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The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
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The Virgin Suicides

by Jeffrey Eugenides

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5,61471303 (3.86)149
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Grand Central Publishing (1994), Paperback, 256 pages

Member:BooksontheNightstand
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English (68)  Dutch (1)  Italian (1)  German (1)  All languages (71)
Showing 1-5 of 68 (next | show all)
I picked this one up because I loved Eugenides's other book, Middlesex. It certainly doesn't have the scope of its successor, but it was a decent read nonetheless. The story takes place in 1970s Detroit. Though its focus is the five teenage Lisbon sisters who all commit suicide in the span of one year, the actual subjects are the teenage boys in the neighborhood who are obsessed with them. The narrative is in the unexpected first person plural, which actually works quite well in this instance. I'm having trouble summing up my thoughts; the story was interesting but didn't really go anywhere. You only get to know the characters - even the boys - on the surface, never delving more deeply into motivation or real emotion. It's a sad tale, and I enjoyed it on that level, but at the end I felt the same as at the beginning: a little puzzled, a little sad, a little apathetic. ( )
  melydia | Oct 28, 2009 |
This book renewed my love for and faith in the novel. ( )
  alissamarie | Oct 25, 2009 |
This book renewed my love for and faith in the novel. ( )
  alissamarie | Oct 25, 2009 |
This book renewed my love for and faith in the novel. ( )
  alissamarie | Oct 25, 2009 |
An interesting look into suburbia and the pressures of being a teenager in contemporary America. ( )
  katydid-it | Sep 14, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 68 (next | show all)
Mr. Eugenides is blessed with the storyteller's most magical gift, the ability to transform the mundane into the extraordinary.
added by stephmo | editNew York Times, Suzanne Berne (Apr 25, 1993)
 
Adopting a tone simultaneously elegiac and loony, The Virgin Suicides takes the dark stuff of Greek tragedy and reworks it into an eccentric, mesmerizing, frequently hilarious American fantasy about the tyranny of unrequited love, and the unknowable heart of every family on earth — but especially the family next door.
 
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
For Gus and Wanda
First words
On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide -- it was Mary this time, and the sleeping pills, like Therese -- the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.
Quotations
Obviously, Doctor… you’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl.
They knew everything about us though we couldn’t fathom them at all.
The girls were right in choosing to love Trip, because he was the only boy who could keep his mouth shut.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Canonical titleThe Virgin Suicides
Original publication date1993
People/CharactersCecilia Lisbon, Lux Lisbon, Bonnie Lisbon, Mary Lisbon, Therese Lisbon, Ronnie Lisbon (show all 9)
Important placesGrosse Pointe, Michigan, USA
Awards and honorsAga Khan Prize for Fiction (1991), Guardian 1000 (Love), 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006/2008 Edition)
DedicationFor Gus and Wanda
First wordsOn the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide -- it was Mary this time, and the sleeping pills, like Therese -- the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the ga... (show all)
QuotationsObviously, Doctor… you’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl., They knew everything about us though we couldn’t fathom them at all., The girls were right in choosing to love Trip, because he was the only boy who could keep his mouth shut.
Last words(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
BlurbersKakutani, Michiko, McInerney, Jay, Hawkes, John, Sorrentino, Gilbert
Book description

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0446670251, Paperback)

This beautiful and sad first novel, recently adapted for a major motion picture, tells of a band of teenage sleuths who piece together the story of a twenty-year old family tragedy begun by the youngest daughter's spectacular demise by self-defenstration, which inaugurates 'the year of the suicides.'

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:22 -0400)

(see all 2 descriptions)

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