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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
More like 3.5, but fine enough to lean in the “4” direction (especially in relation to other books). No one’s particularly likable in this book, which isn’t inherently damning, but makes it harder to be invested in anyone’s wellbeing, especially since it’s written to be very character-driven. Some nice sections of writing scattered throughout the work.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You can’t help but love to hate these characters. While the portrayal of the struggles with mental illness were visceral, the rest was so pretentious.
Don't know if i will be able to finish this - about half way through; i could care less about the characters or what happens to them. Feels like the author is treading water - admittedly it is hard to follow up something like Middlesex, but there are other ways to write something less ambitious without falling back on the facile. If someone else had written this, i would have called it competently mediocre and put it down by now - i guess i keep hoping.
When I heard that Jeffrey Eugenides had a new novel coming out I pre-ordered it, so that I could read it as soon as it was released. The Marriage Plot arrived during fall break - perfect timing and I read it that week.
The story begins on graduation day at Brown University in the early 80s. We follow Leonard, his girlfriend, Madeleine, and Mitchell, who has a crush on Madeline, back through their college years and then the year after college. Learning how they all met and about their family and college experiences.
Madeleine's class on semiotics and interest in Victorian literature and Mitchell's exploration of religion read like a dissertation or class lectures on the subjects. Maybe it's because I'm in graduate school, but I didn't want to learn anything. I just wanted to enjoy the characters and the story.
There were parts of the novel that I really enjoyed. Eugenides can bring characters to life, making you feel like you are living their life and feeling what they feel. Leonard, one of the three main characters, suffers from bi-polar disorder and I felt his moments of mania and his moments of depression. I felt less connected to Madeleine and Mitchell. And it was clear that Eugenides was recounting some of his only experiences at Brown.
In the end, it was an interesting story but I don't think I will be recommended this book to many others.
The story begins on graduation day at Brown University in the early 80s. We follow Leonard, his girlfriend, Madeleine, and Mitchell, who has a crush on Madeline, back through their college years and then the year after college. Learning how they all met and about their family and college experiences.
Madeleine's class on semiotics and interest in Victorian literature and Mitchell's exploration of religion read like a dissertation or class lectures on the subjects. Maybe it's because I'm in graduate school, but I didn't want to learn anything. I just wanted to enjoy the characters and the story.
There were parts of the novel that I really enjoyed. Eugenides can bring characters to life, making you feel like you are living their life and feeling what they feel. Leonard, one of the three main characters, suffers from bi-polar disorder and I felt his moments of mania and his moments of depression. I felt less connected to Madeleine and Mitchell. And it was clear that Eugenides was recounting some of his only experiences at Brown.
In the end, it was an interesting story but I don't think I will be recommended this book to many others.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Although I have a general dislike for modern-day books set in the 1980s that are drowning in references to pop culture and current events of the day (see also: Eleanor & Park), I have to applaud Eugenides' choice of era to set this book in. By drawing clear parallels between the world of 1982 and that of 2011 (when the book was published), he demonstrates that certain things are more universal to the experience of being a recent college graduate than they are hallmarks of today's millennials -- trying to find work amid high unemployment, moving back in with one's parents, deciding whether to pack up and move to Asia, and figuring out whether one's romantic partner is The One.
Eugenides is the kind of gifted writer who brings you right into a moment so that you're saying, "Yes, that is exactly what that would be like." He creates three complex, sympathetic characters, all of whom are trying to do the best they can at that moment, even though this means they sometimes end up at odds with one another. His descriptions both of living with mental illness and of loving someone with mental illness are, from everything I know and have experienced, spot on. The ending is somewhat unsatisfactory in this regard (we lose Leonard's perspective as he runs away and no one has to deal with him day-to-day anymore ), but plot-wise it's not unrealistic and it's hard to know what could have been a better ending.
Novel writers tend to take one of two opposing tacks when it comes to bodily functions, either pretending they don't exist or making them a continual part of the story, and Eugenides falls in the second camp. To some extent it added to the realism (talking about the effect of Leonard's medications on his bowel movements ) but at other times it seemed excessive (so much masturbation! ). As a Highly Sensitive Person, this is one thing that lessened my enjoyment of the book.
Overall, this was a well-written, easy read that gives the reader a lot to think about, which is what I hope for from a book. It wasn't spectacular or one I have a great desire to recommend to others, but I have no major complaints about it either.
Eugenides is the kind of gifted writer who brings you right into a moment so that you're saying, "Yes, that is exactly what that would be like." He creates three complex, sympathetic characters, all of whom are trying to do the best they can at that moment, even though this means they sometimes end up at odds with one another. His descriptions both of living with mental illness and of loving someone with mental illness are, from everything I know and have experienced, spot on. The ending is somewhat unsatisfactory in this regard (
Novel writers tend to take one of two opposing tacks when it comes to bodily functions, either pretending they don't exist or making them a continual part of the story, and Eugenides falls in the second camp. To some extent it added to the realism (
Overall, this was a well-written, easy read that gives the reader a lot to think about, which is what I hope for from a book. It wasn't spectacular or one I have a great desire to recommend to others, but I have no major complaints about it either.
Disappointing. I adore Eugenides and wanted this book to be better. The middle part dragged and took me a long time to get through. Then I loved it at the end. Overall, it was too inconsistent for me to rate it any higher. Too bad.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This could have been much much shorter. I believe that Eugenides tried to convey how complicated we can be even as adolescence and to show that people don't usually end up with the people they think they will. Madeleine doesn't end up with Leonard and she doesn't end up with Mitchell. And that is all you need to know from this book.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes