Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
2.5 stars. Ms. Moshfegh has a way of writing that creates a very suspenseful and depraved atmosphere. Reading her books feels like peeling the skin off of a passerby and briefly glimpsing the thoughts they hide during their day to day life. While exhilarating, it ultimately leads to a "so what" moment, since atmosphere is the ONLY thing her writing does successfully. The story is technically character driven, since the plot is lackluster, but there's not a lot of development happening either way. The chapters drag, with the only real plot point occurring in the final ten pages. Specifically with Eileen, similarly to Death in Her Hands (and maybe a little bit in My Year of Rest and Relaxation), it seems that Moshfegh misses the forest for the trees. While trying to make each character depraved and uncomfortable, and creating a deeply creepy environment, her writing drags and rambles and the endings never fit quite right. I never predict the endings, and I think it's mainly because they don't make much sense. Moshfegh writes as if she is hoping to stumble upon a conclusion of some kind, which is not great payoff to the reader.
Speaking of endings...Eileen is my least favorite of her books simply because of the amount of references to Eileen running away at the end. It works ONE singular time to say "little did I know it would be the last time I would see/ do X thing." Once you are dropping that sentiment every other sentence, it is no longer suspenseful, but heavy handed and repetitive. Beating a dead horse, thy name is "Eileen."
Speaking of endings...Eileen is my least favorite of her books simply because of the amount of references to Eileen running away at the end. It works ONE singular time to say "little did I know it would be the last time I would see/ do X thing." Once you are dropping that sentiment every other sentence, it is no longer suspenseful, but heavy handed and repetitive. Beating a dead horse, thy name is "Eileen."
Man do I appreciate surprise.
Eileen doesn't give a shit. She's unrepentantly awful. She's physically foul. She's done terrible things and has no interest in hiding them. She's unlike any character I've ever met, and that's a rarity I appreciate.
Readers who need plot or characters to love should avoid this darkening and bizarre character study, but anyone with an appreciation for unreserved oddity should jump in.
I'm sure Moshfegh isn't for everyone, but a handful of stories from Homesick for Another World pointed me here, and now I'll read her whole catalog before I pick up anything else. Whatever follows is sure to be a disappointment.
Eileen doesn't give a shit. She's unrepentantly awful. She's physically foul. She's done terrible things and has no interest in hiding them. She's unlike any character I've ever met, and that's a rarity I appreciate.
Readers who need plot or characters to love should avoid this darkening and bizarre character study, but anyone with an appreciation for unreserved oddity should jump in.
I'm sure Moshfegh isn't for everyone, but a handful of stories from Homesick for Another World pointed me here, and now I'll read her whole catalog before I pick up anything else. Whatever follows is sure to be a disappointment.
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Moshfegh wrote a strange, lovely book. Eileen is a lonely woman living with an alcoholic father and working at a dead-end job in a juvenile prison. Her quiet habits and obsessions are painstakingly noted: tiptoeing around her father in a decrepit house, painstakingly specific disordered eating, and rich, imaginative fantasies about her colleagues.
"Eileen" feels surprisingly expansive, given that the majority of the action takes place merely in our protagonists' head. The slow build as she is pulled into a bizarre crime is a surprisingly satisfying payoff.
"Eileen" feels surprisingly expansive, given that the majority of the action takes place merely in our protagonists' head. The slow build as she is pulled into a bizarre crime is a surprisingly satisfying payoff.
idk what it is, i loved the hell out of this. it felt like watching a mirrored image of myself spill all my toxic traits into a shitty diary that i’ll later lose in the back of my childhood closet. eileen represents every intrusive thought i’ve ever had about myself, about others, about the state of the world.
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
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Did not finish - couldn't get into this one. Maybe it was the conflicting weather (Winter there, summer here), maybe it was obnoxious main character- maybe I'll try again some day
dark
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual assault