The Back Cover:
First published in 1993, The Virgin Suicides announced the arrival of a major new American novelist. In a quiet suburb of Detroit, the five Lisbon sisters – beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the neighborhood boys – commit suicide one by one over the course of a single year. As the boys observe them from afar, transfixed, they piece together the mystery of the family’s fatal melancholy, in this hypnotic and unforgettable novel of adolescent love, disquiet, and death. Jeffrey Eugenides evokes the emotions of youth with haunting sensitivity and dark humor and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time. Adapted into a critically acclaimed film by Sofia Coppola, The Virgin Suicides is a modern classic, a lyrical and timeless tale of sex and suicide that transforms and mythologizes suburban middle-American life.
My Take:
My first introduction to The Virgin Suicides was through Sofia Coppola’s screen adaption. The morbid aspect of my personality fell in love with it immediately and I went on the hunt to find Jeffrey Eugenides bestseller. While it has taken awhile to find a copy since Amazon still doesn’t have it available on the Kindle, I managed to procure a copy last week. I settled in with the new book excited to relive the adventures of the Lisbon girls.
While it took me a little bit to get used to the first person plural point of view, I was captured by the insight into the mind of the adolescent male. The story follows these young men through their infatuation and loss of innocence with the Lisbon sisters. Their loss is paralleled in the American suburbs as society changes at the same time and neighbors drift away from each other like teenagers leaving childhood friendships to go to college on the other side of the country.
The grim topic of suicide was handled very well while never making light of the seriousness. Several times, I forgot about the suicides and was more wrapped up in the infatuation. I fell in love with the Lisbon girls just like the main characters and strived to understand their demise. Like the main characters, I was intentionally left with many more questions at the end than at the beginning, allowing me to continue thinking of the book long after I finished it.
I must agree. One of my fav flicks.