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A review by evitacademia
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I started the book with enthusiasm, continued it with disgust and ended it in awe.
The first things that struck me were the narrator(s!!) and the writing style. Seeing a POV from a whole homogenous group of people, almost merging into one was so interesting, but they were unbearable. The writing was specific, poetic and moldy. So the metaphors and descriptions were made with skill and precision, but I didn't like the metaphors and descriptions in the first place. The book focused so much on useless and uninteresting digressions about fish flies or Trip, which I could not care for less. It's racist, crude and misogynistic, I hate reading about little boys and I hate reading from the perspective of little boys. The book stinks, almost literally, of discomfort from hot breath or sweaty pillows. The boys are lewd, the book is offensive and almost always are the girls portrayed to be some tragic sexual desire.
The girls lived an inexplicably tragic and short life and what I think was done very well was the reaction of the public and how they dared to appropriate their deaths, make it into whatever they wanted it to be. The girls were robbed. And the book, with its manic obsession and exhibits, is a prime example of that. And I do not care if that was the point. I don't care if the author sought to shine light towards an ugly part of society, the way the girls were treated and the way the boys treated, the infested nature of this book, I do not care because it was harmful and stereotypical. If you seek to educate, don't make up pain in such a way without explaining why this was necessary. The only reason it's getting 3 stars is because I loved the writing and so many sentiments are written beautifully and quotable. A lot of things resonated with me and worded things I have never been able to put into words.
The first things that struck me were the narrator(s!!) and the writing style. Seeing a POV from a whole homogenous group of people, almost merging into one was so interesting, but they were unbearable. The writing was specific, poetic and moldy. So the metaphors and descriptions were made with skill and precision, but I didn't like the metaphors and descriptions in the first place. The book focused so much on useless and uninteresting digressions about fish flies or Trip, which I could not care for less. It's racist, crude and misogynistic, I hate reading about little boys and I hate reading from the perspective of little boys. The book stinks, almost literally, of discomfort from hot breath or sweaty pillows. The boys are lewd, the book is offensive and almost always are the girls portrayed to be some tragic sexual desire.
The girls lived an inexplicably tragic and short life and what I think was done very well was the reaction of the public and how they dared to appropriate their deaths, make it into whatever they wanted it to be. The girls were robbed. And the book, with its manic obsession and exhibits, is a prime example of that. And I do not care if that was the point. I don't care if the author sought to shine light towards an ugly part of society, the way the girls were treated and the way the boys treated, the infested nature of this book, I do not care because it was harmful and stereotypical. If you seek to educate, don't make up pain in such a way without explaining why this was necessary. The only reason it's getting 3 stars is because I loved the writing and so many sentiments are written beautifully and quotable. A lot of things resonated with me and worded things I have never been able to put into words.