Scan barcode
A review by pages_turned
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
** Some spoilers below **
Atmospheric — that’s the best way to describe this book.
The narration is confessional. Eileen’s account veers between startling self-awareness (this insight comes in hindsight — young Eileen is naive, easily manipulated, desperate and ashamed) and questionable memory.
The reader is dragged alongside Eileen in the beginning half of the book. You exist in her dreary life. You stumble alongside her in drunken desperation, sit with her in her filth, and wince at her bald insecurity.
But the “dark and glittering” world beyond her front door — covered in an unforgiving and unrelenting blanket of snow — is this expectant presence throughout the book. You’re just waiting to find out what forces Eileen out into the cold that final time.
** Spoiler alert **
The twist on p222 was delightful. This moments catapults the reader from Eileen’s stagnant life of self-delusion.
The deer at the end is the sign of rebirth. Stags shed their antlers every year and they grow back.
Atmospheric — that’s the best way to describe this book.
The narration is confessional. Eileen’s account veers between startling self-awareness (this insight comes in hindsight — young Eileen is naive, easily manipulated, desperate and ashamed) and questionable memory.
The reader is dragged alongside Eileen in the beginning half of the book. You exist in her dreary life. You stumble alongside her in drunken desperation, sit with her in her filth, and wince at her bald insecurity.
But the “dark and glittering” world beyond her front door — covered in an unforgiving and unrelenting blanket of snow — is this expectant presence throughout the book. You’re just waiting to find out what forces Eileen out into the cold that final time.
** Spoiler alert **
The deer at the end is the sign of rebirth. Stags shed their antlers every year and they grow back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Violence, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape
Moderate: Excrement, Body shaming, and Vomit
Minor: Injury/Injury detail