This book felt like a never-ending piece of gossip with hints of a stalking nature. Well written and descriptive; however, it felt a little unfocused and jumpy at times. While I probably wouldn't read it again, I gave it 3.5 stars because the curious nature of the book encouraged me to turn the pages. ( )

I would recommend this book to anyone to read. The film is good too. Jeffrey Eugenides seems to have really captured some of the yearnings of a group of adolescent boys. ( )

Another harrowing and beautiful one by Eugenides. ( )

Title: The Virgin Suicides
Author: Jeffery Eugenides
Genre: Fiction
# of pages: 249
Start date: 5/22/08
End date: 5/23/08

Borrowed/bought: borrowed from the library
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best]: B+/A-

Description of the book: The story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers around the suicides of five sisters. The Lisbon girls' suicides fascinate their community as their neighbors struggle to find an explanation for the acts.

Review: First off, I watched the movie BEFORE the book. I really wanted to appreciate the book as its own separate piece of art, rather than comparing it to the movie. I really like the plural voice that the author employed for the narrators. I LOVED the rich descriptions that the author employed consistently throughout the book. All I have to say is wow! The movie seemed to focus centrally on the girls’ suicide and the rejection Lux received from Trip Fontaine. This was hard for me when I read the book because I kept wanting to go back to the movie portrayal of the suicide as the central theme. However, it was so much more than that. The book used many themes, such as conformity and capitalism, female conformity, and of course, the coming of age struggle of adolescence- just to name a few. I’m 23 and this book was almost too close for comfort about this struggle and my own dealings with depression. The book did not come to a big reveal and was not packaged in a neat bow, which frustrated me when I first read the book. Today I began to realize that this is how the book should be, as adolescence and life and death tell us, nothing is ever simple. I think one theme that is under-discussed on some of the forums I looked at was the sisters characters. Each one was different, but there was no depth to them. With the backdrop of Catholicism, its that whole whore or saint theme with women throughout biblical history. Very interesting indeed. I also thought the movie relied too heavily on Trip’s rejection of Lux as a reason for her unhappiness. I love the book and appreciate it so much more than the movie now. There’s so much more I could say but I could take up pages and pages discussing this book, LOL. ( )

Very interesting book. A little bit weird but catchy and well written. ( )