem completely unrealistic and even superfluous. It's a book I enjoyed reading once, but not something I'll pick up again.Book Review: A Look into the Dark Underside of Suburbia
Summary: 5 Stars
The Virgin Suicides is tale of lost innocence told with great precision and eloquence. Right from the start the reader is drawn into the world and passions of yound men who swoon over the young Lisbon girls. The Virgin Suicides is a thour-de-force ground-breaking, breakout novel.Book Review: A Lyrical Debut Novel
Summary: 4 Stars
One thing I noticed first was Eugenides' prose. It's simple and unadorned, but has a beautifully measured quality about it. So no matter how gruesome subject matter of the novel gets, since the descriptions are so poetically filtered, nothing feels sensationalized or gratuitous. The story is about the Lisbon daughters who all commit suicide and the fascination of a group of boys (who are now balding, middle aged men) regarding the girls and their circumstances. It is one of the more astutely observed books about adolescent girlhood and the mystique that surrounds it.
I have a reservation about how Eugenides uses the first person plural narration. It does have its lyrical charms - sometimes it sounds as though the narrator is a pseudo-Greek chorus. But when Eugenides specifically locates the members of the 'we' narrator, problems arise. It shifts the attention of the reader to the specific nature of the narrators' identities, and somehow the narration doesn't seem realistic or plausible. The narrators still continue to be haunted (as a group no less) regarding the girls' suicides and interview the people who knew the girls. This obsession doesn't seem realistic at all, especially when it's made apparent by Eugenides that the narrators are unremarkable, ordinary middle-aged men. Why are these plain, ordinary men still haunted by this event, and are irreversibly affected by it? The psychological motivation of the narrators' actions seems false.
Still, Eugenides captures the suburban life of a town, and the mystery of the Lisbon girls with a heartbreaking poignancy. The writing is consistently beautiful, and there's wonderful, spontaneous humor that flashes throughout the book, even at the darkest turns. A great, promising debut.