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A review by brownsugar25
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm actually quite out of words for this book.
There were many moments in the book that had flabber-ghasted about the treatement the entire societal views had about the Lisbon girls, moments where I thought they had reached for help multiple times with others, moments I was angered at the sheer fact that their parents didn't want to take the blame-especially Mrs. Lisbon for what went forth with her daugthers, moments I truely couldn't wrap my head around with Dr.Hornicker.
Because there are no words. The boys who watched them across grow up knew them so much better than their parents did, their curiosity is much bigger and beyond than the infatuation they shared with the girls. They truely wanted to find the fact on why they did, trying to understand the girls rather than what others blamed it up- their young age, their involvement with religious cults (cecilia's virgin Mary concept), their parent's ridiculous punishments, it was their deterioration of watching an entire family go within a year's worth of time.
And I think the neighborhood at the end also didn't really fair much either. It's truly melancholic to read, I had watched the movie years ago. But the book had much focus on the non-objectification of young teenage girls- told through the lens of teenage boys. There actually wasn't much sexualization here to be honest, the movie focused more on it (duh, commercialization). This book talks about a time where politics were in from a small town, the weather was changing, the communicim that was blooming, the recession that was just around the corner, & then the hippies.
Overall, a good read.
Most memorable scene from the book: When Mary camps out in the living room in a sleeping bag and her parents in the master bedroom right after she gets discharged from the hospital to come to an empty house. It reminded Mr Lisbon of when the family moved in about 11 years ago, and the moving vans hadn't come in yet so the house had been empty, and the family had to camp with a tent with the girls. Reading bed time stories under lanterns in the tents they set up. So when Mr. Lisbon woke up in the morning and spotted Mary sleeping in the tent, it took him back to a time pre-puberty of the girls when they were kids and he said "Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I'd forget everything had happened. I'd go down the hall and for a moment, we'd just moved in again. The girls were asleep in their tent in the living room." This scene BROKE me.
There were many moments in the book that had flabber-ghasted about the treatement the entire societal views had about the Lisbon girls, moments where I thought they had reached for help multiple times with others, moments I was angered at the sheer fact that their parents didn't want to take the blame-especially Mrs. Lisbon for what went forth with her daugthers, moments I truely couldn't wrap my head around with Dr.Hornicker.
Because there are no words. The boys who watched them across grow up knew them so much better than their parents did, their curiosity is much bigger and beyond than the infatuation they shared with the girls. They truely wanted to find the fact on why they did, trying to understand the girls rather than what others blamed it up- their young age, their involvement with religious cults (cecilia's virgin Mary concept), their parent's ridiculous punishments, it was their deterioration of watching an entire family go within a year's worth of time.
And I think the neighborhood at the end also didn't really fair much either. It's truly melancholic to read, I had watched the movie years ago. But the book had much focus on the non-objectification of young teenage girls- told through the lens of teenage boys. There actually wasn't much sexualization here to be honest, the movie focused more on it (duh, commercialization). This book talks about a time where politics were in from a small town, the weather was changing, the communicim that was blooming, the recession that was just around the corner, & then the hippies.
Overall, a good read.
Most memorable scene from the book: When Mary camps out in the living room in a sleeping bag and her parents in the master bedroom right after she gets discharged from the hospital to come to an empty house. It reminded Mr Lisbon of when the family moved in about 11 years ago, and the moving vans hadn't come in yet so the house had been empty, and the family had to camp with a tent with the girls. Reading bed time stories under lanterns in the tents they set up. So when Mr. Lisbon woke up in the morning and spotted Mary sleeping in the tent, it took him back to a time pre-puberty of the girls when they were kids and he said "Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I'd forget everything had happened. I'd go down the hall and for a moment, we'd just moved in again. The girls were asleep in their tent in the living room." This scene BROKE me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism and Addiction