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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."