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A review by aradeia
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I saw this book at a used book sale months ago, remembered the craze for it when I was a teenager, and thought I'd give it a chance. I wound up really having to push myself to finish this book, even though it's only 250 pages long. Some of the writing is great, but I was grossed out by the narrators.
The book is narrated by an unnamed group of men who, as boys, did a lot of spying on the Lisbon sisters while their lives spiraled after the gruesome suicide of their littlest sister. The boys were obsessed with the Lisbon sisters. Or at least they were obsessed with the so-called "libertine" Lux, the most defined sister of the five. Lux is only fourteen. The sexualization of her body is disgusting. It seems pretty clear to me that the adult men who narrate the story still find Lux as sexy as they did when they were kids.
The big reveal at the end seems to be that, even though the boys "loved" the Lisbon sisters, it turns out the girls didn't love them back and indeed they were real people the whole time whom the boys didn't actually know, despite all the spying and obsessing. Note that the boys never have real conversations with the Lisbon sisters. They rarely speak at all. The boys-turned-men are not unlike the ineffective, oppressive Lisbon parents. And I suppose this here is the point. I just feel I have heard this point before, and with less graphic description of a fourteen year old kid's sexuality/abuse.
The book is narrated by an unnamed group of men who, as boys, did a lot of spying on the Lisbon sisters while their lives spiraled after the gruesome suicide of their littlest sister. The boys were obsessed with the Lisbon sisters. Or at least they were obsessed with the so-called "libertine" Lux, the most defined sister of the five. Lux is only fourteen. The sexualization of her body is disgusting. It seems pretty clear to me that the adult men who narrate the story still find Lux as sexy as they did when they were kids.
The big reveal at the end seems to be that, even though the boys "loved" the Lisbon sisters, it turns out the girls didn't love them back and indeed they were real people the whole time whom the boys didn't actually know, despite all the spying and obsessing. Note that the boys never have real conversations with the Lisbon sisters. They rarely speak at all. The boys-turned-men are not unlike the ineffective, oppressive Lisbon parents. And I suppose this here is the point. I just feel I have heard this point before, and with less graphic description of a fourteen year old kid's sexuality/abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Suicide