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A review by amr316
The Virgins by Pamela Erens
4.0
I’m torn. On one hand, the end of this book was haunting and has kept me thinking about it even after I finished the last page. On the other hand, aspects of this book were intensely frustrating.
Let’s start with the frustrating parts. Erens relies heavily on lazy ethnic and racial stereotypes: the Jewish girl is wealthy but has superficial and uninvolved parents, the Korean boy is taught to be self effacing and submissive, the blond WASP is too dumb to get into boarding school on his own accord. Maybe Erens was trying to reference the lazy stereotypes of the 70s, but this aspect fell flat.
Even more frustrating was the fact that I couldn’t understand why any of the characters made the choices they did. Why did Aviva have an eating disorder? Why did Seong experience sexual dysfunction? Why was Bruce so obsessed with Aviva, to the point that he egged on Seong to his death? None of it really made sense to me - mostly because so little inner dialogue was shared with the reader.
What I did appreciate, though, was the suffocating nature of the boarding school so perfectly encapsulated - plus the way the author made us frustrated at Seong and Aviva for always somehow avoiding trouble. It made me almost relieved when they got in trouble in the end. This was well-done on Erens’ part.
I wish we’d had fewer stereotypes and more character development, but overall, this is a well written book.
Let’s start with the frustrating parts. Erens relies heavily on lazy ethnic and racial stereotypes: the Jewish girl is wealthy but has superficial and uninvolved parents, the Korean boy is taught to be self effacing and submissive, the blond WASP is too dumb to get into boarding school on his own accord. Maybe Erens was trying to reference the lazy stereotypes of the 70s, but this aspect fell flat.
Even more frustrating was the fact that I couldn’t understand why any of the characters made the choices they did. Why did Aviva have an eating disorder? Why did Seong experience sexual dysfunction? Why was Bruce so obsessed with Aviva, to the point that he egged on Seong to his death? None of it really made sense to me - mostly because so little inner dialogue was shared with the reader.
What I did appreciate, though, was the suffocating nature of the boarding school so perfectly encapsulated - plus the way the author made us frustrated at Seong and Aviva for always somehow avoiding trouble. It made me almost relieved when they got in trouble in the end. This was well-done on Erens’ part.
I wish we’d had fewer stereotypes and more character development, but overall, this is a well written book.