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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Eileen the character is damaged, secretive, awkward, lonely and many other things. The voice that Moshfegh creates her with is strong and consistent. I loved the character (and hated her). Moshfegh is also brilliant at setting the scene: the disgusting house, the drunken father, the boys' prison, seedy small-town life in the 1960s. Her life and the place Eileen lives in is sad, engrossing and incredibly visual.
But Eileen the novel, didn't work quite as well. The action is crammed into the last 50 or so pages, and within it, Eileen the character often seemed to behave out of character for the sake of the plot.
The very end of the book however, brought it all back together again. A wonderful ending.
www.clairefuller.co.uk
But Eileen the novel, didn't work quite as well. The action is crammed into the last 50 or so pages, and within it, Eileen the character often seemed to behave out of character for the sake of the plot.
Spoiler
She makes a plan in her head of what to do with Mrs Polk in about five seconds flat while Mrs Polk is wailing, Rebecca is shouting and a gun is being waved around. Still enamoured with Rebecca, Eileen goes home with Mrs Polk in the car, to collect her money and wait for Rebecca. But she doesn't bother to wait because some how she seems to know that Rebecca will never turn up. That isn't the Eileen I got to know through the first three quarters. That was a convenient plot device. Eileen would have waited.The very end of the book however, brought it all back together again. A wonderful ending.
www.clairefuller.co.uk
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A steady build up of dirt, booze and self loathing leads to obsession. An enjoyable read, though the denouement didn't quite match the rest of the novel.
Unfortunately I cannot say I enjoyed this at all. The main character Eileen frustrated and annoyed me, and I was not interested in what happened to her at all. I also do not believe a person can change so quickly from being so weak and miserable to becoming self-aware, strong, and in control within just a few days. She goes from being obedient to her father to flippantly laughing off his demands over the space of two or three days. I could not suspend my disbelief enough.
I really hated a lot of elements of this story. Despite being so short, it felt like I simply could not make any progress with it. I got really tired of Eileen’s entire personality being self loathing, being “weird”, being gross, and having some problematic issues surrounding food and her body that NO ONE is talking about. The build up was so slow, and while I understand that Eileen is supposed to be unlikeable, she was too whiny and annoying, and I could not tell you one thing that I did like about her. The climax of the novel became predicable as soon as it began to unfold, and took way too long to reach that point.
I didn't love this. Eileen is a supremely unlikeable character, and the story didn't grab me enough to make it interesting despite that.
Enjoyable reading experience, I actually would love to revisit in a year or so to read it more analytically and not get swept up in the stream of consciousness and plot progressions. My third book by Otessa Moshfeg and I hope to read more soon!